AileyCamp leaps into town
This summer, the Fox Theatre begins an annual partnership with the Atlanta Public School System and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater launching AileyCamp, a two-week camp for at-risk pre-teens.
“Atlanta will be the ninth Ailey dance camp,” says Judith Jameson, artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Camps already are held in Kansas City, Mo.; Kansas City, Kan.; Berkeley, Calif.; Boston, Mass.; Bridgeport, Conn.; Chicago, Ill.; New York City and Staten Island, N.Y.
Nasha Thomas Schmitt, an Atlanta native, is the national director of AileyCamp. “We’ll teach ballet, modern, jazz and African dance,” she says. “We’ll be working with ages 11 to 14. They are facing challenges in their everyday life. We can provide a safe environment for them to stretch their bodies and minds and develop important life skills.” In addition to dance lessons, campers will attend communication workshops and take recreational and cultural fieldtrips. The camp is designed to develop leadership skills, self-discipline, positive peer relations, and respect for and pride in one’s own body as well as to encourage self-expression and offer positive role models and opportunities for cultural enrichment.
Dr. Vincent Murray, principal of Grady High School, where the camp will be held from June 11-22, says he has been a fan of Alvin Ailey for years. “When the Fox Theatre approached us about the camp, we jumped on board. There’s no question that the arts are important to youth, and educating them contributes to the artistic vitality of our city.”
