Ailey II @ HPHS

AILEY II LECTURE DEMONSTRATION
October 2, 2012
Highland Park High School, Topeka KS
A benefit for AileyCamp Kansas: Topeka Initiative
A Spirit Productions LLC production - pics by Danl Blackwood
  • Highland Park High School Auditorium Stage......just before Ailey II arrives
  • Event Sponsors: Highland Park High School Dance Team preparing to open
  • Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey (KCFAA) Board Member Esmond Alleyne (left) and KCFAA Releve Co-Chair Marsha Bacote Alleyne
  • First patrons of the evening arrive
  • Troy Powell, Ailey II Artistic Director (left), discusses tech with the Stage Manager
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  • Warms ups with Troy Powell, Ailey II Artistic Director (left) and dancer Edward Spots from New Orleans
  • All donations received at this event benefited AileyCamp Kansas: Topeka Initiative, a six week summer program that more than two dozen Topeka middle school students will be attending in 2013. This free co-ed camp combines professional level dance training with personal development activities including community service and conflict resolution. Meals and transportation are provided.
  • Tyrone Aiken, Executive Director, Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey
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  • Audience members watch AILEY II prepare for evenings event
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  • Jason Jones, AileyCamp Kansas Topeka Coordinator, welcomes everyone.
  • Tyrone Aiken, KCFAA Executive Director
  • AILEY II dancer Aqura Lacey opened
  • Aqura Lacey, AILEY II
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  • Aqura Lacey, AILEY II
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  • Peaking thru the wings.....
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  • Thomas Varvaro, AILEY II
  • Troy Powell - only the second person to lead AILEY II since it's inception in 1974.
  • Families, students, community members watch AILEY II Lecture Demonstration at Highland Park High School Auditorium.
  • Who wants to be an AILEY dancer???? Artistic Director Troy Powell invites young people onto the stage!
  • With the help of Troy Powell, Jeroboam Bozeman, and Aqura Lacey, local dancers learn classic AILEY moves!
  • For many long time Ailey fans, to see/hear young Topekans being instructed in how to perform the legendary piece "Revelations" was an unexpected, ethereal experience we will not soon forget.
  • FREE STYLING with AILEY II
  • AILEY II Introductions: Daphne Lee, Tyler Brown, Aqura Lacey, Thomas Varvaro, Jeroboam Bozeman, and Edward Spots
  • Tyler Brown began her dance training on scholarship at Peabody Dance Prep in Baltimore, attended The Ailey School, Virginia School of the Arts and has worked with choreographers Robert Battle, Sonia Dawkins, Christopher Huggins, Jennifer Medina, Erika Pujic. Ms. Brown also is a gold medalist for the NAACP ACT-SO competition in dance.
  • Aqura Lacey has performed works by Camille A. Brown, Ronald K. Brown, John Keen Miller, and Darrell Grand Moultrie. She trained at the Louisville Ballet School as a scholarship recipient and attended summer intensives at The Ailey School, Craft of Choreography Conference, and Earl Mosley's Institute of the Arts. This is her second season with Ailey II.
  • Thomas Varvaro began dance studies with Ailey Junior Division at the age of 11. He has studied at The School of American Ballet,Joffrey Ballet School, The School at Jacob’s Pillow’s, Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theatre. This is his second season with Ailey II.
  • Jeroboam Bozeman (Brooklyn, NY) has trained at Creative Outlet, Joffrey Ballet & Dance Theatre of Harlem and performed works by choreographers George Faison, Milton Meyers, Gene Hill Sagan, Talley Beatty, Rennie Harris,Donald Byrd. Mr. Bozeman is a gold medalist in the NAACP ACT-SO competition in dance. This is his first year with Ailey II.
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  • Highland Park High School Dance Team members, who co-sponsored the event, thank the AILEY II dancers for coming to their school.
  • AILEY II dancers, holding their gifts of appreciation, begin the question and answer period with Artistic Director Troy Powell, who also received a gift. Mr Powell explained how much he is inspired by his young charges.
  • AILEY II Dancers, Artistic Director Troy Powell, and Highland Park High School Dance Team
  • AileyCamp Kansas: Topeka Alumni, AILEY II dancers, Artistic Director Troy Powell, and Highland Park High School Dance Team
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  • AILEY II applaud the HPHS Dance Team, who performed before the reception
  • Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey Executive Director Tyrone Aiken meets Becky Linquist and other patrons during reception
  • Event goers await the appearance of the dancers at the reception
  • Accent Academy of the Performing Arts provided much needed assistance during the lecture demonstration
  • Patrons entering the reception
  • Debutantes Carleigh Frasier and Emeri May chatting up Artistic Director Troy Powell
  • Ron Pittman and Lisa Belser Kirk enjoying AILEY II reception
  • AILEY II dancers Daphne Lee and Edward Spots signing autographs at the reception
  • AILEY II dancer Daphne Lee signs autograph for a young admirer
  • Reception time
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  • Edward Spots, AILEY II dancer congratulates Accent Academy of the Performing Arts dancer who participated on stage during the Lecture Demonstration
  • Ailey II dancers Edward Spots and Acura Lacey sign autographs during reception after Lecture Demonstration at HPHS to benefit AileyCamp Kansas: Topeka
  • Jason Jones, AileyCamp Kansas: Topeka Coordinator with his daughter during the reception
  • Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey Board Member, Esmond Alleyne and Tyrone Aiken, Executive Director, greet patrons during AILEY II Lec Dem Reception
  • AILEY II dancer Jerobaom Bozeman graciously signing autographs at the door of the reception, held in the high school library
  • AILEY II dancers Thomas Varvaro, Edward Spots, Tyler Brown, and Daphne Lee mingling and signing autographs during the Reception that immediately followed their Lecture Demonstration. The Reception was held in the School Library.
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  • Ailey II dancer Jeroboam Bozeman at the reception, sharing with one of the Lec Dem participants and her family.
  • AILEY II Lecture Demonstration guests Dale and Anita Cushinberry, Ramona Brown Reed, Linessa Frasier, Marsha and Esmond Alleyne, Glenda DuBoise, and Ann Garvin with Troy Powell and Tyrone Aiken of Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was founded in 1958 by dancer, choreographer and visionary Alvin Ailey, to bring African-American cultural expression and the American modern dance tradition to the world.

Spirit Productions LLC was founded in 1984 and is a multifaceted agency that specializes in the performing arts. We manipulate all facets of production in order to create a milieu that allows clients of varied disciplines to collaborate and reach zeniths never before obtainable.

Related Links:
Spirit Productions LLC Facebook Page
AILEY II International Tour 2012
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