ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
New York, NY
Since Ailey II’s inception over 30 years ago, Artistic Director Sylvia Waters has been responsible for the growth and expansion of one of the country's most vibrant young dance companies.
Ms. Waters' commitment to dance began when the art form was introduced in her junior high school curriculum. She continued her studies at the New Dance Group on scholarship, whose illustrious faculty included Alvin Ailey, Sophie Maslow, Donald McKayle, Muriel Manning, Jane Dudley, Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade. While earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Dance at The Juilliard School, she studied with distinguished faculty members Antony Tudor, Martha Graham, Alfredo Corvino, Ethel Winter, Helen McGhee, Bertram Ross and Mary Hinkson. Ms. Waters received a scholarship to the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance and also performed with Donald McKayle's dance company.
Following her graduation from Juilliard, Ms. Waters toured in the European company of Black Nativity. She subsequently moved to Paris, where she appeared regularly on television and worked with Michel Descombey, then director of the Paris Opera Ballet, as well as Milko Sparembleck. Ms. Waters also performed in Donald McKayle's European production of Black New World, worked with Maurice Bejart’s company – Ballet of the 20th Century, then performed in Brussels and at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
Ms. Waters returned to the United States in 1968 and joined Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She toured throughout the United States, South America, Europe, North Africa and the Soviet Union as a principal dancer with the Company until becoming the Artistic Director of Ailey II. Ms. Waters has also established a distinguished reputation as a teacher, conducting master classes throughout the U.S. and Europe. In 1997, she received an honorary doctorate from the State University of New York at Oswego. She has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts and is also active in a variety of other national and local arts organizations.
In the fall of 2003, Dance Theater Workshop presented Ms. Waters with a New York Dance and Performance (“Bessie”) Award for Sustained Achievement in recognition of her outstanding commitment to young and emerging artists. Most recently in 2008, Ms. Waters received the Legacy Award as part of the 20th Annual IABD Festival and Syracuse University’s Women of Distinction Award and will receive the prestigious Dance Magazine Award on December 8, 2008.
Photo: Eduardo Patino, NYC.
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Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
