I believe that the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people." - Alvin Ailey

This notion from Mr. Ailey remains one of our core missions and is the foundational principle of Ailey Arts In Education & Community Programs. The people behind this work are the dedicated teaching artists who share their joy of dance with people of all ages and backgrounds.

Fatima Logan-Alston, one of the Ailey Arts In Education teaching artists, believes dance is a powerful tool for community-building, healing, and intergenerational connection. “Dance gives so much meaning and purpose to our lives,” she said. “That is really one of the things I love about this intergenerational mix. We can put aside, ‘I'm this old or I'm that old’ and really focus on the human experience happening through dance right now."

Logan-Alston, who first saw Alvin Ailey's Revelations when she was a child in Virginia, teaches a wide variety of styles including modern, jazz, hip hop, West African, and Alvin Ailey repertory. In particular, she finds West African great for connecting people, no matter their life experiences. “West African is very welcoming, because oftentimes the dances are based on folklore and tradition. It tends to get people to respond with less hesitation about their previous training and just be here in this moment, in rhythm with one another. I like to see some of the limitations, or perceived limitations, about dance fall away when we get different groups of people together.”

Ailey Arts In Education initiatives are offered to people of all ages, from school-age children to older adults. Sharing dance with children comes with unique rewards, Logan-Alston said. “Getting to understand their own creativity and their own body is exciting for them, especially when we get to the culminating event. For kids to be able to see their progress is very confidence-building. I also like to see students, who may not initially be very advanced in other parts of their academic day, shine when they dance. It's just a relief for them. Suddenly they can think, ‘I can, I'm capable, I have this ability.’”

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Fatima Logan-Alston leading AIE’s West African Workshop at Coney Island, AMNY 2022. Photo by Rob DeMartin.

Logan-Alston recently received the “Disability. Dance. Artistry. Dance and Social Justice” Fellowship from the Ford Foundation to support the work she does enriching communities through dance. "This has been my legacy, my ongoing interest in dance as it relates not just to performance but to finding ways of reaching out and engaging with people,” she said. “This fellowship was important to me for that reason, to see different people's stories and be able to affect and appreciate everyone.”

Logan-Alston also credits Arts In Education with helping her cultivate and diversify her own practice. “I have interacted with teaching artists and performing artists who have come from many different styles and backgrounds. That has been very important to me because all those differences are beautiful and exceptional and help us enrich our practices together. In addition to being a teaching artist, I've become more invested in percussion and understanding musicality, and that has a different emphasis within different styles.”

Teaching artists like Logan-Alston are the ones who make the Ailey Arts In Education initiatives so rewarding for participants and who continue Mr. Ailey's mission of bringing dance into people’s lives in a meaningful way. “I really have enjoyed the different interactions with people. They have further enriched my perspective of diversity and inclusion, as well as making sure that everybody can enjoy the benefits of dance and community as much as possible.”

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Fatima Logan-Alston leading AIE’s West African Workshop at Coney Island, AMNY 2022. Photo by Rob DeMartin.