Health care isn’t the only area of service in Illinois that has been impacted by state budget cuts. Community youth programs like AileyCamp Chicago have also been affected. The camp, an Alvin Ailey Dance Company program, runs for six weeks and serve
Health care isn’t the only area of service in Illinois that has been impacted by state budget cuts. Community youth programs like AileyCamp Chicago have also been affected. The camp, an Alvin Ailey Dance Company program, runs for six weeks and serves nearly 100 young people between the ages of 11 and 14.
The performing arts camp is a summer program designed to serve inner-city children and uses dance as a means to develop self-esteem, self-discipline, creative expression and critical-thinking skills.
To help supplement the budget cuts, the camp will have a benefit performance Thursday, 7 p.m., in Room 43, located at 1041 E. 43rd Street.
Titled “A Night of Possibilities,” this benefit performance is presented by the Chicago Contemporary Dance Center and will feature performances by the AileyCamp Chicago Ensemble, The Willingham Project and Mikel Patrick Avery’s Every People Jazz Ensemble.
The Alvin Ailey Dance Company was founded by Alvin Ailey in 1958 and since then has had over 150 works performed for millions of people all over the world.
“It’s important to celebrate our heritage,” Lisa Johnson-Willingham, director of the AileyCamp Chicago, told the Defender during the dance company’s recent 50th anniversary celebration. “It’s just amazing to see this American hero–this African-American man from Rogers, Texas–build such a strong foundation so that his legacy continues and our children can learn from him.”
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