TU in the News: Ailey II returns to TU Sept. 17
Ailey II will also take a weeklong residence at the university, using its space for rehearsals and to host master classes, workshops, and mini-performances for more than 1,300 students from the Baltimore area.
By Megan Bradshaw on September 12, 2016
Jessica Amber Pinkett '16 returns to her alma mater on Saturday, September 17 to perform at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. as a member of Ailey II, the junior version of the New York-based dance company.
Ailey II will also take a weeklong residence at the university, using its space for rehearsals and to host master classes, workshops, and mini-performances for more than 1,300 students from the Baltimore area.
Read the full Baltimore Sun article
When Pinkett saw Towson University associate professor Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell perform with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, she was inspired.
"I thought, 'I want to do that. Where is she from?'" said the Randallstown native, 23, who is a cousin of Baltimore native and actress Jada Pinkett Smith.
Towson is the first stop on Ailey II's fall tour, which will include a new piece, "Sketches of Flames" by Bridget Moore, and "Revelations," a classic by the company's late founder Alvin Ailey, among others.
Pinkett, who attended the Carver Center for the Arts and Technology and Baltimore Dance Tech, said the return to her alma mater is a chance for her to show family, friends and professors what she's been working on with Ailey for the past two months.
Fisher-Harrell, who mentored Pinkett, said, "You wouldn't have to tell her to rehearse more. She was always in the studio, even when she didn't have to be.
"Jessica has always been one of those dancers where you can't take your eyes off of her. ... She has this raw talent, and she has this powerful energy. I call it a fearless energy."
Ailey ii performances at TU
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