Alvin Ailey Master Class in Epinay
Hope Boykin & Yannick Lebrun (DOS photo)
Hope Boykin with the students (DOS photo)
For the first time since the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performed in Paris, the United States Embassy held a master class with two of the company’s dancers, Hope Boykin and Yannick Lebrun, and students from the Miror School (Ecole Miroir) at the House of Theater and Dance in the town of Epinay-sur-Seine.
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Company was founded in March 1958 after a legendary performance at the 92nd Street Y Theater in New York. Alvin Ailey and a group of young African American dancers led this performance, changing people’s perception of dance in the United States. In 2008, Congress awarded the company the title of “cultural ambassador of the United States to the world,” celebrating the unique African-American character of the project and the contribution made by the company to American modern dance. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, currently led by Robert Battle, will perform at the 8th edition of Les Etés de la Danse, a festival sponsored by the United States Embassy.
The Miror School, founded in 2011 with support from the town of Epinay-sur-Seine, prepares students for success through training and professional integration of actors, directors, and authors from working class areas.