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AileyCamp Final Performances!

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Our 2019 AileyCamp final performances are the perfect opportunity to show support for KCFAA and the students who have worked hard this summer! Join KCFAA as we celebrate our 35th Anniversary and experience the power of AileyCamp – now in its 31st season in Missouri and 19th in Kansas. Come out to see why your support matters.

AileyCamp began in Kansas City and has since been replicated in 10 cities across America. AileyCamp is a testament to Alvin Ailey’s commitment to “deliver dance back to the people”.

The program uses the art of dance to teach young students critical life skills, pro-social skills and healthy lifestyle choices. Each year, our staff members work with more than 200 middle school-age students (10-15), on both sides of the Stateline, to help them create the personal tools needed to improve self-discipline, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Come out to one or both of the final performances and experience the Ailey magic!

Tuesday, July 2

7 p.m.

Wyandotte High School

Wednesday, July 3

7 p.m.

Paseo Academy of the Performing Arts

 

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2019 AileyCamp Open House Topeka

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Join KCFAA as we celebrate our 2019 AileyCamp staff and students in Topeka!  Come out to see why your support matters. AileyCamp began in Kansas City, Missouri 31 years ago and is in its 19th year in Kansas.  AileyCamp has been replicated in 10 cities across America and is a testament to Alvin Ailey’s commitment to  “deliver dance back to the people”.
The program uses the art of dance to teach young students critical life skills, pro-social skills and healthy lifestyle choices.  Each year, our staff members work with more than 200 middle school-age students (10-15), on both sides of the Stateline to help them create the personal tools needed to improve self-discipline, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
We invite you to learn more about AileyCamp on June 19. An RSVP is not necessary, but appreciated.
Wednesday, June 19
6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Family and General Public Tours
Topeka Shawnee County Library
Marvin Auditorium 101ABC
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AileyCamp Celebrates 30 Years, Open Houses June 5 & 6

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Since its inception, AileyCamp, a program offered through Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey (KCFAA), has impacted the lives of more than 5,000 youth in the Greater Kansas City area.  This year, the program celebrates 30 years and welcomes 200 kids for a summer of fun and education. 

“Celebrating 30 years of AileyCamp is a true testament to the need in our communities.  We are filling that need by providing inspiration and education to kids with social, domestic and academic challenges,” said KCFAA Chief Artistic Director Tyrone Aiken.  “We are proud to honor the late Alvin Ailey’s vision of bringing the best in arts education to students across the U.S.”

AileyCamp is a six-week summer day camp that introduces students to the physical and mental elements of dance. Through dance education, campers increase their leadership skills and enjoy a variety of athletic and social activities. They learn that dance is challenging, fun, and helps them in school, in sports and in life!

This type of programming can be crucial to closing education gaps. By sixth grade, students in middle-income families receive more than 4,000 hours of afterschool and summer learning than students in low-income families. Each year, 100 boys and girls in Missouri and 100 boys and girls in Kansas are selected to attend AileyCamp for free (a $1,275 value per camper).  The cost is covered by KCFAA thanks to cash and in-kind donations from corporations, foundations, government agencies, community groups and individuals.

AileyCamp participants receive breakfast, lunch and daily dance classes — along with dance attire, dance shoes and a dance bag — as well as other creative communication instruction, such as spoken word, creative writing, visual arts, percussion or theater classes.

From day one, campers work toward an end-of-season presentation that highlights everything they learned, including that the arts require discipline, focus, flexibility and acceptance. “There are differences in all of the arts — how you can hear music or tell a story,” Aiken says.

Despite the deep, creative engagement opportunities, Aiken says the foundation and focus of the camp is personal development.

AileyCamp runs May 30 through July 7.  Campers will present the Joy of Dance at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts Saturday, July 7. 6:00 PM.

“Our youth have so much potential. Every year we’re looking for students to discover new possibilities and it’s exciting to see them grow, to graduate and move forward on their path to success,” Aiken said.

AileyCamp alum across the country have come back to support the program in one way or another.  Some have sent their own kids through the camp.  Others come back as teachers, staff members or volunteers.  With local, regional and national advocates for AileyCamp, Aiken hopes to see the program continue to grow – not only in the number of students they serve but in the amount of donations they receive.

Misty Copeland, the first African-American principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, was interviewed on CNN this week discussing the importance of inclusion in dance and is pictured with AileyCamp participants.

“It costs a lot of money to provide this motivational experience to our kids,” Aiken said.  ““We invite everyone to welcome our campers at one or both of our open houses and learn more about AileyCamp.”

 

2018 AileyCamp OPEN HOUSES

8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

Tuesday June 5

Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts

4747 Flora Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64110

8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

Wednesday June 6

West Middle School

2600 N 44th St., Kansas City, KS 66104

 

Kansas City was awarded a competitive national grant from the Gannett Foundation to develop a replicable innovative summer program for middle school students in the KCMO School district. AileyCamp has received many awards and honors, including the prestigious Coming Up Taller Award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities and three federal agencies.  In Nov. 2016, Michelle Obama presented AileyCamp Miami with the 2016 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the highest honor for creative, out-of-school youth development programs.

For more information on AileyCamp and all of KCFAA’s programs, visit www.kcfaa.org 

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I’m so pleased to know that AileyCamp is still going strong

Kenny Pervine and Karin Ronning-Meagher

Back in 1990, when I was a young dancer, I had the incredible opportunity to work for AileyCamp, a summer dance camp for ‘at risk’ kids. The kids who participated were young teens who were struggling at school for any number of reasons. This was one of the first years of AileyCamp. I taught Improvisation. It was both amazing and challenging at the same time. I struggled because I was young, a bit nervous, didn’t look much older than my students, and came from a very different background. To be honest, I was a skinny, short white girl. It took time to build trust. This is what is wonderful about dance. It is a conduit for change. Camp was 6 weeks long and by the end, we had learned to work together, support each other, trust each other and trust the process. We cobbled together a short work using improvisational structures which was performed on stage alongside other class presentations for families. I had parents come up to me afterwards to tell me how important the camp had been for their child, and how I personally had impacted their child. I felt very humbled by that. In return, I shared how their child had impacted me. Nearly 30 years have passed and I can still remember their names. Now I am in my middle years, and a mother of two boys. One of my boys is the age that my Ailey campers had been. He also dances and performs in a youth dance company. If I were to do it all again, I’d apply some concepts I’ve learned as a Montessori parent about prepared environments and child-led learning. I’d be more comfortable with the controlled chaos of leading teens through improvisation. I’ve often wondered about those students, wondered how they have fared. Our time at dance camp changed us all. Through the discipline of dance, my students experienced self growth, empathy and self determination. This is the kind of massive impact dance and theatre can have on a young person’s life. I’m so pleased to know that AileyCamp is still going strong.

Karin Ronning-Meagher

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