Ailey II’s 27-city season links touring to the next generation of dancers
The September plan paired new choreography with repertory history, extending a training-to-stage model established in 1974.
- Event / announcement date
- 2026-09-02
Ailey II announced a 27-city U.S. season on September 2, with dates running from September 22, 2026 through April 11, 2027. The plan placed a new Francesca Harper work, developed with Jermaine Spivey, alongside new productions of choreography by Alvin Ailey and Ronald K. Brown. The scale was significant for the second company: a touring season is also a sustained transition from training into professional performance. [1]
Ailey’s official company history explains that purpose. Founded as the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble in 1974, Ailey II gives early-career dancers experience between school and a professional career. It is distinct from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Sylvia Waters led its first 38 seasons; Harper became artistic director in September 2021. Touring and community performances are part of the company’s stated audience-building mission. [2]
The institution’s 50-year history adds another reason for a second company: it created room for Ailey and other choreographers to develop dances without taking time away from the main company. Ailey II also became a repertory company, commissioning work while keeping older choreography in circulation. That helps explain a season that combines premieres with inherited material instead of treating the dancers only as substitutes for an older ensemble. [3]
The announced repertory includes Harper’s In the Moment, Brown’s Open Door and Ailey’s Night Creature; the last connects his choreography with Duke Ellington’s music. A solo from Judith Jamison’s Divining and the longstanding Revelations were also listed. The announced repertoire does not establish which pieces appear at every stop; the local presenter’s program remains the useful guide for choosing a performance. [1]
The company’s history places its early tours in regional schools, care facilities and prisons, before later international engagements. A 1998 visit to Cuba included Ailey’s Escapades and Revelations. The second-company model therefore has an audience history as well as a training role: it carries choreography into settings beyond the main company’s familiar stages. [3]
The source
- Alvin Ailey: Ailey II 2026–27 tour ↗
Source date 2026-09-02 · reviewed October 28, 2026 - Alvin Ailey: Ailey II company history ↗
Undated reference · reviewed October 28, 2026 · No publication date is given on this undated context reference. Retrieval time is recorded separately and is not treated as the event date. - Alvin Ailey: 50 years of Ailey II ↗
Source date 2024-10-23 · reviewed October 28, 2026
About this item: Retrospective report. No first-hand reporting or independent testing is claimed. Corrections policy.
