Jacqueline Green

Last updated
Jacqueline Green
BornDecember 26, 1989
Baltimore
NationalityAmerican
Education Baltimore School for the Arts 2007 Fordham University 2011
OccupationBallet dancer
Employer Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
AwardsPrincess Grace Dance Fellowship Award 2014

Jacqueline Green (born 26 December 1989) is an American ballet dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. She is noted for her elegant and commanding presence on stage as well as her unusually rapid ascent in being recognized as a great and powerful dancer. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Green is originally from Baltimore and began her dance training at age 13 at the Baltimore School for the Arts. [2] [4] The audition she completed to gain entrance to the school marked both her first audition and ballet class. [2] During Green's second year of dance, she met respected Ailey alumni dancer Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell who was then actively dancing with the company. [5] [2] Green credits this meeting as pivotal and inspiring, as Fisher-Harrell was another woman of color from Baltimore. [2] [4] Fisher-Harrell encouraged Green and further introduced her to the world of professional dance. [2] [4] Green graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts in 2007. [6] She continued her studies and went on to attend the Ailey/Fordham University BFA program with Denise Jefferson, graduating in 2011. [2] Green states that, during summer ballet programs she attended, she was often the only or one of very few Black students and found dealing with white staff and students' expectations of Black bodies challenging. [7] [8]

Career

Green impressed the Ailey American Dance Theater’s incoming artistic director, Robert Battle, when she performed with Ailey II in Shards by the esteemed Seattle choreographer Donald Byrd. [9] She auditioned for and was invited to join the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 2011. [10]

Green received a dance fellowship award from the Princess Grace Foundation in 2014. [11] [12] She has been granted prominent roles in many productions at Ailey including one in Pas de Duke and the key "umbrella" role in Revelations, both by artistic director Judith Jamison. [11] She also worked with Jamison in 2018 on Cry. [4]

In 2019, Green was recognized for her strong stage presence when performing in Donald Byrd’s "Greenwood", a dance production centered around the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. [9]

Green performed in Ode, a work by the Miami-born choreographer Jamar Roberts that premiered in 2019 and whose subject matter was gun violence and its effects. [2] [13] The Observer praised both Roberts and Green for Ode, stating that the work was "strengthened by the presence of Jacqueline Green in the central role—tall, strong, commanding yet modest, she has emerged as the company’s star. You can't keep your eyes off her, and you find yourself speculating on how she can expand her range." [14] A reviewer at the Financial Times also lauded Roberts' Ode and described Green as "bewitching". [15]

Considered a powerful talent and regarded as unusual for ascending so quickly despite a late start in her dance training, Green continues to impress critics with her abilities. She credits her success to the late Alvin Ailey, founder of the Ailey Dance Theater and a celebrated cultural leader and recipient of numerous awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. [16]

Personal life

It was reported in 2019 that Preston Miller is Green's fiancé. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvin Ailey</span> American dancer and activist (1931–1989)

Alvin Ailey Jr. was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center as havens for nurturing Black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance.

Renee Robinson is a retired American dancer from Washington, D.C., who performed as a Principal Dancer of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She began her dance training in classical ballet at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet. She also attended the School of American Ballet, the Dance Theatre of Harlem and The Ailey School. Robinson was a member of the Alvin Ailey II, before becoming a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judith Jamison</span> American dancer and choreographer (1943–2024)

Judith Ann Jamison was an American dancer and choreographer. She danced with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from 1965 to 1980 and was Ailey's muse. She later returned to be the company's artistic director from 1989 until 2011, and then its artistic director emerita. She received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1999, the National Medal of Arts in 2001, and the Handel Medallion, New York City's highest cultural honor, in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater</span> Modern dance company based in New York City

Founded in 1958, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) is the largest modern dance company in the United States. Based in New York City, the company was founded by Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Alvin Ailey (1931-1989), a noted choreographer and dancer. The Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, which includes AAADT and Ailey II, the Ailey School, Ailey Extension, AileyCamp, and other operations, is housed in the 87,000 square-foot Joan Weill Center for Dance, one of the largest buildings dedicated exclusively to dance in the United States. AAADT is recognized as a vital American cultural ambassador, and has performed for diverse audiences in more than seventy countries around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Garland (choreographer)</span>

Robert Garland is the artistic director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, where he was a principal dancer and their first official resident choreographer. He has also choreographed for the New York City Ballet, The Royal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and the Oakland Ballet, among many others.

Chroma is a one-act contemporary ballet created by Wayne McGregor for the Royal Ballet. The work received its premiere at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 17 November 2006. The ballet is performed to a combination of original music by Joby Talbot and arrangements of music by Jack White of the White Stripes, with orchestrations by Christopher Austin. The ballet was a great success, winning a number of awards, including the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production, and led to The Royal Ballet appointing McGregor as resident choreographer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Battle</span> Choreographer, ballet company director

Robert Battle is a dancer, choreographer, and the former Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camille A. Brown</span> American dancer

Camille A. Brown is an American dancer, choreographer, director, and dance educator. Four-time Tony Awards nominees, she started her career working as professional dancer with Ronald K. Brown's company in the early 2000s. In 2006 she founded her own dance company, the Camille A. Brown & Dancers, producing severals dance productions, winning a Princess Grace Awards and a Bessie Award.

Francesca Harper is an American dancer and choreographer.

Aminah L. Ahmad, formerly known professionally as Llanchie Stevenson, is an American ballet dancer who was the first African-American dancer at Radio City Music Hall Ballet Company, the first African-American female dancer at the National Ballet of Washington, and an original company member and former principal dancer with Dance Theatre of Harlem. She retired from dancing upon her conversion to Islam.

Masazumi Chaya is a Japanese American dancer, choreographer and was the associate artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) from 1991 to 2020.

Tracy Inman is an American dancer, choreographer, and educator who performed with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He is currently the co-director of The Ailey School and a choreographer & consultant for the television series Pose.

Melanie Person is an American dancer, choreographer, and educator who began her career at 14 as a "baby ballerina" with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. She is currently the co-director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Ailey School, with Tracy Inman.

Troy Powell also known as Troy O'Neil Powell is an American dancer, choreographer, educator, and director. He is a former principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and former artistic director of AAADT's second company, Ailey 2. Powell was fired in July 2020 after an independent investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at the Ailey School concluded that he had engaged in "inappropriate communications" with students who were interested in joining the Ailey 2.

Donald Byrd is an American modern dance choreographer, known for themes relating to social justice, and in particular, racism.

Hope Boykin is an American dancer and choreographer who is currently a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Alicia Graf Mack is an American dancer, teacher, and artistic director. She was a member of Dance Theatre of Harlem and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and has performed with Beyonce, John Legend, and Alicia Keys. Mack has taught dance at Washington University in St. Louis, Webster University, and University of Houston. In 2018, she was named the first Black Dean and Director of the Dance Division at Juilliard School, the youngest person to hold that role. During her Julliard tenure, she has been credited with "remaking Juilliard Dance." In November 2024, it was announced that Mack will be leaving Julliard in 2025 to become artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Jeroboam Bozeman is an American professional dancer, most known for his work with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Chloe Misseldine is an American ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre (ABT).

References

  1. ↑ Greskovik, Robert (24 December 2019). "'Ailey Revealed' Review: Dancing in New Directions". Washington Post. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kourlas, Gia (24 December 2019). "That Goddess Quality? This Ailey Dancer's Got It". New York Times. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  3. ↑ Gottlieb, Robert (7 January 2020). "Superb Dancing Makes Up for What Choreography Lacks at Alvin Ailey". Observer. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Lyn Pesce, Nicole (21 September 2018). "Alvin Ailey's muse tells a young artist what it's like to dance in her shoes". Market Watch. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  5. ↑ Brannigan, Maura (2013-11-18). "Alvin Ailey's Powerhouse". Marie Claire. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  6. ↑ "Jacqueline Green '07 Performs at BET's 'Black Girls Rock'". Baltimore School for the Arts. 2018-09-09. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  7. ↑ Ford, Thomas (24 September 2020). "5 Black Women on the Obstacles of Dancing While Black". Dance Spirit. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  8. ↑ "Jacqueline Green on the Power of Dance, Braids, and Diversity". Black Excellence. June 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  9. 1 2 Burke, Siobhan (2019-11-28). "Can Dance Make a More Just America? Donald Byrd Is Working on It". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-02-17.
  10. ↑ "See world premeires [sic] and internationally renowned dancers at Vail Dance Festival's International Evenings of Dance I & II this weekend" (Press release). Vail Daily. 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  11. 1 2 "The Accidental Star: Ailey's Jacqueline Green". Dance Magazine. 2015-08-01. Retrieved 2020-02-17.
  12. ↑ "Award Winners". grants.pgfusa.org. Retrieved 2020-02-17.
  13. ↑ Kourlas, Gia (2019-12-09). "At Alvin Ailey, a Quiet Disrupter With No Time for Tears". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  14. ↑ "Superb Dancing Makes Up for What Choreography Lacks at Alvin Ailey". Observer. 2020-01-07. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  15. ↑ Scherr, Apollinaire (December 13, 2019). "Hope mingles with misery in Jamar Roberts's Ode, danced by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theate". Financial Times. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  16. ↑ "President Obama Names Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom". whitehouse.gov. 2014-11-10. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.