What to Expect in the Ailey/Fordham BFA in Dance

Hundreds of students have experienced the innovative education of the Ailey/Fordham BFA in Dance, pairing rigorous dance training with an exceptional liberal arts education. The program’s offerings expand opportunities for dancers at the start of their careers, giving them a strong foundation of diverse techniques, encouraging their artistic impulses, and broadening their minds through relevant academic study. 

As the deadline for applications approaches on November 1, we invite everyone interested in learning more to take a deeper dive into the program and its expansive courses: 

1. Expand Your Technique  

Alvin Ailey believed a varied dance diet made for the strongest dancers, and the Ailey/Fordham BFA in Dance lives up to his example. BFA students are offered a wide range of classes, beginning with the program’s two foundational techniques: ballet and Ailey Horton, the technique invented by Alvin Ailey’s mentor Lester Horton and developed by Mr. Ailey himself. During the four years of the program, students will experience a diverse range of other dance styles designed to broaden and deepen their foundation, including West African, Graham, jazz, Dunham, and pointe work.  

2. Study Dance Composition 

Through a range of courses, students will be introduced to choreographic tools used by Mr. Ailey and other modern masters while having the opportunity to create their own work. Students develop an appreciation for what goes into making a dance, studying formal choreographic principles of space, time, rhythm, and dynamics, while also exploring personal expression, storytelling, abstraction, experimentation, and improvisation techniques. During the final semester, students have the opportunity to present a Senior Project in Choreography as part of a shared concert. 

3. Explore Black Traditions in American Dance 

One of Fordham’s academic offerings that supports BFA students’ practical education, “Black Traditions in American Dance” explores dances from the African American vernacular that were transferred from the social space to the concert stage. Students explore the work of pioneers such as Aida Overton Walker, the Nicholas Brothers, Helmsley Winfield, Katherine Dunham, Sammy Davis, Jr., the Hines Brothers, Pearl Primus, Edna Guy, Alvin Ailey, BeBe Miller, Savion Glover, Gary Byrd, Ronald K. Brown, Garth Fagan, Kyle Abraham, Ralph Lemon, Gus Solomons, Jr., Dianne McIntyre, Camille A. Brown, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. This unit encourages students to interrogate notions of African and African American aesthetics and cultural transmission in the making and shaping of the American stage. 

4. Find Your Voice  

Dancers are increasingly called upon to use their voice on stage. In “Voice Class for the Dancer/Mover,” students learn the fundamentals and techniques of healthy and functional singing for the dancer/mover. Students study the function of the breath, body, and vocal apparatus as it pertains to singing. As the course progresses, instructors focus on helping students learn how to utilize those techniques on stage while moving.  

5. Think Deeply About Art 

In “Art and Ethics,” a senior seminar, students explore questions about how art is connected to and influenced by societal and individual values. Does art have a moralizing function? Can art be for art's sake? What is the relationship between the arts and religion? This academic course interrogates these questions and challenges students to think deeply about how their embodied practice relates to the world. 

6. Perform with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater 

Every New York City Center season, The Ailey School students are offered the unparalleled opportunity to perform in Alvin Ailey’s ballet Memoria, a touching and powerful tribute to Mr. Ailey's mentor Joyce Trisler. Twenty-six students are chosen by audition to perform a section of the ballet that puts them on stage with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater members. Over the course of several weeks leading up to the City Center season, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s rehearsal director teaches the choreography to the students and coaches them on their performance skills. After combined rehearsals with the company dancers and students, they all take the stage during select performances of the City Center season.  

7. Connect with a Mentor 

One benefit of dancing at The Ailey School is being in close proximity to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which gives them the opportunity to connect with the dancers and creative leaders. Ailey/Fordham BFA students have the chance to build a mentor/mentee relationship with members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater over the course of an academic year. Overseen by Associate Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, the program provides a rare opportunity for students to engage with their mentors through a multitude of activities including masterclasses and workshops, professional development sessions, and access to private rehearsals. 

*Ailey/Fordham BFA in Dance courses and offerings are subject to change year-to-year.