The Joan Weill Center for Dance

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405 W 55th Street
New York, NY, US

The Elaine Wynn & Family Education Wing

On October 18, 2017, AILEY officially opened the Elaine Wynn & Family Education Wing, a 10,000-square-foot expansion of AILEY’s permanent home, The Joan Weill Center for Dance. It is named for philanthropist Elaine Wynn and her family, in recognition of their exceptional support for this project.

Designed by the building's original architects, the Education Wing added three floors to the west side of the building to provide four additional dance studios (bringing the total number of studios to 16), two flexible classrooms, and additional administrative office space. The project also enabled AILEY to renovate existing dressing rooms, lounges, restrooms, and the Company’s costume shop.

The expanded building hosts more than 500 weekly classes through The Ailey School’s pre-professional and professional training programs for young people, and Ailey Extension’s dance and fitness classes for the general public. The space also serves the growing needs of the entire New York City arts community, which uses the building for performances, rehearsals, auditions, and special events.

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Exterior view of The Joan Weill Center for Dance with the Elaine Wynn & Family Education Wing. The modern building has large glass windows, showing multiple floors with people practicing dance inside. The building is surrounded by other tall buildings in an urban setting.

The Joan Weill Center for Dance with the Elaine Wynn & Family Education Wing Photo © Frederick Charles

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A group of dancers in flesh tone dresses look up and reach their hands to the sky

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The largest building dedicated to dance in New York City, The Joan Weill Center for Dance opened in March 2005. Designed by Iu + Bibliowicz Architects, it is home to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, The Ailey School, Ailey Extension, and Ailey Arts In Education & Community Programs. The building is named in honor of Joan H. Weill, in recognition of her and her husband Sandy Weill's extraordinary commitment to AILEY over several decades.

Located in midtown Manhattan at 9th Avenue and West 55th Street, The Joan Weill Center for Dance includes state-of-the-art dance studios, a flexible performance space with seating for up to 275 people, a costume shop, physical therapy facilities, lounges, and administrative offices. Fittingly, the facility is on the site of the former WNET-TV studios, where the Company's first television appearance took place in the early 1960s.

About 200,000 people come through The Joan Weill Center for Dance's doors each year, making it by far the largest and most active destination for dance in New York City.