After recently writing about Alvin Ailey’s Extension program (dance classes for “real people”), I decided try it out last weekend. It didn’t hurt that Sunday was a beautiful day, but the scene around the building was quite lovely and inviting.
There were attractive actual dancers (not that “real people” can’t be attractive, too…) hanging out on the steps outside, and the ground-floor studio is all-windows so passersby can see what’s going on inside (ahem).
That said, I’m glad my class was on the sixth floor; no need to use Real People Zumba to advertise your company to the city-at-large. Showing them little ballerinas-in-training is much better PR strategy. There was also good signage out front, so if the ballerina cuteness did catch your eye, you’d know you too could take classes there.
The sixth floor studio space was airy, open and had a great view. The class was packed, and they took attendance like a real dance class not for real people. There were some not so real-looking real people waiting for a ballet class after the Zumba class, so I suspect there are different ability-level classes offered.
I’ve seen Alvin Ailey performances at other venues but never at their space. My only complaint is that, when I went to their website yesterday to figure out what I should go see there, I couldn’t figure out if the company actually performs at the 55th street location or if that’s just for classes and student performances.