Hundreds of Local Students get Masterclass in Dancing from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Company

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Hundreds of students packed the Granada Theater eager to have a break from the classroom.

UC Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures Art Adventures hosted an event for local students to see professional dancers perform various choreographic styles and techniques.

The program exposes children K-12 to the arts by taking them on field trips – bringing them up close, and personal with artists.

On Wednesday, students spent time learning the history of the Alvin Ailey American Dance company back in the classroom, specifically how Alvin Ailey changed the course of modern dance forever and how now, years after his death, his dance company uplifts the African American experience.

Now, the students are gearing up to see what they’ve learned come to life.

“I think it's going to be fun and will show me, like, different dance moves I can try,” said Santa Barbara Charter School Student, Tessa Leven.

“Accessing curriculum through art, through dance, through paintings, through all of the mediums of art really opens up children's minds in a way that I think some of the other things we're teaching might not,” said Franklin Elementary School Teacher, Annelise Wechsler.

You can catch Alvin Ailey Dance Theater’s last performance in Santa Barbara tonight at 7:30pm at the Granada Theater.