On April 15, about 75 major donors of UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) enjoyed dinner with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Interim Artistic Director (and former star dancer) Matthew Rushing. Held at Villa & Vine and sponsored by Northern Trust, the dinner preceded the first of two nights of performances at The Granada Theatre.
During the al fresco reception, Northern Trust SVP Tim Nightingale welcomed guests and lauded UCSB Arts & Lectures Miller McCune Executive Director Celesta Billeci, who is retiring at the end of the season after 25 years in the position. In praising Billeci, Nightingale quoted jazz legend Wynton Marsalis, who called her the “absolute gold standard” and a “force of nature.”
Billeci thanked the supporters, with a special shout out to her “Dance Posse”: Margot Cohen-Feinberg, Sheila Wald, and Barbara Stupay; and to Maxine Prisyon and Linda Stafford Burrows for their support of educational programming. She marveled at the extreme honor for our little community to present Alvin Ailey, which it does every three years.
In introducing Rushing to donors, Billeci recalled that years ago, when Rushing danced in Ailey’s masterpiece Revelations, everyone’s jaws just dropped because nobody had ever seen anyone dance like this. Now, Billeci continued, that incredible young dancer has become this incredible choreographer.
Rushing shared with donors the backstory on Sacred Songs, the first piece in the evening’s program, which he choreographed. The idea came to him upon learning from Ailey’s biography that Ailey was forced to condense his original version of Revelations for touring, resulting in the dropping of half the songs. Rushing created Sacred Songs with those dropped songs. Wanting the ballet to talk to current and future generations, Rushing related, he reimagined the somewhat antiquated songs in contemporary genres.
After the dinner, guests sauntered a block to the Granada to experience Sacred Songs and three other pieces, along with a post-performance talkback with Rushing.
In addition to the two evening performances, Alvin Ailey also engaged with students and other community members through various events. One morning, 1,500 Santa Barbara and Goleta students in grades 3-5 were treated to an amazing field trip to the Granada. The program on the history of Revelations was light on lecture, featuring dance performances and on-stage student participation. The entire program, including transportation, was free of charge for the schools.
It was part of Arts & Lectures’ Arts Adventures program, which is largely funded by donors. Some funding has also come from the California Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts but, sadly, these entities will likely no longer have funds to support this program, according to Director of Education and Community Engagement Jenna Hamilton-Rolle.
Earlier this season, Arts Adventures brought more than 1,200 kids in grades TK-2 to the Arlington Theatre for a Dorrance Dance performance of The Nutcracker. And on April 30, about 500 7th-12th-grade students will get to see biologist and wildlife photographer Ronan Donevan, also at the Arlington Theatre. For Arts Adventures programs, Title I schools are always given priority.
These programs, Hamilton-Rolle related, are exposing young folks to new experiences and providing inspiration for careers and other endeavors. We “captivate them with entertainment and ideas that are so much bigger and beyond a tiny screen,” she shared, “and we fill an ever-increasing arts education gap within S.B. County at large as arts programs and teachers continue to disappear.” The hope, she added, is “to create stewards of art and culture in our communities for the next generation and beyond.”
The dance company also did a community dance class at the Carrillo Recreation Center and two masterclasses for UCSB dance majors. Arts & Lectures relies heavily on community support for both its presentations and its community outreach and education.
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