Alicia Graf

[cargill]

I just got this announcement from Columbia, and thought people who have seen her dance would be pleased.

Alicia Graf, an Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater company member, will give the commencement address at Columbia University School of General Studies graduation on May 19 at 5 p.m. At Columbia University’s main commencement ceremony, on May 21 at 5 p.m., Graf, Columbia University ’03, will receive the University Medal for Excellence, given annually to one alumnus or alumna from any division of the University under 45-years-old whose record in scholarship, public service, and/or professional life is outstanding.

Graf was recently named by Smithsonian magazine one of 37 young American innovators of the arts and sciences. The New York Times recently named her one of ten most influential dancers of the year.

[drb]

...Alicia Graf, an Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater company member, will give the commencement address at Columbia University School of General Studies graduation on May 19 at 5 p.m. ...

Today's the day! I'm not sure one wishes a dancer Merde! when she's to speak rather than dance, but a star's a star and surely all will go well. A couple of years ago Columbia's Alumni Magazine ran a feature on Alica J, with a number of photos of this Farrellesque dancer:

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine...l2006/graf.html

While much of the piece is about her knee injury and, subsequently, rehearsing for Carmen de Lavallade's Portrait of Billie, her academic work is also included:

...At GS, Graf shifted her drive to academics. “I’m a nerd at heart,” says Graf, who is soft-spoken but playful. “I could spend hours in the library and I wouldn’t even notice that the time had passed.” She interned at Essence and JP Morgan, and majored in history. Graf wrote her thesis on the Dance Theatre of Harlem, her former employer and one of the first internationally acclaimed African-American ballet companies. What started as a simple history of the company evolved into a complex study of how the Theatre navigated discrimination against blacks in classical ballet and the politics of funding for nonprofit organizations. “Alicia discussed the company’s history in nuance,” says Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History and Graf’s thesis adviser. “No one had really written this piece of history before.”

[drb]

Where is Alicia J. Graf?

Ailey's 50 Years flier for this December's City Center Season arrived and she was excised from the dancers list. A check of their website also yielded no presence. A member's e-mail inquiry met with no response. When a young co-Prima suddenly is no longer with a company, after an outstanding season last year and being still very much a presence this summer, one might feel an announcement was in order. Has there been any information made public?

[SlimDancer]

Where is Alicia J. Graf?

Ailey's 50 Years flier for this December's City Center Season arrived and she was excised from the dancers list. A check of their website also yielded no presence. A member's e-mail inquiry met with no response. When a young co-Prima suddenly is no longer with a company, after an outstanding season last year and being still very much a presence this summer, one might feel an announcement was in order. Has there been any information made public?

Alicia Graf is no longer with the Ailey company due to an injury from this past summer. She was replaced by a former Ailey II member, Aisha Mitchell. Here is what she is up to now:

* Alicia Graf — formerly a principal dancer with Alvin Ailey, the Dance Theater of Halrem and Complexions — has been named assistant director of COCAdance, one of the Center of Creative Arts’ two student dance companies. In addition to working at COCA, she’ll be pursing a master’s in non-profit management at Washington University. Graf calls COCA “an incredible organization that truly exemplifies the meaning of arts education.”

http://www.westendword.com/NC/0/1044.html

[carbro]

Welcome to BalletTalk, SlimDancer, and thank you for the update on Ms. Graf.

It's always sad when a career meets a premature end. Her fans will miss her, but with the satisfaction that this dancer continues to use and expand her talents. Best of luck to her!

[bart]

I love her confession that she's a "nerd at heart," which just goes to demonstrate how beautiful, sexy, artistic, athletic, and fantastic we nerds can be. Earning her degree at a top-rate university while dancing at such a high professional level is a great achievement. And now moving on to an executive position with a company and a university Masters program -- if that doesn't deserve an enthusiastic merde, what would?