In this video, Amy Walker quickly demonstrates 21 accents from around the globe.

In Alchemies, up-and-coming choreographer Adam Barruch transforms everyday gestures – a reach, an embrace, a finger pointed skyward – into a reverie of human interactions. While this is a non-narrative work, the dancers’ characters come to the foreground as they move through the patterns Barruch has created, accentuated by a layered electronic soundscape by the London duo Raime.

What if there were angels moving among us on earth? Rising choreographer Jennifer Archibald explores this intriguing possibility in her new work, Wings -- an unabashedly emotional portrayal of interactions between angels and humans. Set to an ambient score by veteran dance composer Michael Wall, Archibald’s movement is ferocious yet vulnerable, showcasing both the dancers’ athletic prowess and raw honesty.

Phil Bertelsen’s documentary Beyond the Steps wonderfully captures Ailey’s triumphant return to St. Petersburg, Russia in 2005. Here’s a short video clip of the Company performing Love Stories – featuring the choreography of Robert Battle – with commentary by veteran Ailey dancers Matthew Rushing and Guillermo Asca, and interviews with members of the audience after the performance.

With the rumble of a train and the toll of distant bells, a cast of vividly-drawn characters from the barrelhouses and fields of Alvin Ailey’s southern childhood are summoned to dance and revel through one long, sultry night. Ailey’s first masterpiece poignantly evokes the sorrow, humor and humanity of the blues, those heartfelt songs that he called “hymns to the secular regions of the soul.”

In this exhilarating work by Kennedy Center Honoree, McArthur Grant awardee and Tony Award-winner Bill T. Jones (Fela!, Spring Awakening), rigorous formalism and musicality embody resilience and triumph over loss. The piece captures the infectious energy, innocence and will to survive of a beleaguered generation, and though it deals with sorrow, it maintains a defiantly celebratory tone.

In Ronald K. Brown's Four Corners, 11 dancers depict spiritual seekers amid four angels standing on the corners of the earth, holding the four winds.

Pas de Duke is Alvin Ailey’s spirited modern dance translation of a classical pas de deux, originally created in 1976 as a showcase for Judith Jamison and Mikhail Baryshnikov. The work is comprised of five solos and duets that require extraordinary technical facility, flawless timing, and strong acting skills. Since its premiere nearly 40 years ago, it has been performed by generations of dancers who have each put their own unique twist on the choreography, and it has stood the test of time in part for how perfectly it captures the timeless sophistication of Duke Ellington's jazz music.

Alvin Ailey’s Streams is an abstract exploration of bodies in space, danced to a percussion score by Miloslav Kabelac. The movement is a highly structured yet fluid compilation of solos, duets, and group passages. Each section is inspired by a body of water, from gentle brook to turbulent ocean, representing the changing emotional tides within us.

In this video, students work in small groups to determine what it takes to make the conclusions of their essays stronger. The students read sample conclusions and rank them from weakest to strongest. The use of arguments and textual evidence in these samples allow students to revise their own essay conclusions modeled by the strongest conclusion.

This video freatures Beam by Japanese perfromance artists Eiko and Koma. Beam was the first of Eiko and Koma's pieces to be commissioned by the American Dance Festival, and they performed it at their ADF debut in 1983. Together they performed this work on top of a 6 foot tall dirt mound built on top of an orchestra pit.

This video is a trailor for the Bill T Jones work, Story/Time. The work combines movement from the Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company's repertoire and 70 minute-long stories written and spoken by Bill T Jones. Inspired by the work of John Cage, all the elements combine by chance, creating a different experience for the audience every time.

This resource is a video recording of a rehearsal for the Siegfried/Giselle pas de duex from the Romantic Ballet, Giselle.

This is an animated short film about a little girl who visits the land of the dead, where she learns the true meaning of the Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos. The film was created by students at the Ringling College of Art and Design and won a 2013 Student Academy Award.

This is a short song featuring farm animals, their names and respective animal sounds in Spanish. Originally the song was released in Italian and is now available in approximately 20 languages. There is a companion activity sheet to go with the music video.

This video features highlights from Pontus Lidberg's Giselle, danced by Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve. It is the original, romantic storyline with a contemporary setting and a modern movement vocabuary.

Minus 16” is based on excerpts from other pieces in Naharin’s repertory, including “Mabul” (1992), “Anaphaza” (1993) and “Zachacha” (1998). Although the piece has a defined structure, it is tailored differently for each dance group, and features improvisational elements as well as audience participation.

In this video, Ailey Extension Director Lisa Johnson-Willingham demonstrates a lateral sequence that can be taught to a variety of levels of dancers.

This video contains movement exerpts and interviews with tap dancer and choreographer, Michelle Dorrance, as she receives a prestigious Jacob's Pillow Award.

It's that time of year! Time to see what amazing dance is happening at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival this summer! Every year, companies around the world send footage to edit the festival overview, a promotional video aimed at sharing the exciting dance shows coming to the main theaters at the Pillow in the summer season.

Hanayagi Sukekatsumi (Michiko Kurata) has been performing traditional Japanese dance for 30 years. She studied “kabuki buyo,” a popular dance form derived from kabuki, under several masters of traditional Japanese dance in Japan. “Kabuki buyo" originated in Japan more than 400 years ago among the female street performers in Edo (modern day Tokyo) and has spread throughout all social classes since. Ms. Kurata has performed at numerous cultural shows and has been giving lectures at local colleges on traditional Japanese dance.

Juan Tamad is a lazy character from Filipino Folk tale. Tikling Birds in the rice fields are one of the inspirations of the Filipino Folk Dance, the Tinikling. This animated short explores the possibility that Juan Tamad and his lazy encounter with the Tikling Birds witnessed the origin of the Tinikling Folk dance!

Characters from all walks of life come together in a new collection of vignettes by Judith Jamison examining the joys and complications of human relationships. Original jazz compositions by the musical iconoclast Eric Lewis and costumes by the award-winning designer Paul Tazewell are inspired by a series of drawings by Jamison that depict these characters ordinary and sometimes extraordinary lives.

Judith Jamison’s stunning, Emmy Award-winning 1993 tribute to Alvin Ailey uses explosive, full company dances and quiet solos to illuminate Ailey’s humanity and the dancers’ unique qualities. Narrative recollections from dancers are arranged by the multi-talented actor/playwright Anna Deavere Smith.

In 1984, Judith Jamison created Divining, on a major company for the first time at the request of her mentor, Alvin Ailey. Jamison wrote in her autobiography, Dancing Spirit, "Divining is mysterious, its title suggesting a search or quest." The ritualized ballet is set to a score that incorporates North African, Central African and Latin rhythms.
"The African-inspired rhythms are also Ms. Jamison’s springboard. Divining suggests an abstraction of African dance here refracted into reductive modern-dance treatment. Ms. Jamison’s perspective comes from the avant-garde, her images are streamlined, clean and striking! Ms. Jamison knows how to make movement flow through the entire body."
-Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times
-Performed by Ailey II.

This video breaks down each of the 5 steps of the Tinikling dance. This is a good video showing how the entire dance flows together. It is the final in a series of seven video that make up a unit on Tinikling.

In this video, a cast member of the Lost Colony outdoor drama in North Carolina gives historical background information for the show. The video also includes images from backstage and during the performance.

This part contains the following movements of the piece:
1st movement: Very slowly. Introduction of the characters, one by one, in a suffused light.
2nd movement: Fast. Sudden burst of unison strings in A major arpeggios starts the action. A sentiment both elated and religious gives the keynote to this scene.
3rd movement: Moderate. Duo for the Bride and her Intended scene of tenderness and passion.

The lesson begins with focus on mobility of the back, isolating the different levels, coordinating center and periphery of the body.Students will work on alignment and posture, combining the shifting of the weight on the supporting leg with the use of the principles of fall and recovery, suspension and control in various parts of the body.
In particular, students will focus on the use of arms with different dynamics and quality, connecting with the levels of mobility in the back, using different energies and qualities in the relation periphery-center .
In this work the upper body is constantly connected to legs and feet, both in place and in gradual shifting into space, using different timings, keeping the back as focus point to explore the possibilities of turning, throwing, working on the lines.

This video features Moon Water, choreographed by Taiwanese choreographer Lin Hwai-min and danced by his company, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre.

In this video, two soloist from the New York City Ballet discuss what it's like to prepare for and dance the role of Odette/Odile.

This video takes a look at the traditional staging used in Noh performances.

Ohad Naharin has been hailed as one of the world’s preeminent contemporary choreographers. As Artistic Director of Batsheva Dance Company since 1990, he has guided the company with an adventurous artistic vision and reinvigorated its repertory with his captivating choreography. Naharin is also the originator of an innovative movement language, Gaga, which has enriched his extraordinary movement invention, revolutionized the company’s training, and emerged as a growing force in the larger field of movement practices for both dancers and non-dancers.

Set to three keyboard works by Bach as richly orchestrated by Stokowski, Promethean Fire examines a kaleidoscope of emotional colors in the human condition. All 16 Taylor dancers, costumed in black, weave in and out of intricate patterns that mirror the way varied emotions weave themselves through life. A central duet depicts conflict and resolution following a cataclysmic event. But if destruction has been at the root of this dance, renewal of the spirit is its overriding message.

In this video, Robert Battle discusses his inspiration and concept for Strange Humors. This piece is part of the repertory for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.

The complex, tightly woven rhythms of Indian Kathak dance are deconstructed and abstracted in this percussive, fast-paced work. Clear shapes and propulsive jumps mimic the vocalized rhythmic syllables of Sheila Chandra's jazzy score.

Artistic Director Robert Battle’s athletic work for six men reveals the predatory side of human nature and the primitive thrill of the hunt. A thundering percussion soundtrack by Les Tambours du Bronx drives the explosive movement that runs the gamut from modern sports to the rituals of the gladiators.

The charming duet We, by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Artistic Director Robert Battle, depicts a seasoned relationship between a couple. Capturing the spirit of familiarity and vulnerability that is as endearing as reaching for a hand and knowing the other’s will always be there, Battle sets this work to composer Sean Jones’ tender “Love’s Lullaby.”

This video contains Stars of the Russian Ballet in its entirety. This performance features some of the biggest names in contemporaty Russian ballet. It contains exerpts from ballet standards like La Fille Mal Gardee, Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, Le Corsaire, Giselle, Swam Lake and Don Quixote.