Auditorium Theatre 2021-2022, Issue 3, Alvin Ailey

COURTNEY CELESTE SPEARS (Baltimore, MD), of Bahamian descent, began formal training at the Baltimore School for the Arts under the direction of Norma Pera. She was the 2015 Denise Jefferson Memorial Scholar and graduated summa cum laude with honors from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program in Dance with degrees in dance and communications. Ms. Spears attended summer intensives at The Juilliard School and American Ballet Theatre. She is a 2015 Princess Grace Award recipient, the 2020 Shirley Hall Bass Legacy Award Recipient, and the Co-Founder & Director of ArtSea Dance, an outreach and dance management company based in the Bahamas. Ms. Spears is currently signed with Wilhelmina Models and graduated from Harvard Business School’s “Crossover Into Business” program. She continues to serve as a mentor by Co-Directing the Ailey Student Ailey Professional Mentor Program for The Ailey School. She was a member of Ailey II and joined the Company in 2018. Instagram: @bahamaballerina CONSTANCE STAMATIOU (Charlotte, NC) began her dance training at Pat Hall’s Dance Unlimited and North Carolina Dance Theatre under the direction of Salvatore Aiello. She graduated from Northwest School of the Arts and studied at SUNY Purchase and as a Fellowship student at The Ailey School. In 2009 Ms. Stamatiou received the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the performing and visual arts. She has performed at the White House Dance Series, in a TED Talk with Judith Jamison, and has been a guest performer on So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars , Logo’s Trailblazer Honors, Good Morning America and The Today Show . Ms. Stamatiou has danced in the films Shake Rattle & Roll and Dan Pritzker’s Bolden and the commercial I Love NY . She is a mother of two. Ms. Stamatiou was a member of Ailey ll, joined the Company in 2007, and rejoined in 2016. Instagram: @constance.stamatiou JERMAINE TERRY (Washington, D.C.) began his dance training in Kissimmee, Florida, at James Dance Center. He graduated cum laude with a BFA in dance performance from the University of South Florida, where he received scholarships for excellence in performance and choreography. He also received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from USF for outstanding service to the arts. Mr. Terry was a scholarship student at The Ailey School and a member of Ailey II. He has performed with Buglisi Dance Theatre, Arch Dance, Dance Iquail, PHILADANCO!, and as a guest artist on the TV show So You Think You Can Dance . He has designed costumes for New York City Ballet, Ailey II, PHILADANCO!, and The Black Iris Project, to name a few. His evening wear designs have been in Essence online and photographed by the late Bill Cunningham for the style section of The New York Times . Mr. Terry joined the Company in 2010. Instagram: @jerms83 CHRISTOPHER R. WILSON (Augusta, GA) is a graduate of John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School and graduated cum laude from the Ailey/ Fordham BFA Program in Dance. He trained at Colton Ballet School, Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, and The School at Jacob’s Pillow. He began his professional career with BH dos , the second company of Ballet Hispánico, and has performed for Queen Sofía of Spain and Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands. He has had the privilege of performing on the main stage of the 2017 Essence Festival in New Orleans. Mr. Wilson has performed works by choreographers Judith Jamison, Matthew Rushing, Wayne McGregor, Camille A. Brown, Kyle Abraham, and Emily Molnar, among others. He has been a guest artist with The Black Iris Project and for the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Mr. Wilson was a member of Ailey II and joined the Company in 2018. christopherrwilson.com. Instagram: @christopher.r.wilson BRANDON MICHAEL WOOLRIDGE (Spring Hill, FL) began his dance training at John Leggio’s Center for the Performing Arts at age 11 in his hometown, where he first learnt about the Company’s legacy through Ailey Arts in Education. He graduated from F.W. Springstead High School and performed in a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre. Mr. Woolridge trained at The Ailey School as a scholarship student where he performed works by choreographers Ronald K. Brown, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Earl Mosley, and Troy Powell and appeared in Alvin Ailey’s Memoria during Ailey’s 60th Anniversary season at New York City Center. He was briefly with Ailey II before joining the Company in 2019. 22 | AUDITORIUM THEATRE :: ALVIN AILEY The Ailey dancers are supported, in part, by The Judith McDonough Kaminski Dancer Endowment Fund. Who’s Who In The Company continued