Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Welcome from the Executive Director

Welcome to another extraordinary season of dance and music at Northrop — a season we are proud to offer, inspired by your curiosity, energy and commitment to making the arts a central part of life.

Rooted in the belief that the arts are essential to the human experience, Northrop is committed to cultivating intersections between performing arts and education — for all participants, now and for generations to come. This season, those intersections will be more vibrant than ever. We have curated performances that stretch boundaries, inspire reflection and celebrate both innovation and tradition in equal measure.

You’ll see in this season’s lineup a range of world-class artists and ensembles — some of whom we know well, others who bring voices and perspectives new to our stage. Each program is selected not only for its artistic excellence, but also for its ability to provoke thought, open dialogue and offer learning opportunities beyond the stage: workshops, pre-show discussions, community gatherings and more. These elements are meant to deepen your experience, helping to illuminate context, process and the living, breathing nature of creative work.

As part of the University’s teaching, research and service mission, Northrop strives to be a catalyst — igniting transformation in each individual, inspiring positive change in our world. Through the rhythm of dance, the textures of music and the shared moments among us in the audience, we hope you will find something that moves you, surprises you and invites you to see the world just a little differently.

I invite you to join us not just as spectators, but as participants. Ask questions. Bring friends. Explore more. Share what you experience. We are honored to present this season, and even more honored to share it with a community that values what the arts offer — beauty, challenge, joy and connection.

Thank you for being here and supporting Northrop. Together, let us make Northrop’s 97th season remarkable.

With gratitude,
Kari Schloner
Executive Director

Welcome from the Advisory Board Chair

Dear Friends,

On behalf of the Northrop Advisory Board, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to Northrop, the University of Minnesota’s historic home for the performing arts. For almost a century, Northrop has been a place where artistry, learning and community converge — a stage not only for extraordinary performances but also for dialogue, discovery and inspiration.

Each season, Northrop presents world-class dance, music and other performances, and serves as a gathering place for students, faculty and community members alike. These experiences enrich our campus and our state, fostering the creativity, curiosity and cultural understanding that are so vital in today’s world.

Your presence here affirms the importance of the arts in higher education and in civic life. We invite you to be more than an audience member — become an advocate for the arts. Share your experiences, bring new friends to Northrop and help us amplify the voices of artists and thinkers who inspire us to see the world anew.

We also ask you to consider a gift to Northrop. Your financial support ensures that future generations can access the transformative power of the arts, that students can encounter artists in their classrooms as well as on our stage and that our community can continue to gather here for moments that move and unite us.

Thank you for being part of Northrop’s story. Together, we can sustain this remarkable institution and secure its role as a cultural cornerstone for decades to come.

With gratitude,
Kelly McQueen, Chair, Northrop Advisory Board

About Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Alvin Ailey was born on Jan. 5, 1931, in Rogers, Texas. His experiences of life in the rural South would later inspire some of his most memorable works. He was introduced to dance in Los Angeles by performances of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, and his formal dance training began with an introduction to Lester Horton’s classes by his friend Carmen de Lavallade. Horton, the founder of one of the first racially integrated dance companies in the United States, became a mentor for Ailey as he embarked on his professional career.

After Horton’s death in 1953, Ailey became director of the Lester Horton Dance Theater and began to choreograph his own works. In the 1950s and 60s, Ailey performed in four Broadway shows. In 1958, he founded Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to carry out his vision of a company dedicated to uplifting the African American experience while enriching and preserving the legacy of modern dance. The creation of his masterpiece “Revelations” in 1960 cemented his reputation as a choreographer of unique vision, with the ability to transcend racial barriers and connect deeply to people’s humanity. Ailey established the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (now The Ailey School) in 1969 and formed the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble (now Ailey II) in 1974. He was also a pioneer of programs promoting arts in education.

Throughout his lifetime he was awarded numerous distinctions, including the Kennedy Center Honor in 1988 in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to American culture. In 2014, he posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor, in recognition of his contributions and commitment to civil rights and dance in America. 

Following Ailey’s death on Dec. 1, 1989, The New York Times said of him, “You didn’t need to have known [him] personally to have been touched by his humanity, enthusiasm and exuberance and his courageous stand for multi-racial brotherhood.”

Alicia Graf Mack was a star performer on the Ailey stage during a spectacular career between 2005 and 2014, when she was brought into the company and mentored by the incomparable Judith Jamison. In 2025, she returned to serve as Ailey’s fourth artistic director after distinguishing herself as the dean and director of the Dance Division of The Juilliard School from 2018-2025.

Born in San Jose, California, Graf Mack grew up in Columbia, Maryland. She began her career with Dance Theatre of Harlem under the direction of Arthur Mitchell and ascended to become a highly recognized principal ballerina. A celebrated artist, she performed with Complexions Contemporary Ballet and made guest appearances with Alonzo King LINES Ballet. Her versatility led to collaborations with artists including Beyoncé, John Legend, André 3000, Alicia Keys and Jon Batiste. Graf Mack has graced the stages of major galas and festivals, performed tributes to luminaries including Carmen de Lavallade at the 2017 Kennedy Center Honors and danced at the memorial services for Arthur Mitchell at New York City’s Riverside Church and Jessye Norman at the Metropolitan Opera House. A Columbia University graduate (magna cum laude, honors in history), she also holds an M.A. in nonprofit management from Washington University in St. Louis. 

Some of her many honors are the prestigious 2023 Dance Magazine Award, Smithsonian Magazine’s American Innovator of the Arts and Sciences and the Ebony Power 100 List of influential Black leaders and innovators. Other accolades include an honorary doctorate from The Juilliard School in 2025, Columbia University’s Medal of Excellence, keynote addresses at Columbia’s School of General Studies in 2008 and 2025 and the 2025 Columbia Black Alumni Heritage Award. Before arriving at Juilliard, Graf Mack was an assistant professor at Webster University and an adjunct professor at the University of Houston and Washington University. She hosted three seasons of “Moving Moments,” a podcast in which she interviews colleagues and friends to discuss the creative process and living a purposeful life in dance and is now working on a new podcast at Ailey, to launch later in 2026.

Matthew Rushing was born in Los Angeles. He began his dance training with Kashmir Blake in Inglewood, California, and continued his training at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. He is the recipient of a Spotlight Award and a Dance Magazine Award and was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. He was a scholarship student at The Ailey School and later became a member of Ailey II. During his career, Rushing has performed as a guest artist for galas in Vail, Colorado, as well as in Austria, Canada, France, Italy and Russia. He has performed for Presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as at the 2010 White House Dance Series. During his time with the company, he has choreographed five ballets: “Acceptance In Surrender” (2005), a collaboration with Hope Boykin and Abdur-Rahim Jackson; “Uptown” (2009), a tribute to the Harlem Renaissance; “ODETTA” (2014), a celebration of “the queen of American folk music”; “Testament” (2020), a tribute to Alvin Ailey’s “Revelations” created in collaboration with Clifton Brown and Yusha-Marie Sorzano; and “Sacred Songs” (2024), which resurrected and reimagined a collection of spirituals from the original 1960 version of “Revelations” that were later omitted. In 2012 he created “Moan,” which was set on PHILADANCO! and premiered at the Joyce Theater. Rushing joined the company in 1992. He became rehearsal director in 2010, associate artistic director in 2020 and served as interim artistic director from 2023-2025.

Judith Jamison joined Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1965 and quickly became an international star. Over the following 15 years, Ailey created some of his most enduring roles for her, most notably the tour-de-force solo “Cry.” In 1989, Ailey asked Jamison to succeed him as artistic director, and for the next 21 years she led the company to unprecedented heights. She was the recipient of numerous awards and honors, among them a Primetime Emmy Award, a Kennedy Center Honor and a National Medal of Arts. As a highly regarded choreographer, Jamison created many celebrated works for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Following her retirement from the helm of the company in 2011, she continued to dedicate herself to asserting the prominence of the arts in our culture, and she remained committed to promoting the significance of the Ailey legacy — using dance as a medium for honoring the past, celebrating the present and fearlessly reaching into the future. Jamison's death on Nov. 9, 2024 prompted an outpouring of love and admiration from people around the world who were touched by her magnificent artistry and extraordinary spirit.

Clifton Brown, from Goodyear, Arizona, began his dance training at Take 5 Dance Academy and continued in the first class of the Ailey/Fordham BFA in Dance program. Brown began his professional career when he joined the Ailey company in 1999 and served as choreographic assistant to Judith Jamison. He also has danced with Earl Mosley's Diversity of Dance, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and was a founding member and rehearsal director for Jessica Lang Dance. He was nominated in the U.K. for a Critics Circle National Dance Award for Best Male Dancer and received a Black Theater Arts Award as well as a New York Dance and

Performance (“Bessie”) Award. As a guest artist, Brown has performed with Miami City Ballet, Rome Opera Ballet, Nevada Ballet and Parsons Dance. He has set the work of Alvin Ailey, Earl Mosley and Jessica Lang on various companies around the world. Television appearances as a guest artist include “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Dancing With the Stars.” He has had the privilege of performing at the White House for President Obama. Brown became assistant rehearsal director in 2019.

Kanji Segawa was a dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater under the direction of Robert Battle from 2011-2023 and became assistant rehearsal director in 2024. Originally from Kanagawa, Japan, he began his dance training with his mother Erika Akoh, studying ballet with Kan Horiuchi and Ju Horiuchi in Tokyo. Segawa was awarded the Japanese Government Artist Fellowship in 1997 to train at The Ailey School. A former member of Ailey II and Battleworks, he danced extensively for Mark Morris and performed as a principal dancer in John Adams’ “Nixon in China” at The Metropolitan Opera. Since 1999, Segawa has been the creative associate for Jessica Lang, assisting with her creations for companies worldwide including American Ballet Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Royal Ballet and The National Ballet of Japan, as well as at The Royal Ballet School and the Partner School Choreographic Project at Prix de Lausanne 2025. With Lang, Segawa co-choreographed the world premiere production of “Turandot” for The Washington National Opera, directed by Francesca Zambello. He has assisted Robert Battle in staging his works at institutions including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II and The Royal Ballet School. Segawa was a nominee for Dance Europe magazine’s Dancer of the Year 2024 for his performances with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. 

Bennett Rink became executive director of Ailey in 2013. He first joined the organization as manager of special events in 1994, became development director in 1998 and served as senior director of development and external affairs from 2007 to 2012. In his tenure overseeing Ailey’s development and fundraising efforts, Rink led a major capital campaign to establish the organization’s first permanent home, The Joan Weill Center for Dance, which opened in 2005 and attracts more than 200,000 visitors each year. Rink also oversaw the campaign to build the organization’s endowment, which provides vital ongoing support for programmatic initiatives. When the company celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008, Rink supervised an 18-month celebration including events, promotions, collaborations and special performances, bringing public awareness of the Ailey organization to new heights.

During his time as executive director, the company has deepened its presence in New York City by establishing an annual spring season to complement its New York City Center winter season, while also extending its role as America’s “cultural ambassador to the world” with tours to Africa, Europe and South America. To reach audiences beyond live performances, Rink has broadened the organization’s commitment to creating film and digital content. Rink has also extended the reach and impact of Ailey’s educational offerings, including the creation of new curricula and programs that reach across generations, from elementary school children to older adults. In 2017, the organization unveiled the Elaine Wynn and Family Education Wing, providing much needed additional studios and classroom space. The building now comprises 87,000 square feet and is the largest destination for dance in New York City.

In recent years, Rink has overseen a branding initiative to express the totality of Ailey’s offerings, creating greater connectivity among Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, The Ailey School, Ailey Arts in Education & Community Programs and Ailey Extension. Most recently, he led the organization’s collaboration with the Whitney Museum on “Edges of Ailey” (2025), the first large-scale museum exhibition celebrating the life, dances, influences and enduring legacy of Alvin Ailey. Rink is a graduate of Syracuse University and holds a BFA in theater. 

Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation

Recipient of the National Medal of Arts

Executive Director: Bennett Rink
Chief Financial Officer: Pamela Robinson

General Manager: Eric D. Wright
Director of Company Business Affairs: Isabelle Mezin
Company Manager: Gregory Stuart
Technical Director: Joseph Anthony Gaito 
Production Stage Manager: HaeJin Han
Lighting Director: Yi-Chung Chen
Wardrobe Supervisor: Jon Taylor
Sound Engineer: Michel Harruch
Master Carpenter: Jorge Lanuza
Master Electrician: David Trudeau
Property Master: Manuel Antonio Andino
Assistant Company Manager: Justin Coffman 
Assistant Stage Manager: Kait Mahoney
Assistant Lighting Director: Natalia Carlson
Wardrobe Assistant: Danté Baylor
Wardrobe Assistant: Katie Chihaby
Flyman/Assistant Carpenter: Justin Hernandez
Assistant Electrician: Brendan Mullenix
Director of Administration: Amadea Edwards 
Licensing & Clearance Manager: Chelsea Gillespie
Company Business Affairs Manager: Michelle Grazio
Managing Director of Development: Ebonie C. Pittman
Managing Director of Public Relations: Christopher Zunner
Managing Director of Marketing: Elizabeth Kandel
Associate Director of Marketing: Lynette P. Rizzo
Director of the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries, NYU Langone Orthopedics: Donald J. Rose, M.D.
Director of Therapy Services / Health & Safety Advisor: Sheyi Ojofeitimi, P.T., DPT, OCS  
Physical Therapist: Jessi Patz, P.T., DPT, CKTP
Physical Therapist: Dionne Vernon, P.T., DPT, PES, MBA
Physical Therapist: Amy Zink, P.T., DPT, CSCS, CPI
Physical Therapy Aide: Ronnell Kitt

Booking Agent

Opus 3 Artists
Tel: 212-584-7500 
opus3artists.com

Production Credits

Lighting system provided by 4Wall Entertainment. 

Touring sound system provided by Gibson Entertainment Services. 

Domestic trucking services provided by Stage Call Corporation. 

Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation is a proud member of Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance.

Dancers appear courtesy of the American Guild of Musical Artists.

Ailey crew members belong to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

Ailey Tour Merchandise

Ailey Tour Merchandise and AileyShop.com are managed by The Araca Group.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater | The Joan Weill Center for Dance

405 West 55th Street, NY, NY 10019-4402 | Tel: 212-405-9000 | Ailey.org

Instagram: @alvinailey | Facebook: @AileyOrganization | TikTok: @ailey | YouTube: @AlvinAileyAmericanDanceTheater

Choreographers & Artists
 

Maija GarcÍa is a visionary Cuban-American artist renowned for her work in theater, film, television, music, dance and live installations. As director of the Capri Theater in Minneapolis, García engages historical narratives to develop innovative work that moves culture forward. She served as director of movement for Spike Lee’s Oscar Award-winning “BlacKkKlansman,” “CHI-RAQ” and “She’s Gotta Have It” on Netflix. She also worked alongside Bill T. Jones to choreograph “FELA!,” the Tony Award-winning musical on Broadway and at the National Theatre of London, and became creative director of the “FELA!” world tour and “FELA! The Concert.” 

As a stage director, García has helmed a range of productions from original musicals to bilingual classics. García’s choreographic works include the first original choreography for “West Side Story” at the Guthrie Theater, “Kiss My Aztec,” “Snow in Midsummer,” “Cuba Libre,” “Another Word for Beauty,” “Hatuey: Memory of Fire” and “Fats Waller Dance Party.”

She founded Organic Magnetics to generate urban folklore for the future and to develop sustainable solutions through the arts. She wrote, directed and produced “Ghosts of Manhattan: 1512-2012, an interactive history,” an immersive experience in Fort Tryon Park, and “I Am NY: Juan Rodriguez” about New York’s first immigrant at El Museo del Barrio.

As director of education and professional training at the Guthrie Theater from 2018-2025, García programmed advanced training for actors and developed digital theater curriculum for educators. García earned a degree in sustainable development from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2005 and is a professor of practice at NYU Grad Acting, City College of New York and Yale University.

Matthew Neenan, described as “one of America’s best dance poets” by The New York Times, began his dance training at the Boston Ballet School and later attended LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts and the School of American Ballet. From 1994-2007, Neenan danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet (now Philadelphia Ballet) where he performed numerous principal roles in the classical, contemporary and Balanchine repertoires. From 2007-2020, he served as choreographer in residence, creating 20 original ballets.

Neenan’s choreography has been performed by New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Washington Ballet, Ballet West, Smuin Contemporary Ballet, BalletMet, Colorado Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Milwaukee Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Tulsa Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Parsons Dance, BODYTRAFFIC, Vail Dance Festival (where he has created five world premieres), Juilliard Dance and USC Kaufman School of Dance.

He has received awards and grants for his choreography from the National Endowment for the Arts, Dance Advance funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Choo San Goh Foundation, the Independence Foundation, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, New York City Ballet Choreographic Institute’s Fellowship Initiative, Sacramento Ballet’s Capital Choreography Competition and the Jerome Robbins NEW Program Fellowship. 

In 2019, he directed the Contemporary Ballet Program at Jacob’s Pillow. In 2005, Neenan co-founded BalletX with fellow dancer Christine Cox. BalletX has performed his choreography nationally and internationally at such prestigious institutions as The Joyce Theater, New York City Center and Vail International Dance Festival. His ballet “The Last Glass” (2013) was on The New York Times Top 10 list.  

Jamar Roberts, from Miami, was the resident choreographer of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from 2019-2022. Roberts has made six previous works on the company to critical acclaim: “Members Don’t Get Weary” (2016), “Ode” (2019), “A Jam Session for Troubling Times” (2020), “Holding Space” (2021), “In a Sentimental Mood” (2022) and “Al-Andalus Blues” (2024). He also set “Gemeos” on Ailey II. Roberts is a graduate of the New World School of the Arts and The Ailey School and has danced for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II and Complexions. Roberts won the 2016 Bessie Award for Outstanding Performer and has performed as a guest artist with the Royal Ballet in London. Commissions include DanceAspen, Miami City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, Martha Graham Dance Company, LA Dance Project, Vail Dance Festival, Fall for Dance, Juilliard, BalletX, MoveNYC, New York City Ballet and Works & Process at the Guggenheim where he created the films “Cooped” and “A Chronicle of a Pivot at a Point in Time.” The March on Washington Film Festival invited Roberts to create a tribute to John Lewis, and he has also made a film for the LA Opera entitled “The First Bluebird in the Morning.” Roberts was a Director’s Fellow at NYU’s Center for Ballet and currently serves as an Arnhold Creative Associate at large and distinguished visiting faculty at The Juilliard School. 

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar earned her B.A. in dance from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and an MFA in dance from Florida State University. In 1984, Zollar founded Urban Bush Women (UBW) as a performance ensemble dedicated to exploring the use of cultural expression as a catalyst for social change. She serves as director of UBW’s Summer Leadership Institute and is the Nancy Smith Fichter Professor of Dance and Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor at Florida State University. 

Zollar has received fellowships from United States Artists (2008), the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (2009) and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (2021). She received the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award and honorary degrees from Columbia College, Chicago; Tufts University; Rutgers University; and Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Zollar received the Dance Magazine Award (2015), the Dance/USA Honor Award (2016) and the Bessie Lifetime Achievement in Dance Award (2017). In 2020, The Ford Foundation recognized Urban Bush Women as one of America’s Cultural Treasures. Zollar received the 2021 Dance Teacher Award of Distinction, the 2022 APAP Honors Award of Merit and the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize. Most recently, she received the 2024 Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Chalvar Monteiro hails from Montclair, New Jersey, trained at Sharron Miller’s Academy for the Performing Arts and received his BFA from the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase. As a performer, Monteiro has worked with Sidra Bell Dance New York, Elisa Monte Dance, Keigwin+Company, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, BODYTRAFFIC, GALLIM, Ailey II and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In 2019, Monteiro performed in The Cunningham Trust’s “Night of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event” and has since participated in numerous events with The Cunningham Trust.

As a dancemaker, Monteiro has presented his choreography across the country and founded THE MNTRO PRJCT in 2024, which debuted at the 2024 Fire Island Dance Festival. He was awarded a residency at Baryshnikov Arts Center to further develop and present his choreographic research and developed new work at UNCSA’s Choreographic Institute. His ballet “Berry Dreamin” is currently in Ailey II’s repertory. Monteiro’s choreography has also been presented at Lincoln Center, Fordham University, Asbury Park Dance Festival and the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase. He has led technique classes and repertory workshops nationally and internationally.

As a choreographic assistant and collaborator, Monteiro has assisted Kyle Abraham on numerous ballets, including those for A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, New York City Ballet, Princeton University, Wendy Whelan’s “Restless Creature,” American Ballet Theatre and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He joined the faculty at NYU Tisch School of the Arts in 2020 and was appointed visiting arts professor in the fall of 2025.

Medhi Walerski is currently the artistic director of Ballet BC. Raised in France, Walerski danced at the Paris Opera Ballet and the Ballet du Rhin before joining the Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) in 2001. For more than a decade, he was an integral part of the company, contributing to the creative, innovative style for which NDT is famous. Walerski was awarded the prestigious Dutch dance prize VSCD Zwaan in 2013. Walerski has worked closely with many renowned choreographers, creating alongside and performing works by Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, George Balanchine, Rudolf Nureyev, Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon, Crystal Pite, Johan Inger and Wayne McGregor, among others. Walerski’s choreographic debut was in 2008 for NDT 2. Since then, he has created numerous acclaimed works for NDT and Ballet BC including “Petite Cérémonie” (2011), “Chamber” (2012), “GARDEN” (2016), “Silent Tides” (2021), “just BEFORE right AFTER” (2022), “Pieces of Tomorrow” (2024) and “Last light” (2025), as well as works for Bern Ballet, Goteborg Ballet, the Ballet State of Georgia, StaatBallet Hannover, Staattheater Wiesbaden and Charlotte Ballet.  

Who’s Who in the Company

The Ailey dancers are supported, in part, by The Judith McDonough Kaminski Dancer Endowment Fund.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

 

Alvin Ailey Dance Company Acknowledgments

Bank of America
2026 Global Tour Sponsor

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s 2026 U.S. Tour is supported, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Major funding of Ailey is provided by AARP, Anonymous, Bloomberg Philanthropies, BNY Mellon, Booth Ferris Foundation, Ford Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Mellon Foundation, New York City Center, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Prudential Foundation, 
The Shubert Foundation and Thompson Family Foundation.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater gratefully acknowledges The Joan & Sandy Weill Global Ambassador Fund, which provides vital support for Ailey’s national and international tours.

Northrop Acknowledgments

Thank you for supporting Northrop! You make legendary performances possible!

At Northrop, we believe in connecting great artists and ideas with our community and to a new generation of audiences. Your gift helps make memorable arts experiences possible by supporting extraordinary performances and new arts commissions, and helping ensure accessibility to everyone through live-streamed programming, outreach to diverse communities and subsidized student tickets. Our Friends are at the center of Northrop’s biggest ideas and brightest moments on stage.

Become a Friend of Northrop today! 

Learn More and Donate Online

Ways to Give:

• Annual Giving, a yearly gift amount of your choice.
• Monthly Giving, choose a recurring gift amount that works for you.
• Stock Gifts, Northrop accepts charitable gifts of stock.
• Planned Giving, consider a legacy gift by including Northrop in your will or trust, or by designating Northrop as a beneficiary of a retirement plan or life insurance policy.
• Matching Gifts, double your gift through your company’s matching gift program.

To learn more about supporting Northrop please contact:
Cynthia Betz
betzx011@umn.edu or 612-626-7554 

The Northrop Advisory Board is committed to the growth and awareness of Northrop’s mission, vision, and the continued future of presenting world-class dance and music in our community. If you would like more information about the advisory board and its work, please contact Cynthia Betz, Director of Development, at 612-626-7554 or betzx011@umn.edu.

With the restoration and reinstallation of Northrop’s Aeolian-Skinner Opus 892 organ, a group of dedicated volunteers now partner with Northrop for the awareness, success, and growth of organ programming and education. The Northrop Organ Committee features volunteers who are help with advocacy, network building, relationship development, and fundraising to help sustain and build Northrop’s Pipe Organ Music Series and other community events.

The Northrop Campus & Community Council acts as a resource for Northrop’s future success and growth, ensuring that Northrop builds relationships with and engages the communities where we live, learn, and work. This group of committed volunteers helps Northrop connect with new audiences and advises on programming that reflects the diverse communities we serve.

 Friends of Northrop

A special thank you to our patrons whose generous support makes Northrop's transformative arts experiences possible. Make your mark on Northrop's future by becoming a Friend today, learn more by visiting Northrop's Give page.

We gratefully acknowledge the support from the Anna M Heilmaier Charitable Foundation, Americans for the Arts/National Relief Fund, Curtis L. Carlson Family Foundation, City of Minneapolis, Minnesota State Arts Board, New England Foundation for the Arts, United States Artists, hospitality partner the Graduate Hotel Minneapolis, and event sponsors PNC Bank and RBC Wealth Management.

The Heritage Society Members

The Heritage Society honors and celebrates donors who have made estate and other planned gifts for Northrop at the University of Minnesota. 

• Nancy Allen*
• Jerry Artz
• John Follows*
• Stephen Gordon and Pat Gavan-Gordon
• Gail and Stuart Hanson
• Charlie Johnson
• Peter Lund
• Darlene M. Sholtis

*Deceased

Northrop's Aeolian-Skinner Organ

Thank you to the generous donors who continue to support programming for Northrop’s beloved Aeolian-Skinner Organ. It is because of you that this magnificent instrument’s voice will be enjoyed by many for years to come.

This season’s listing is current as of 3/26/26

Please contact Matthew Keefe at keefe175@umn.edu if you have any corrections or questions.