Sweetheart Parent & Child Dance
County of Fairfax, Virginia
The Robert Ames Alden Theatre
at the McLean Community Center
1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean, Va. 22101
www.aldentheatre.org
Media Contact: Sabrina Anwah
Director of Marketing & Communications
703-790-0123/TTY: 711
571-230-5197 (work cell)
sabrina.anwah@fairfaxcounty.gov
Editors Please Note: Collage Dance Collective’s Artistic Director, Kevin Thomas, and Executive Director, Marcelus Harper, are available for press interviews. They can be reached virtually through Zoom next week and will be onsite at The Alden beginning on Monday, Jan. 13.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, Jan. 3, 2025
025-010
Celebrate Dr. King’s Legacy in his own words at Collage Dance Collective’s performance of “RISE” at The Alden in McLean on Jan. 18.
McLean, Va.—The worlds of classical ballet and contemporary storytelling unite at the McLean Community Center’s (MCC) 2025 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration. The celebration features a performance of “RISE” by Memphis-based Collage Dance Collective at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 18. The ballet is performed to the recorded audio of Dr. King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech—which was delivered in Memphis the day before his assassination in 1968. Tickets are $25, $20 for students and seniors and $15 for MCC district residents. The Alden is located inside the McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave.
A celebration of Dr. King’s life and legacy, this breathtaking neo-classical ballet is a moving and thought-provoking reflection of what we have overcome and where we go from here. “Dr. King’s words are as relevant as ever, and overlayed with the stunning choreography of “RISE,” deliver the message so viscerally that one cannot help but be moved to the core,” said Performing Arts Director Sarah Schallern Treff. “His statement ‘the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around,’ speaks to what many may be feeling, and the dancers communicate what words cannot.” “RISE” will include other works from Collage’s repertoire, and young dancers from MCC’s dance program will perform alongside the professional dancers.
Rooted in the heartland of Memphis, Collage Dance Collective embodies the greatness of American dance and is at the national forefront of inspiring the growth and diversity of ballet and was recently named a Southern Cultural Treasure by South Arts and the Ford Foundation. It is one of the 50 largest ballet companies in the nation and one of the largest Black-led performing arts organizations in the South.
Tickets are on sale now! To purchase tickets or for more information, visit the website, aldentheatre.org.
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About The Alden
Built in 1975, the 383-seat Robert Ames Alden Theatre, “The Alden,” is a cultural resource for the citizens of McLean and the Washington Metropolitan area that presents a full professional season of interdisciplinary and high-quality performances, lectures and educational programs for audiences of all ages.
ADA Accommodations. The Alden is ADA-compliant and will make arrangements for accommodations. For questions about ADA s, contact alden@mcleancenter.org or call 703-790-9367, TTY: 711. To request this information in an alternate format, call 703-790-0123, TTY: 711, or visit: aldentheatre.org.
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The Robert Ames Alden Theatre is a cultural resource for the citizens of McLean that presents high-quality performances, lectures and educational programs for audiences of all ages. The Alden Theatre is ADA-compliant and will make arrangements for accommodations. To request this information in an alternate format, call 711.
