About Us
Mission Statement | Artistic Statement | Background | Staff & Board | Cultivating the Future
Founders
Ronn Pratt
Dolores Vanison-Blakely
Miriam Greaves
Staff
Enrique Cruz DeJesus —
Artistic Director
Donna Clark —
Executive Director
Board Members
Paul Kwame Johnson
Enrique Cruz DeJesus
Migdalia Rodriguez
Lloyd Haber
Ulysses R. Kilgore, III
Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company creates, promotes, and educates through the art of dance. We explore, celebrate and provoke thoughts while connecting cultures and bridging audiences to contribute to life’s infinite expressions.
Artistic Statement –
Artistic Director, Enrique Cruz DeJesus
“My vision and inspiration comes from life’s interactions to find what binds us. I thrive on mixing popular with traditional styles and challenging cultural expectations. This allows me to deconstruct or blend movements to affirm new expressions that explore and celebrate the similarities of our human core.”
Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company was formed in 1972 by Ronn Pratt, Dolores Vanison-Blakely, and Miriam Greaves to provide a platform for dancers and choreographers of color. A creative venue for artists and a haven for inner city youth, Alpha Omega has served thousands for nearly five decades.
Under the artistic direction of Enrique Cruz DeJesus, Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company continues to build audiences through delivering performances that are energetic, uplifting, cultural, passionate, and all-around entertaining experiences. The company serves local communities through outreach programs and performances and educates youth with programs that provide a positive social outlet as well as a forum for those interested in a professional career. The main techniques employed are modern, but the richness in background is such that the audience is treated to many different styles and influences. The dances range from urban life to that of tribal influence and from the abstract to the dramatic.
Alpha Omega’s performance history includes local, national and international engagements at venues such as Lincoln Center’s Out of Doors Series and Alice Tully Hall, Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, the Smithsonian Institute, Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, Queens Theater on the Park, CityParks SummerStage, Harlem Stage, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 92nd Street Y, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Here Arts Center, WOW Café, Lehman College, SUNY Sullivan, Florida A&M University, Art and Culture Center for Hollywood Florida, King Arts Complex in Columbus Ohio, and a tour of southern Italy under the auspice of dance mobile.
Alpha Omega has also participated in various festivals including Dancer’s Responding to Aids, Women in Dance at DTW, Fiorello Festival Dance Now at LaGuardia Concert Hall, Charlotte Dance Festival, Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Dance Theater of Harlem’s street festival and open house series, Fourth Arts Block street festival, DCA’s Midday Series, Nu Dance Now festival and the NY Family Arts Festival at the Theatre of Riverside Church, Brooklyn Dance Festival, Jamaica Dance Festival, Dance Harlem, and the winter and summer dance mobile series.
PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS:
In addition to our work as a concert dance company, we conduct outreach initiatives, arts education programming, as well as preserve and present the work of others. One of our newest presentation initiatives is SHARING THE STAGE. This is in response to the severe impact COVID-19 had on the performing arts community. Alpha Omega is sharing its resources in the form of providing a platform for artists and organizations to display their work. This is an extension of our longstanding mission and vision. As the city re-opens, the goal is to keep artists working, creators creating, and audiences engaged. Throughout the pandemic, programming was created or expanded to keep artists on stage with SOLO SUITES and STUDIO TO STAGE residencies. These residencies provided rehearsal space and performance opportunities for individual artists and small groups. SOLO SUITES was presented in the summer of 2020 when artists struggled the most and found a safe creative space to heal. STUDIO TO STAGE was originally conceived in 2018 to pair dance makers and lighting designers together to enhance the choreographer’s work. Rather than cancel the residency in 2020 for these select artists, the presentation was modified and moved to our outdoor stage in 2021. Now we present SHARING THE STAGE and welcome our colleagues to showcase their dynamic range of work.