Renee Robinson, a principal dancer with New York’s renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) who earned her master of fine arts degree in dance this fall from Hollins University, is one of four artists to receive the 2012 Dance Magazine Award.
Robinson was honored at a ceremony December 3 in New York City along with Julie Kent, senior ballerina with the American Ballet Theatre; New York Times dance critic Anna Kisselgoff (who was a guest lecturer in Hollins’ master of fine arts program in dance from 2006 to 2008); and tap dancer Dianne Walker.
Each year, Dance Magazine recognizes leading members of the professional dance field who have made extraordinary contributions to the art form. Robinson joined the AAADT in 1981 and holds the longest tenure of any female member. In addition to Ailey, she has worked with such acclaimed choreographers as Lar Lubovitch, Jerome Robbins, Bill T. Jones, and Judith Jamison, who presented the award to Robinson at the event. Her televised performances include President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration, the Kennedy Center Awards, and the PBS special, “A Hymn for Alvin Ailey.” In 2003 she performed at a White House State Dinner honoring President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, and in 2008 she appeared in the first dance event hosted in the White House by First Lady Michelle Obama.
Robinson is perhaps best known as “the woman with the umbrella” in “Revelations,” considered Ailey’s “signature work” by The Washington Post in a February 2012 article.
“It is among the most popular and most performed works of modern dance,” the Post explains, “and millions of ballet fans around the world regard the woman with the umbrella with particular reverence.
“Renee Robinson.”
Originally from Washington, D.C., Robinson trained at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet, attended the School of American Ballet, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and The Ailey School, and majored in dance at New York University.
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