Oprah’s no wallflower at this dance

Talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey has donated $1 million to establish a scholarship program in her name at the Ailey School in New York City. The funds will enable four to eight students between the ages of 18 and 23 to study each year at the school, the official academy of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.

“The first Oprah Winfrey scholars will be students from the Chicago area who are selected at the Ailey School audition in the city in May,” Ailey School director Denise Jefferson said in a statement. Currently, the school offers more than 200 classes each week and serves about 3,500 students a year.

The gift from the Oprah Winfrey Foundation creates a permanent endowment that Ailey company artistic director Judith Jamison said “will help extend Mr. Ailey’s pioneering legacy far into the future.” Ninety percent of the current members of the Ailey company are former students of the Ailey School.

Lewis Segal