Graf Mack to Lead Ailey

In November, President Damian Woetzel announced the bittersweet news that Alicia Graf Mack, whom he had recruited as dean and director of the Dance Division in 2018, would be stepping down after commencement to become the next artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. 

Graf Mack’s remarkable tenure and experience helped create a new era in Juilliard’s dance program as she broadened the curriculum to include West African dance, for example, and provided increased opportunities for creative practice. Her appointment at Ailey, where she had been a principal dancer, marks both a homecoming and a testament to her leadership. Graf Mack succeeds Robert Battle (BFA ’94, dance) as Ailey’s artistic director, further extending the school’s ties with the company.

The search process for the next dean and director of the Dance Division—“looking to extend the hallowed legacy of achievement in dance at Juilliard”—is underway, Woetzel said.