AILEY-FORDHAM FRESHMAN CLIFTON BROWN SCALES NEW YORK'S DANCE SCENE.

It's a classic story--a young dancer from a small town goes to New York City and makes it big. But how does it really happen?

Clifton Brown may not have made it big--yet--but he's certainly on his way. A freshman in the new Aiey, Fordham B.F.A. program, Clifton has been personally invited by Judith Jamison, artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, to take company class. He's danced professionally for Earl Mosley, Anna Sokolow, and Linda Diamond. In January he won the Level 1 dance award in the prestigious ARTS Recognition and Talent Search. Past awardees include Boston Ballet's Jennifer Gelfand, and American Ballet Theatre and Fosse's Desmond Richardson.

Denise Jefferson, director of the Ailey-Fordham B.F.A. program and the Ailey school, can't say enough about Clifton. "He is stunning," she says. "He's a wonderful asset to the program. And he's one of only four students who received a very special four-year artistic scholarship at Fordham--because of his extraordinary and unique dance skills and also his strong academic record. He's also a lovely human being: nice, generous, thoughtful, bright, and probably modest to a fault."

The Arizona native says he began taking dance classes at age five "because I was clumsy and uncoordinated and couldn't walk across the room without tripping and falling." Clifton adds with a laugh, "But I'm still accident-prone!"

"When I was about ten or eleven, I decided I wanted to dance professionally," he continues. "It was always something I did, and I just decided to get serious about it because I love to do it. At first I saw myself as a jazz dancer because that's all I knew up until then. I went to jazz studios when I first started out, and then I changed to Phoenix School of Ballet, and then Ballet Arizona for a couple of years." Clifton graduated from the New School for the Arts, a performing arts high school in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Clifton's family always supported his love of dance, which he appreciates. "My grandmother and my mother always encouraged me and said, `Work on your dance, and if that's what you want to do, then do it'--just as long as I kept my grades up. They're still both really supportive."

While in high school, Clifton competed in dance competitions such as Dance Masters of America, Rhee Gold's American Dance Awards, and Joe Lanteri's New York City Dance Alliance. He won the National NYC Dance Alliance Male Outstanding Dancer Scholarship, sponsored by Capezio/Ballet Makers, in 1998.

"Competitions are a good experience in that you have a lot of opportunities to perform and be in front of an audience," he says. "Taking class from all the different professionals they bring in is great. Recently I went with [NYC] Dance Alliance to one of their conventions to demonstrate and perform because I was this year's winner. It was excellent--there were people I'd heard of, but I'd never been able to take their class before."

Joe Lanteri is certainly one of Clifton's biggest admirers. "Clifton is without a doubt one of the most talented young dancers I've seen in my travels across the United States," he says. "Not only does he have incredibly strong training and technique, he's also remarkably versatile stylistically. He can do anything--and I'm sure he will."

One of Clifton's successes was acceptance into the new Fordham-Ailey B.F.A. program. "Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is one of the companies I would love to work with someday, and so it made sense to do the B.F.A. program at the Ailey school," he says with a grin. "I was extremely excited when I heard I got in. I was, like, `Yes! I'm going to Ailey!'"

But it's not always easy to be so far away from home. "I was home for Christmas break, but that's it," he says. "The last time I was home was the spring before that because I came to Ailey for the summer program, too, and then I just stayed here. So I don't really get to go home that much. But it's nice when I do get to go back to Arizona ... especially in the middle of winter."

Being in the Ailey program has given Clifton unique opportunities to perform professionally in New York. "Earl Mosby--he was one of my teachers this summer at Ailey--and he just asked me if I would do the piece with him," Clifton explains. "And Linda Diamond takes class from Fabrice Herrault, who teaches at Steps and he's also one of the ballet teachers at Ailey. So she came to the men's ballet class, looking for male dancers to perform in her company.

"I'm doing another project with Earl in June--he's doing another concert with [Ailey's] Matthew Rushing. I really enjoy working with Earl and really like his choreography."

Clifton's attitude about performing has changed since he began his freshman year. "It definitely feels like I'm making a transition from student to professional dancer," he says. "I feel blessed for having so many opportunities, but it's not what I expected. I thought I might just fall through the cracks ... as most people would their first year in New York City. But it wasn't like that. I was able to do things--I've had opportunities to work that l never expected.

"I think I've definitely changed as far as now having a professional mentality," he says. "Before, when opportunities came up, I would say, `Yes, definitely,' because I was just at the beginning. But now, if something is offered, I really review my options and see what the situation is. I also have to be careful how much I take on without killing myself. It's hard because I'm so eager to work with different people. But it's part of viewing work options, and that feels much more professional than before."

When asked about the future, Clifton keeps the focus on specific dance goals. "I really want to be a solid and versatile dancer, to be able to do many things--I think that's important because I love lots of different kinds of dance. One of my goals for when I graduate is to be able to do, at performance level, as many different kinds of dance--jazz, ballet, and modern--as possible. And that's big.

"I dance because it's what I do. I've thought about doing other things, but that's not where my passion is. My passion is dance--and so that's pretty much howl express myself. I've been doing it so long, it's just natural now--and it just feels good to dance."

FAST FACTS

Alvin Ailey-Fordham University B.F.A. in Dance 211 West 61st Street New York, NY 10023 [phone] x505 www.alvinailey.org or www.fordham.edu

Director: Denise Jefferson

Degree: B. F. A.

Audition: Required.

Academic: Evidence of academic excellence sufficient to complete a Fordham degree.

Faculty: includes Jacqulyn Buglisi, Ana Marie Forsythe, Celia Marino, Dudley Williams.

Scholarships: Available on artistic merit, academic excellence, and financial need.

Susan Elia is the associate editor for Young Dancer[R].