GIULIANI HELPS AILEY GET A HOME OF ITS OWN.

When New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani announced his $39.5 billion city budget in April, dance fans applauded: $7.5 million was allocated in a matching grant to create a new home for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). The structure, designed by architects Natan Bibliowicz and Carolyn Iu for the corner of 55th Street and Ninth Avenue in Manhattan, is scheduled to open in spring of 2004. The building will be the largest complex dedicated exclusively to dance in the United States--a symbol of the company's stature.

AAADT, founded in 1958 by Alvin Ailey, has become the most widely traveled dance company in the world. The company's popularity attracts thousands to The Ailey School. Each year about 3,500 students squeeze into the current location at 211 West 61st Street for classes in Horton, Graham-based technique, jazz, ballet, composition, partnering, yoga, West African dance, and tap. Between increasing enrollment and the demand for studio rentals, the school's nine studios are filled to capacity. But the need for more space wasn't the only concern that sent AAADT house hunting. Renting leaves the company without the sense of permanence that Artistic Director Judith Jamison wants it to have.

Taking Ailey into the twenty-first century was something Jamison began discussing with the board and staff three years ago. "We talked about what it means to make Ailey's legacy and Judith Jamison's vision something that will never go away," says the company's executive director, Sharon Luckman. "The answer was a building and an endowment." AAADT first looked into buying its current building--in part because Jefferson has created a successful BFA program with nearby Fordham University's Lincoln Center campus--but that plan fell through.

So last summer Jamison, along with Luckman and Ailey board member Arthur Mirante, met with the mayor. "He really hit it off with Judith Jamison," says Luckman. "We said, `Ailey deserves this.' He said, `I agree. You absolutely should have a building.' He assigned his deputy mayor to help us. When we decided on the site, we went back to the mayor and said, `Now we are going to ask you for money.'"

They got it. Deputy Mayor Anthony Coles says the city's grant comes from money raised by issuing municipal bonds. And Luckman hopes the City Council will match the mayor's gift. AAADT will soon launch a campaign to help cover the remainder of the $47.5 million cost.

Giuliani's grant was surprising to some, since the mayor has been accused of hindering rather than helping art. Recently, he tried to block city funding of the Brooklyn Museum in response to a controversial exhibit and has worked on establishing an arts censorship committee. But Luckman says Ailey's grant comes with "no strings attached. From Mayor Giuliani's point of view, Ailey is doing something wonderful for the neighborhood and for New York City," she says. The new headquarters--which will hold twelve studios, a theater, dressing rooms, physical-therapy facilities, a library, and archives--will rejuvenate a section of Manhattan that is currently low in business and commercial activity.

Not everything has gone smoothly, however. In May, The New York Times reported that Bibliowicz, who is the son-in-law of AAADT board president Joan Weill, was the only architect the company considered for the multimillion-dollar job. The lack of competitive bidding raised conflict-of-interest questions. But Luckman says the selection was "totally legal and above board." She points out that Bibliowicz Worked with AAADT on planning and design for three years as a volunteer before getting the contract. "It's the way most nonprofits run," she says, adding that the company was lucky to get someone with Bibliowicz's level of experience to help pro bono. And, says Luckman, since AAADT won't use city money to pay the architect, competitive bidding isn't required.

This is Bibliowicz's first dance-related building (previous projects in Manhattan include the Regency Hotel renovation and the Virgin Mega Store in Times Square), but the architect says that'll be no problem. "We get involved in a tremendous variety of things, commercial and community work," he says. "The process that we go through with every client is the same. We listen to our client, we understand what our client needs, and we respond."