The Ailey/Fordham BFA in Dance Program

Let’s celebrate our incredibly talented student-dancers! 

The Ailey School and Fordham University are partners in a highly innovative Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in dance. The BFA program offers the best of two worlds: The artistic pre-eminence of the official school of the world-famous Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, coupled with an exceptional liberal arts education rooted in the Jesuit tradition of academic excellence.

Denise Jefferson was director of the Ailey School as the program was conceived and inaugurated in 1998 until her death in 2010. In 2012 an artistic merit scholarship was named in Denise's honor and funded by the students' performance in this annual concert and awarded to a junior and senior student each year. 

The Denise Jefferson Scholars are fine dancers with real artistic potential as well as students who can meet—and exceed—Fordham’s demanding standards.

Your gift will help us unlock a challenge gift from Patricia Dugan Perlmuth, FCLC ’79, who will match all gifts made to the Denise Jefferson Memorial Scholarship Fund dollar for dollar, up to $10,000! THANK YOU for supporting our dance students!