Dance Principal Lecturer Alvin Mayes Recognized for His Breadth of Work

Mayes is the recipient of the 2023 Living Legacy Award by the Maryland Dance Education Association.

Dance Principal Lecturer Alvin Mayes has been named the recipient of the 2023 Living Legacy Award from the Maryland Dance Education Association (MDEA), recognizing an individual’s body of work and their significant contributions to the field of dance education in the state of Maryland.  

The award-winning educator, dancer and choreographer has taught dance at the University of Maryland for four decades, as well as at organizations across the state, influencing thousands of young dancers. 

“It's so nice to be recognized by your peers and by your colleagues,” Mayes said. “I've tried in numerous ways to keep dance active in the state, and this acknowledges my work.”

Mayes studied math at the University of Michigan before pursuing his passion for dance. He moved to Washington, D.C., in 1978 to teach at the University of Maryland and to perform with Maryland Dance Theater, and found his first dance home at Dance Place. His areas of expertise include modern dance, partnering, choreography, performance coaching, ballet, voice and music composition, and he has studied under esteemed dancers, including Elizabeth Bergmann, Jan Van Dyke, Gloria Newman and Antony Tudor.

During his years at UMD, Mayes has led the production of more than 150 works, a number of which have been performed internationally. In 1988, he led a group of students and faculty members to perform at the Sister City Port Festival in Nagaya, Japan, which he called one of his most “joyful moments as an educator.” 

He has taught regularly across the Washington, D.C., area, including at the Maryland Youth Ballet, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Rockville, Montgomery College, Northwestern High School Center for Visual and Performing Arts and the Maryland Council of Dance. 

Throughout his career, Mayes has won numerous grants and awards, including two Greenbaum Charitable Foundation Grants in dance film and education; “Best of 2014” and “Best of 2012” honors by DC Metro Theater Arts for “The Me Nobody Knows” and “IN THE RED AND BROWN WATER,” co-directed by Mayes and TDPS Professor Scot Reese; a 2012 Outstanding Service Award by Maryland Council of Dance; and the 2011 Pola Nirenska Award for Lifetime Achievement in Dance by the Washington Performing Arts Society. 

The ceremony for the Living Legacy Award will take place on October 20 as part of MDEA’s fall conference at the Community College of Baltimore County.  

Image: Alvin Mayes, second from left, performs “Bach Suites Quartet.”