Luckman To Step Down From Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation

According to a press release from the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, executive director Sharon Gersten Luckman will step down in 2013 to pursue other plans. Luckman has held her position at Ailey for 16 years and is largely credited with breathing new life into a program which was on the verge of bankruptcy when she took over.

The highly respected director oversaw a massive overhaul of the organization and its coffers, with net assets growing from $300,000 when she took her position to $134 million (The Wall Street Journal adds that she grew the foundation's endowment from zero to $50 million). She helped form many partnerships, including the founding of a BFA in dance at Fordham University which allowed dancers to study at both Ailey and the university.