Dancers of all levels and backgrounds (including absolute beginners) are invited to attend a Contemporary Workshop with Maleek Washington, part of Ailey Extension’s Guest Artist Series. Washington’s class delves into the dancer of today, reeducating the body to enhance our human characteristics and creating an atmosphere to be versatile in any given situation. His movement and combinations range from contact improvisation to contemporary fusion with a hip-hop flare. The workshop will include a range of structured formatted movement, improv, floor work, and dynamics centered around making strong movement choices. Washington will lead the class in an investigation of our individual qualities by integrating acting skills to help dive deeper into a sense of self, creating well-rounded performers and artists.

Maleek Washington, a native New Yorker from the Bronx, is a performer, choreographer, and teaching artist.  Washington has entered his second season with Camille A. Brown and Dancers in collaboration for her work Ink that premiered at the Kennedy Center in December 2017.

He began his dance training at Harlem School of the Arts, Broadway Dance Center, and LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts. Maleek attended The Boston Conservatory on a full scholarship before beginning his professional career with CityDance Ensemble (Washington DC). While there, he worked with Paul Taylor, Kate Weare, and Alex Noeral, and as a SpringBoard Danse (Montreal) participant. Washington also worked with Jose Navas and Rubberband. Upon his return to New York City, Washington collaborated with McArthur Genius awardee, Kyle Abraham, and his company Abraham.In.Motion for four seasons before becoming the first African-American male to perform in the critically acclaimed immersive show Punchdrunk's Sleep No More. He has also performed for musical sensations, such as Sia, Phish, and with Rhianna in her immersive AntiDiary Campaign. Recently Maleek was a part of the ensemble for NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar staring John Legend as Jesus. He just finished performing at the 2018 Ted Talk Conference in Vancouver British Columbia in Camille A.Brown's New Second Line and performed with ASAP Rocky's testing album release installation at Sotheby’s NYC.