About
Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp is a six-week summer day camp where campers take classes in African dance, ballet, jazz, and modern dance. The program also includes Creative Communication and Personal Development classes, creative writing, visual arts, a campus scavenger hunt, field trips, guest workshops, special events, and a final performance and showcase. Enrollment does not require prior dance experience, and interview sessions include a warm-up, size measurements for camp attire, and photos.
• Ages: 11–14 years old
• Schedule: Six-week program, Monday–Friday, 8:30am–3:30pm
• Price: Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp is a full scholarship summer program; AileyCamp is entirely tuition-free for all participants. Instruction, dance and camp attire, field trips, and meals (breakfast and lunch) are provided.
Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp is a joyful and rigorous six-week program free to selected youth ages 11–14 that uses the power of dance to support 11–14 year-olds in developing self-esteem, creative expression, and critical thinking skills. This nationally acclaimed summer program uses the power of dance to support 11–14 year-olds in developing self-esteem, creative expression, and critical thinking skills. The Personal Development course promotes life skills such as goal-setting, nutrition, conflict management, media literacy, positive self-image, and leadership development.
Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp has transformed the lives of over 1,300 young people since its first camp in 2002, and has served over 1,300 young people from the East Bay and beyond. Conceived by Alvin Ailey in 1989, Kansas City, Missouri held the first AileyCamp in the summer of 1989. AileyCamp is co-sponsored by Cal Performances in association with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Foundation.
Around 70 campers are chosen from each year’s pool of applicants, and an interview is held in lieu of an audition. Instruction, dance and camp attire, field trips, and meals (breakfast and lunch) are provided. AileyCamp bus transportation is available for Oakland students with specific school pick-up and drop-off locations, while Berkeley and Richmond students provide their own transportation to and from camp.
The camp culminates in a performance before an audience of hundreds in Zellerbach Hall, and campers perform in a professionally presented final showcase on the Zellerbach Auditorium Stage with full technical and design support, offered free to supportive audiences made up of family and friends. Campers have breakfast and lunch in a university dining hall. Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp is described by organizers as a joyful, rigorous, and fast-paced summer day camp where youths are immersed in dance and come to respect the discipline of dance as a physical activity that requires athletic ability comparable to skills demanded by any sport.
“My confidence and real-life resilience were developed here at AileyCamp. This is something that will help me for years to come.” — 2024 AileyCamper
Last updated May 11, 2026.
• Ages: 11–14 years old
• Schedule: Six-week program, Monday–Friday, 8:30am–3:30pm
• Price: Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp is a full scholarship summer program; AileyCamp is entirely tuition-free for all participants. Instruction, dance and camp attire, field trips, and meals (breakfast and lunch) are provided.
Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp is a joyful and rigorous six-week program free to selected youth ages 11–14 that uses the power of dance to support 11–14 year-olds in developing self-esteem, creative expression, and critical thinking skills. This nationally acclaimed summer program uses the power of dance to support 11–14 year-olds in developing self-esteem, creative expression, and critical thinking skills. The Personal Development course promotes life skills such as goal-setting, nutrition, conflict management, media literacy, positive self-image, and leadership development.
Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp has transformed the lives of over 1,300 young people since its first camp in 2002, and has served over 1,300 young people from the East Bay and beyond. Conceived by Alvin Ailey in 1989, Kansas City, Missouri held the first AileyCamp in the summer of 1989. AileyCamp is co-sponsored by Cal Performances in association with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Foundation.
Around 70 campers are chosen from each year’s pool of applicants, and an interview is held in lieu of an audition. Instruction, dance and camp attire, field trips, and meals (breakfast and lunch) are provided. AileyCamp bus transportation is available for Oakland students with specific school pick-up and drop-off locations, while Berkeley and Richmond students provide their own transportation to and from camp.
The camp culminates in a performance before an audience of hundreds in Zellerbach Hall, and campers perform in a professionally presented final showcase on the Zellerbach Auditorium Stage with full technical and design support, offered free to supportive audiences made up of family and friends. Campers have breakfast and lunch in a university dining hall. Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp is described by organizers as a joyful, rigorous, and fast-paced summer day camp where youths are immersed in dance and come to respect the discipline of dance as a physical activity that requires athletic ability comparable to skills demanded by any sport.
“My confidence and real-life resilience were developed here at AileyCamp. This is something that will help me for years to come.” — 2024 AileyCamper
Last updated May 11, 2026.
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