Summer AileyCamp provides dance training, life skills

Of all the mantras Anai Espinoza and her fellow campers recite each morning at AileyCamp, the eighth grader's favorite is this: "I am in control."

"It makes me believe I have the power to choose the right thing," she said.

Anai is one of a thousand students in 10 states this summer attending AileyCamp, a free six-week program for youngsters in financial need or with academic, social or family challenges.

In this Saturday, July 6, 2019 photo, a dancer leaps across the stage during a ballet routine at the Clayton County Performing Arts Center in Jonesboro, Ga. (AP PhotoAndrea Smith)

AileyCamp was founded in 1989 in Kansas City, Missouri, by world-renowned dancer, choreographer and director Alvin Ailey, who died later that year. In addition to teaching the students dance, the camp introduces them to the visual arts, creative writing and other communications skills. It also teaches them how to eat well, resolve conflicts and become leaders, according to a description of the program on the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater website.

Atlanta Ballet's Centre For Dance Education has admitted about 100 students to its camp each summer since 2014. About half of those have some exposure to dance, but very few have professional training, said Atlanta AileyCamp director Diane Caroll Sales.

"The most important thing is to accept campers that are willing to dance — they want to dance — because we are dancing most of the day," Sales said. "But the core of the program is personal development."

In this Saturday, July 6, 2019 photo, dancers' ballet slippers are shown during a dress rehearsal at the the Clayton County Performing Arts Center in Jonesboro, Ga. (AP PhotoAndrea Smith)

The Atlanta camp ran this year from May 30 through July 5, concluding with a performance July 6 in the city of Jonesboro, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of Atlanta. Sponsors covered the cost of dance training and attire, breakfast and lunch, field trips and classes for creative communication and personal development.

At the end of camp, Atlanta Ballet offers 10 students a full-tuition scholarship for a year of training, which is eligible for renewal, Sales said. One scholarship covers $800-$2,300 worth of dance classes, depending on the placement level.

Kameron Davis attended his first AileyCamp about 10 years ago, when he was in middle school, at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta. He trained for three years after that with the Atlanta Ballet on a scholarship, and later became a dance instructor. Davis said he doesn't think his mother could have afforded dance classes without the scholarship.

In this Saturday, July 6, 2019 photo, Micah Mincey sits to have her makeup done before the AileyCamp performance at the Clayton County Performing Arts Center in Jonesboro, Ga. (AP PhotoAndrea Smith)

Kids at school teased Davis when he began dancing, but AileyCamp offered a safe haven and confidence boost, he said. He said he enjoys giving back to the program by helping new campers build their confidence.

"It's an open door to finding new things, doing new things," Davis said. "When I got to AileyCamp, it just reassured me that, 'Hey, it's OK. Everybody is different. You shouldn't be judged by what you do just because not a lot of people do it.'"

In this Friday, June 28, 2019 photo, an AileyCamper smiles during a West African dance class at the Martha Ellen Stilwell School of the Arts in Jonesboro, Ga. AileyCamp involves lessons in modern dance, West African and ballet techniques. (AP PhotoAndrea Smith)

In this Friday, June 28, 2019 photo, Jelani Akil Jones, an Atlanta Ballet modern dance instructor, coaches a group of campers at the Martha Ellen Stilwell School of the Arts in Jonesboro, Ga. as they perfect a routine for their final performance. (AP PhotoAndrea Smith)

In this Saturday, July 6, 2019 photo, Idia Enadeghe embraces a loved one after her last AileyCamp performance at the Clayton County Performing Arts Center in Jonesboro, Ga. Enadeghe received her third full-tuition scholarship to train with Atlanta Ballet for a year. (AP PhotoAndrea Smith)

In this Saturday, July 6, 2019 photo, AileyCampers crowd around a bathroom counter to do their hair and makeup before a performance at the Clayton County Performing Arts Center in Jonesboro, Ga. (AP PhotoAndrea Smith)

In this Saturday, July 6, 2019 photo, AileyCampers laugh while waiting in their dressing room before a performance at the Clayton County Performing Arts Center in Jonesboro, Ga. (AP PhotoAndrea Smith)

In this Friday, June 28, 2019 photo, AileyCamp dancers rehearse a routine at Martha Ellen Stilwell School of the Arts in Jonesboro, Ga. Campers attended dance classes with Atlanta Ballet instructors each weekday May 30-July 5 to prepare for their performance July 6. (AP PhotoAndrea Smith)

In this Saturday, July 6, 2019 photo, AileyCampers stand ready for rehearsal at the Clayton County Performing Arts Center in Jonesboro, Ga. Each AileyCamp accepts about 100 middle schoolers. (AP PhotoAndrea Smith)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn’t order the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February, according to an official familiar with the determination.

While U.S. officials believe Putin was ultimately responsible for the death of Navalny, who endured brutal conditions during his confinement, the intelligence community has found “no smoking gun” that Putin was aware of the timing of Navalny's death — which came soon before the Russian president's reelection — or directly ordered it, according to the official.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

Soon after Navalny’s death, U.S. President Joe Biden said Putin was ultimately responsible but did not accuse the Russian president of directly ordering it.

At the time, Biden said the U.S. did not know exactly what had happened to Navalny but that “there is no doubt” that his death “was the consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did.”

Navalny, 47, Russia’s best-known opposition politician and Putin’s most persistent foe, died Feb. 16 in a remote penal colony above the Arctic Circle while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges that he rejected as politically motivated.

He had been behind bars since January 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he had been recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Russian officials have said only that Navalny died of natural causes and have vehemently denied involvement both in the poisoning and in his death.

In March, a month after Navalny’s death, Putin won a landslide reelection for a fifth term, an outcome that was never in doubt.

The Wall Street Journal first reported about the U.S. intelligence determination.

FILE - Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny gestures while speaking during his interview to the Associated Press in Moscow, Russia on Dec. 18, 2017. U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn't order the death of Navalny, the imprisoned opposition leader, in February of 2024. An official says the U.S. intelligence community has found "no smoking gun" that Putin was aware of the timing of Navalny's death or directly ordered it. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)