Glenn Allen Sims is stepping into a new chapter of a career that has taken him from a New Jersey dance studio to some of the world’s most prominent stages, and now into arts-education leadership.
The Newburgh Performing Arts Academy has named Sims its new Vice President of Arts Education, bringing an internationally recognized dancer, educator and arts administrator into a leadership role at the academy. The appointment follows a succession process led by academy founder Kim L. Turner, who selected Sims to help guide the institution into its next chapter.
For Sims, the move brings together several strands of a career that have developed alongside one another for decades: performance, teaching and arts administration.
His professional résumé includes 23 years as a principal dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, international performances, television appearances, teaching and leadership roles with arts organizations including Ballet Hispánico and Steps on Broadway. Alvin Ailey’s official biography of Sims describes him not only as a former principal dancer, but also as a master teacher and international guest artist.
Now, that experience moves into a new setting, with Sims taking on a role focused on arts education and the next generation of performers.
A Career That Began in New Jersey
Sims grew up in Long Branch, New Jersey, where his early connection to dance began at the Academy of Dance Arts in Tinton Falls.
He later received a scholarship to The Ailey School’s Summer Intensive, an experience that helped put him on a path toward professional dance. He went on to attend The Juilliard School under the artistic leadership of Benjamin Harkarvy.
The progression from local dance training to Juilliard and eventually to Alvin Ailey became the foundation for a career that would span more than two decades.
Sims joined Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and ultimately spent 23 years with the company as a principal dancer. His tenure placed him within one of the most influential institutions in American dance and brought him opportunities to perform for audiences around the world.
His Ailey biography notes performances as part of the White House Dance Series and for the King of Morocco. He was also featured on television programs including BET Honors, Dancing With the Stars, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and So You Think You Can Dance.
The reach of that career extended beyond the stage as well. Sims appeared on the cover of Dance Magazine and contributed as a guest writer, adding another dimension to his involvement with the dance community.
In 2004, he was inducted into the Long Branch High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame, becoming the youngest recipient at the time, according to the biographical material accompanying his career.
His connection to his hometown has continued throughout his professional life. Long Branch has recognized Sims as one of the city’s notable artists, highlighting the journey of a local student who went on to establish an international career in dance.
Twenty-Three Years With Alvin Ailey
Sims’ time with Alvin Ailey is central to understanding what he brings to his new position.
As a principal dancer, he spent years performing choreography that reached audiences across the United States and internationally. His career also placed him alongside other major figures in contemporary American dance.
A 2018 NPR feature on Sims and fellow Ailey dancer Linda Celeste Sims described the pair as among the company’s longest-tenured dancers at the time. Their careers illustrated the demanding nature of professional dance while also reflecting the depth of experience that long-term company members can bring to the next generation.
Sims’ work with Ailey eventually evolved beyond performing.
Teaching became a significant part of his professional identity, and he developed expertise that extended from dance technique into broader physical training. He became a certified Zena Rommett Floor-Barre instructor and a certified Pilates Mat instructor, while continuing to work as a master teacher.
That combination of performance experience and teaching credentials is particularly relevant to his new position at Newburgh Performing Arts Academy.
He is not entering arts education solely as an administrator. He arrives having spent years experiencing the demands of professional training and performance himself.
From Performer to Educator and Arts Administrator
Sims’ career after Alvin Ailey continued to expand his work away from the stage.
From April 2021 to April 2022, he served as Company Manager of Ballet Hispánico, adding arts administration to a career already rooted in performance and teaching. Programs from Ballet Hispánico and presenting institutions list Sims in that company-management role during the organization’s 2021–22 season.
The position gave him experience on another side of the performing-arts world: the organizational and logistical work required to support a professional company.
He later became Studio Manager at Steps on Broadway, where he has also continued his work as an instructor. Steps on Broadway’s faculty profile identifies him as an international guest artist, author and master teacher in addition to documenting his previous career with Alvin Ailey and Ballet Hispánico.
That progression matters when considering his appointment at Newburgh Performing Arts Academy.
Sims has experienced professional dance from several perspectives. He has been the performer onstage, the teacher working with dancers in training and the administrator helping support the operations behind a performing-arts organization.
The new role brings those experiences together.
Bringing Professional Experience Into Arts Education
Arts education can look very different from professional performance. Training a student requires more than teaching choreography or technique; it can involve helping young artists understand discipline, collaboration, performance standards and the realities of pursuing a career in the arts.
Sims’ own career provides a particularly direct example of that progression.
He began as a student in New Jersey, received scholarship support for advanced training, studied at Juilliard and eventually spent more than two decades performing professionally.
That path gives him firsthand experience of the different stages an aspiring performer may encounter.
It also gives him a perspective on what happens after formal training.
Professional dance demands adaptability. Performers work with different choreographers, directors and colleagues, move between artistic environments and repeatedly develop their abilities while maintaining the physical and professional standards expected at the highest levels of the field.
Sims has navigated those demands over decades.
His continued work as a teacher suggests that education has not simply become the next step after performance; it has been a consistent part of his professional life.
In 2025, for example, Ailey Extension programming highlighted Sims among the instructors bringing professional dance experience to students. The Ailey Pressroom’s coverage described his continued teaching work and his 23-year career with Alvin Ailey.
That combination of experience is now being brought to Newburgh.
A New Chapter for Newburgh Performing Arts Academy
The academy’s decision to place Sims in a senior arts-education position signals a focus on leadership grounded in professional experience.
Under founder Kim L. Turner’s leadership, Newburgh Performing Arts Academy has developed around the idea of providing students with opportunities in the performing arts. Sims’ appointment adds an executive with experience spanning elite professional dance, education and arts administration.
The timing also makes the appointment a natural continuation of Sims’ own career.
Rather than moving away from the performing arts, he is moving further into a role that can influence how the next generation experiences them.
His work can now extend beyond individual classes or performances to the broader educational environment in which young artists develop.
That shift—from influencing students one classroom at a time to helping shape arts education at an institutional level—is one of the most significant aspects of the appointment.
From the Stage to the Next Generation
There is a clear through line in Sims’ professional journey.
A student in New Jersey became a scholarship recipient at The Ailey School. A young dancer went on to study at Juilliard. That training led to 23 years as a principal dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Performance eventually expanded into teaching, and teaching was joined by arts administration through roles with Ballet Hispánico and Steps on Broadway.
Now, Sims is bringing all of those experiences into a leadership position at Newburgh Performing Arts Academy.
The move also places him in a position to help students see the performing arts as a broad professional ecosystem rather than a single destination. A career can move from performance to teaching, administration, choreography, management or other areas of the arts—and Sims’ own professional history illustrates that range.
For a school focused on preparing young people for artistic careers, that perspective can be particularly valuable.
Sims’ appointment is therefore more than a personnel announcement. It represents the next stage of a career that has consistently expanded the ways in which he contributes to the dance community.
He has spent years performing for international audiences. He has taught dancers, managed an established arts organization and worked within one of New York’s leading dance studios.
At Newburgh Performing Arts Academy, the focus shifts to what comes next: helping young artists develop the skills, discipline and perspective to build careers of their own.
For Sims, it is a return to one of the foundations of his own journey—education—but at a much larger level.
The dancer who once began training in a New Jersey studio is now taking on a leadership role dedicated to shaping the future of arts education. And for the students of Newburgh Performing Arts Academy, his arrival brings decades of experience from the professional stage directly into the institution where their own artistic journeys are beginning.
