Video Library
Filmed and edited by Michael Lee Stever
Saturday, May 17, 2025
Dance Parade - New York
2025 Grand Marshal Mercedes Ellington
Video provided Dance Parade Inc is a 501(c)3 non-profit
We were thrilled to share that Mercedes Ellington served as Grand Marshal of this year’s Dance Parade! The 19th Annual Parade and Festival featured 10,000 dancers and over 100 styles of dance, kicking off with a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at 11:45 AM on 17th Street and Sixth Avenue.
Mercedes Ellington will receive the Martha Hill Dance Lifetime Achievement Award 2025 on Monday, February 24, 2025 —a well-deserved honor celebrating her extraordinary career and contributions to the world of dance. This prestigious award will be presented by the legendary André De Shields, making the occasion even more special.
Mercedes Ellington with co-host Tony Waag assembled a cast of artists to celebrate and represent, in what Duke brilliantly characterized, “The City of Jazz.” Honored guest artist Eight-time Grammy Award winner Arturo O’Farrill and the dynamic Bobby Sanabria. Eli Yamin, musical director with The Duke Ellington Center Big Band. (cont.)
The Purple People and the Green People · Dave Chamberlain's Band of Bones · Mercedes Ellington Picadillo? Yes, Madly!
A special holiday event presented by the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts and The American Tap Dance Foundation! Co-hosted by Mercedes Ellington and Tony Waag.
May 21st, 2023 - Happy Birthday Duke Ellington!
The Duke Ellington Center for the Arts made its long-awaited return to the Duke Ellington Statue in Harlem for one of our signature events. There was a grand celebration of all things Ellington!
May 24, 2020 - Mercedes Ellington and Tony Waag meet over Zoom to celebrate National Tap Dance Day by discussing tap dance, jazz, their collaboration, Broadway history, and a whole lot more!
April 2020 - Monthly Performance Series honoring the jazz great Duke Ellington hosted and presented by Mercedes Ellington, Artistic/ Founder of DECFA and Tony Waag, Artistic Director of the American Tap Dance Foundation (ATDF). The Ellington Performance Series celebrates jazz music and tap dance.
April 30th, 2023 - A Night at The Ellington!
A Special Event with Performances by Musicians, Vocalists and Dancers. Musical Director Eli Yamin. Presented by The Duke Ellington Center for the Arts and The American Tap Dance Foundation Co-Hosted by Mercedes Ellington & Tony Waag.
July 31, 2022 - A Night at The Ellington!
Hosted by Mercedes Ellington and featuring the incredible talents of Antoinette Montague, Danny Mixon, Sharon K Janda and Andrea Wright
December 11th, 2022 - A Night at The Ellington! Presented by The Duke Ellington Center for the Arts and The American Tap Dance Foundation Co-Hosted by Mercedes Ellington & Tony Waag.
September 20th, 2020 - The Duke Ellington Center for the Arts (DECFA) presents The Great Reunion: A Celebration of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.
June 21, 2020 - The City of Jazz
The Duke Ellington Center for the Arts proudly presented a virtual concert on Father's Day, 2020, inspired by Duke Ellington’s poem The City of Jazz.
April 29, 2020 - Happy Birthday Duke! DECFA (Duke Ellington Center for the Arts) know that "Things Ain't What They Used To Be," and we "Don't Get Around Much Any More," so we're coming to lift you up while we're ALL in our "Solitude," to bring "Duke's Place," to you!
SOMETHING 'BOUT BELIEVING (Duke Ellington) by Laurent Mignard Duke Orchestra Duke Ellington Sacred Concert, Oct 1st 2014 at Eglise de La Madeleine - Paris, France
Sophisticated Ladies Reunion! Duke Ellington: The Music That Defined A Century with Mercedes Ellington, Judith Jamison, Teri Klausner, Ty Stephens and guest hosts Erich McMillian-McCall and Kenneth Hanson
MERCEDES ELLINGTON, presented with a Lifetime Achievement In Dance Award. Short film screened at The Annual Honors Gala at Columbus State University, on December 1st 2017.
“The 24th International Duke Ellington Study Group Conference”
Panels led by eminent scholars, Ellington family members, Performances by world renowned artists and Broadway celebrities, Tony Award-winning Sophisticated Ladies
Saint Peter's Church, MIST Harlem, Jazz at Lincoln Center, National Jazz Museum, The Paley Center for Media
The 24th International Duke Ellington Study Group Conference will be presented by the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts (DECFA) in New York City from Thursday, May 19, through Sunday, May 22, 2016, the acclaimed dancer/choreographer Mercedes Ellington, Founder and President of the New York based arts organization created in 2004 to further the legacy of her grandfather, the legendary composer/Jazz musician/Orchestra leader Duke Ellington.
From the Great American Songbook
Mercedes Ellington was a member of the June Taylor Dancers, appearing regularly on The Jackie Gleason Show. June Taylor's dance troupe was a prominent feature of The Jackie Gleason Show, and Liberace's appearances often included musical performances.
Filmed and edited by Michael Lee Stever