The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a light and a beacon of cultural heritage and new artistic expression in the extraordinary dance world through its hallowed performance seasons and world tours. We like to think that the first performance of our founding choreographer Alvin Ailey’s philosophy of hope through movement was a force of nature in its own right. Lumiere was the first motion picture shot in 1895; we like to think of our first performance at The 92nd Street Y in New York City in March 1958 under the founding direction of Alvin Ailey and a cohort of young modern dancers of color as the first dance film.
A Global Phenomenon
In seven decades, the Ailey company has toured an estimated 25 million people in 48 states and 71 countries on six continents. They have been seen by millions more in television broadcasts, film screenings, and online. Ailey’s work in dancing the African American experience throughout the diaspora was declared’ a vital American cultural ambassador to the world in 2008, when the House of Representatives in the U.S. Congress honored the company and, by extension, the black American experience and its contribution to the American modern dance canon.
The Ailey Legacy
Alvin Ailey’s inspiration – ‘blood memories,’ as he called them – of Texas, the blues, spirituals, and gospel became Revelations, arguably his most excellent work. Ailey created 79 pieces of choreography for the company. According to Kwame, that was never the reason the company existed: Ailey, he said, considered himself one of many choreographers who were necessary to keep this company working. You’d never know that Ailey was anything but a vital center had you spoken to a group of board members and dancers in the modern company three weeks ago. ‘We constantly reinforce the message that we are not just the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater,’ Kwame said. ‘We facilitate works of the past that are essential pieces of American art dance. And we also create new works of product. We have more than 235 works by more than 90 choreographers for the company.
Leadership and Innovation
When he died in 1989, Ailey named his protégée, Judith Jamison, his successor. She was in charge for 21 years until she resigned in 2011. Her choice, Robert Battle, has been at the helm since 2011. In the New York Times in 2012, he was praised for giving the ensemble a renewed sense of life.
Ailey II: The Next Generation
And Ailey II, the junior company, mirrors the commitment of the leading company to invention and quality. Ailey II was established in 1974 as a vehicle for giving early-career dancers with talent and excitement ‘an opportunity to perform groundbreaking contemporary repertory,’ as well as a forum ‘to provide choreographers at the vanguard of the field an opportunity to nurture fresh ideas,’ as the company describes it on its website. Under the current direction of the Ailey School veteran Francesca Harper, the company continues to sustain the Ailey legacy while embracing new creative directions.
In sum, Alvin Ailey’s American Dance Theater and Ailey II are integral parts of the landscape of contemporary American dance, and the consecration of movement offers a profound appreciation of the African American experience. Ailey’s global reach serves a mission to impact lives through dance, nurturing, and grooming young replacements. The institution founded by this African American icon, a sexually liberal fatalist during the Cold War era and a vocal advocate for racial tolerance, will likely continue to entertain and inspire audiences for generations to come.
