Alvin Ailey is widely regarded as one of the keynote figures in American modern dance, having established the stature of his Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater throughout the world. Ailey was born on 5 January 1931 in Texas, with his experiences of life in the rural South later inspiring some of the most memorable parts of his most popular and critically acclaimed work Revelations, through what he called ‘blood memories’: the blues, spirituals and gospel.
Ailey’s formal dance training began with an introduction to Lester Horton’s classes. Horton was the founder of one of the first racially-integrated dance companies in the United States and became Ailey’s mentor. After Horton’s death in 1953, Ailey directed Lester Horton Dance Theater and then began to choreograph his own works. In the 1950s and 60s, Ailey performed in four Broadway shows and went on to study dance with Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman and Hanya Holm, some of the huge powerhouses of American modern dance.
1958 saw Ailey found Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to carry out his vision of a company dedicated to enriching the American modern dance heritage and preserving the uniqueness of the African-American cultural experience. He established the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (now The Ailey School) in 1969 and formed the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble (now Ailey II) in 1974. Ailey was a pioneer of programmes promoting arts in education to multi-racial American culture until he died on 1 December 1989.
The Ailey company has performed for an estimated 23 million people at theatres in 48 states and 71 countries on six continents, celebrating the uniqueness of the African-American cultural experience and preserving American modern dance. The company continues Ailey’s mission by presenting particular works of the 79 from Ailey’s past and commissioning new ones: in all, more than 200 works by over 80 choreographers are part of the Ailey company’s repertory. Before his death, Ailey designated Judith Jamison as his successor, and over the next 21 years, she brought the Company to unprecedented success. In July 2011, Jamison passed this great responsibility to Robert Battle as Artistic Director.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.