Alvin Ailey

Alvin Ailey

Alvin Ailey, Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an African American modern dancer, dance teacher and choreographer who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Ailey was a gifted creator of dance that expresses the African American cultural experience and history. His choreographic works live on in performances by the company he founded. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater toured extensively and regularly in Europe and Asia during Ailey's lifetime, making Ailey a familiar name to dance lovers worldwide. His works continue to inspire, uplift, educate and communicate brilliance to all who witness them. One of his most well known works, Revelations consistently brings audiences to their feet in enthusiastic, spontaneous ovation.

Ailey died of AIDS, at the age of 58.

Beginnings

Ailey was born to his 17-year-old mother, Lula Cooper, in Rogers, Texas. His father abandoned the family when Alvin was only a few months old. Lula was a determined, hardworker who did not mind moving in order to move up. Young Alvin moved numerous times in his early years. One of the constants in Alvin's childhood was attendance at the True Vine Baptist church. His mother enjoyed singing in the gospel choir. Alvin's immersion in the experience of charismatic and enthusiastic worship filled with gospel music and old spirituals had a deep affect on him. Later in life, he choreographed dances to some of the music he first heard as a churchgoing youngster.

In 1943 he and his mother moved to Los Angeles. Alvin was fourteen. His mother was often working. The teen enjoyed his freedom after school to explore the city. He was drawn to the music pouring from the big band jazz clubs while the musicians practiced for their evening shows. He was also drawn to the theatre marquees announcing upcoming shows like Billie Holliday, Duke Ellington and others.

One day he spotted a handbill with a photo of a beautiful black dancer costumed in layers and layers of ruffles. This dancer was Katherine Dunham. At the time, Dunham's dance troupe was the only group of black dancers. They were touring and performing dances from Africa, Haiti and Latin America. Alvin was so curious that he found himself peaking in the stage door to catch sight of the performance. This was the beginning of a lifelong passion for him.

Initially, he took dance classes from choreographer Katherine Dunham, and later studied under Los Angeles, California dance teacher Lester Horton. While studying with Horton, Ailey pursued college courses in the Romance languages. At various times Ailey was enrolled at UCLA, Los Angeles City College, and the University of California, Berkeley. He studied authors like James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, and Carson McCullers. Ailey was fascinated by Horton's choreography, which consisted of theater pieces based on pictures by Paul Klee, poems by Garcia Lorca, music by Duke Ellington and Igor Stravinsky, and even Mexican themes. When Lester Horton died in 1953, 22-year-old Ailey was chosen to fill the shoes of his mentor. He became the director and resident choreographer for the Lester Horton Dance Theater. Within one year he choreographed three original dances for Horton's company: Creation of the World, According to St. Francis, and Mourning Morning.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Ailey started his own dance company in 1958 featuring primarily African American dancers. He integrated his dance company in 1963. He also directed; one notable production was Langston Hughes's Jericho-Jim Crow (1964).

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater popularized modern dance throughout the world with his international tours sponsored by the U.S. State Department.

Legacy

As a result of world tours, Ailey's choreographical masterpiece Revelations, based on Ailey's experience growing up as an African American in the South, is among the best known and most frequently seen of modern dance performances. This piece 'speaks' to audiences of all stripes in such a profound and inspiring way that audiences often leap to their feet in ovation at the close of the performance. It is a timeless portrayal of the experience of the American black south of the first half of the 20th century.

Ailey has been memorialized by the renaming of West 61st Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues in New York City as "Alvin Ailey Way"; the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was located on that block at 211 West 61st Street from 1989 until 2005, when it moved to a new, bigger facility at the corner of West 55th Street and Ninth Avenue. Ailey was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors in 1988.

Further reading

• Ailey, Alvin and with A. Peter Bailey (1995). Revelations: The Autobiography of Alvin Ailey. Secaucus, N.J.: Carol. ISBN 1-55972-255-X. 
• DeFrantz, Thomas F. (2004). Dancing Revelations: Alvin Ailey's Embodiment of African American Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515419-3. 

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Dunning, Jennifer. 1996. Alvin Ailey a life in dance. Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0201626071

Ailey, Alvin, and A. Peter Bailey. 1995. Revelations the autobiography of Alvin Ailey. Seacaucus, N.J., Carol Pub. Group. ISBN 155972255X

Cook, Susan, and Joseph. Mazo. 1978. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0688033040

Pinkney, Andrea David, and J. Brian Pinkney. 1993. Alvin Ailey. New York: Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN 1562824139

External links

• American Ballet Theater biography retrieved 11/28/07
• Kennedy Center biography retrieved 11/28/07
• Body and Soul: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from the Smithsonian Institution rtrieved 11/28/07

• NPR: Holiday Dance at the Alvin Ailey Theater retrieved 11/28/07
• Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater retrieved 11/28/07

• Ailey biography retrieved 11/28/07

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