Tracy Inman (born January 5, 1961 in

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) is an American dancer, choreographer, and educator who performed with the

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) is a modern dance company based in New York City. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey. It is made up of 32 dancers, led by artistic director Robert Battle and associate ...

. He is currently the co-director of The Ailey School and a choreographer & consultant for the television series '' Pose''.

Education

Born and raised in Washington D.C., Inman, who is

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

, attended the

Duke Ellington School of the Arts The Duke Ellington School of the Arts (established 1974) is a high school located at 35th Street and R Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., and dedicated to arts education. One of the high schools of the District of Columbia Public School syst ...

with a concentration in orchestral music. While at school he played violin with the D.C. Youth Orchestra, where he also served as a concert master and teacher. In 1981 he auditioned for The Ailey School, which accepted him and awarded him a fellowship scholarship to fund his studies. Having no prior experience with concert dance, Inman struggled throughout his first year of study, though by end of his second year his progress was such that he was invited by artistic director Sylvia Waters to join Ailey 2. In addition to dancing with the company, he also spent time working with the

Dance Place Dance Place is an arts organization in the Edgewood neighborhoodhttps://goo.gl/maps/HfNB5TmHQsv Edgewood Map of Northeast Washington, D.C. The nearest metro station is Brookland/CUA on the Red Line. History DC Wheel Productions, Inc./Dance ...

Career

In 1984 Inman left Ailey 2 to join the international production of the musical '' Cats'' in

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where he played the character 'Tumble-Brutus'. In 1989 he danced for ''The

Judith Jamison Judith Ann Jamison (pronounced JAM-ih-son) (born May 10, 1943) is an American dancer and choreographer. She is the artistic director emerita of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Early training Judith Jamison was born in 1943 to Tessie Brown Ja ...

Project'' and was then invited to join the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater—over which Jamison had just been appointed artistic director—the following year. During his time performing around the world with the AAADT, Inman danced in a wide repertoire of ballets created by choreographic masters including

Alvin Ailey Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center ...

Donald McKayle Donald McKayle (July 6, 1930 – April 6, 2018) was an American modern dancer, choreographer, teacher, director and writer best known for creating socially conscious concert works during the 1950s and '60s that focus on expressing the human con ...

Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

Pearl Primus Pearl Eileen Primus (November 29, 1919 – October 29, 1994) was an American dancer, choreographer and anthropologist. Primus played an important role in the presentation of African dance to American audiences. Early in her career she saw the n ...

, Louis Johnson, Donald Byrd, Ulysses Dove, and Jamison herself. In 1994 he joined

Desmond Richardson Desmond Richardson is an American dancer, actor and co-founder, and co-artistic director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet. He has mastered a wide range of dance forms including hip hop, classical, modern, classical ballet, and contemporary balle ...

and

Dwight Rhoden Dwight Rhoden is an American choreographer and artistic director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet who began dancing at the age of 17 while studying acting. He has performed with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Les Ballet Jazz de Montréa ...

, performing as an original member of their company

Complexions Contemporary Ballet Complexions Contemporary Ballet is a contemporary ballet company founded in 1994 by Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson. The company, based in New York City, is a multicultural mix of classical and contemporary dancers. History Complexions Co ...

. Inman returned to the musical ''Cats'' in 1996, this time in Antwerp, Belgium as the character "Alonzo". He came back to The Ailey School in 1999 to teach the Horton dance technique and was then appointed co-director of the school's junior division alongside Melanie Person. He became associate director of the school in 2009. Following the death of Denise Jefferson in 2010 he was designated co-director of The Ailey School, again alongside Melanie Person. During his time as co-director, Inman has emphasized the importance training in classical modern, knowing dance history, and utilizing musicality and breathing while dancing. He has also served as the Ailey company's ambassador for visiting guests, including training Conan O'Brien in dance on national television during O'Brien's visit to New York City. Since 2018 Inman has served as a choreographer and consultant on modern dance for the TV series Pose. In a article with the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

he revealed that after hiring him, the show changed its initial focus from Martha Graham's technique to

Lester Horton Lester Iradell Horton (23 January 1906 – 2 November 1953) was an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Early years and education Lester Iradell Horton was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on 23 January 1906. His parents were Iradell and Poll ...

's, which served as an inspiration for

's choreography. This is because Inman, who teaches Horton, felt that the technique was more suitable for illustrating dynamic male dancing.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Inman, Tracy 20th-century American dancers African-American ballet dancers African-American male dancers People from Washington, D.C. American choreographers 1961 births Living people 21st-century American dancers 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people