Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director,

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who c ...

, and activist who founded 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 ...

(AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (later Ailey School) as havens for nurturing Black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance. A gay man, his work fused theater, modern dance, ballet, and jazz with Black vernacular, creating hope-fueled choreography that continues to spread global awareness of Black life in America. Ailey's choreographic masterpiece '' Revelations'' is recognized as one of the most popular and most performed ballets in the world. On July 15, 2008, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

passed a resolution designating AAADT a "vital American cultural ambassador to the World." That same year, in recognition of AAADT's 50th anniversary, then Mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a c ...

declared December 4 "Alvin Ailey Day" in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, while then-Governor

David Paterson David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to December 2010. A ...

honored the organization on behalf of

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. sta ...

Early life and education

Born in Rogers, Texas, at the height of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

in the violently racist and segregated south, during his youth Ailey was barred from interacting with mainstream society. Abandoned by his father Alvin Ailey when he was three months old, Ailey and his mother, Lula Elizabeth, were forced to work in cotton fields and as domestics in white homes — the only employment available to them. As an escape, Ailey found refuge in the church, sneaking out at night to watch adults dance, and in writing a journal, a practice that he maintained his entire life. Even this could not shield him from a childhood spent moving from town to town as his mother sought employment, being abandoned with relatives whenever she took off on her own, or watching her get raped at the hands of a white man when he was five years old. Looking for greater job prospects, Ailey's mother departed for

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

in 1941. He arrived a year later, enrolling at George Washington Carver Junior High School, and then graduating into Thomas Jefferson High School. In 1946 he had his first experience with concert dance when he saw the Katherine Dunham Dance Company and

Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo The company Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo (with a plural name) was formed in 1932 after the death of Sergei Diaghilev and the demise of Ballets Russes. Its director was Wassily de Basil (usually referred to as Colonel W. de Basil), and its ...

perform at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Auditorium. This awakened an until then unknown spark of joy within him, though he did not become serious about dance until 1949 when his classmate and friend Carmen De Lavallade dragged him to the

Melrose Avenue Melrose Avenue is a shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Los Angeles that starts at Santa Monica Boulevard, at the border between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. It ends at Lucile Avenue in Silver Lake. Melrose runs north of ...

studio of

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 ...

. Ailey studied a wide range of dance styles and techniques — from ballet to Native American inspired movement studies — at Horton's school, which was one of the first racially integrated dance schools in the United States. Though Horton became his mentor, Ailey did not commit to dancing full-time; instead he pursued academic courses, studying

romance language The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language ...

s and writing at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. He continued these studies at San Francisco State in 1951. Living in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, he met

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

, then known as Marguerite Johnson, with whom he formed a nightclub act called "Al and Rita." Eventually, he returned to study dance with Horton in Los Angeles.

Career

He joined Horton's dance company in 1953, making his debut in Horton's ''Revue Le Bal Caribe''. Horton died suddenly that same year in November from a heart attack, leaving the company without leadership. In order to complete the organization's pressing professional engagements, and because no one else was willing to, Ailey took over as artistic director and choreographer. Carmen and ailvin

In 1954 De Lavallade and Ailey were recruited by

Herbert Ross Herbert David Ross (May 13, 1927 – October 9, 2001) was an American actor, choreographer, director and producer who worked predominantly in theater and film. He was nominated for two Academy Awards and a Tony Award. He is known for directing ...

to join the Broadway show, '' House of Flowers.'' Ross had been hired to replace George Balanchine as the show's choreographer and he wanted to use the pair, who had become known as a famous dance team in Los Angeles, as featured dancers. The show's book was written and adapted by

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...

from one of his novellas with music from

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ' ...

and starred

Pearl Bailey Pearl Mae Bailey (March 29, 1918 – August 17, 1990) was an American actress, singer and author. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in ''St. Louis Woman'' in 1946. She received a Special Tony Award for the title role in ...

and

Diahann Carroll Diahann Carroll (; born Carol Diann Johnson; July 17, 1935 – October 4, 2019) was an American actress, singer, model, and activist. She rose to prominence in some of the earliest major film studio, major studio films to feature black cas ...

. Ailey and De Lavallade met Geoffrey Holder, who performed alongside them in the chorus, during the production. Holder married De Lavallade and became a life-long artistic collaborator with Ailey. After ''House of Flowers'' closed, Ailey appeared in

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an internati ...

's touring revue ''Sing, Man, Sing'' with

Mary Hinkson Mary De Haven Hinkson (March 16, 1925 – November 26, 2014) was an African American dancer and choreographer known for breaking racial boundaries throughout her dance career in both modern and ballet techniques. She is best known for her work ...

as his dance partner, and the 1957 Broadway musical ''

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

'', which starred

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

and

Ricardo Montalbán Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG (; ; November 25, 1920 – January 14, 2009) was a Mexican and American film and television actor. Montalbán's career spanned seven decades, during which he became known for performances in a var ...

. Drawn to dance, but unable to find a choreographer whose work fulfilled him, Ailey started gathering dancers to perform his own unique vision of dance.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

In 1958 Ailey founded the

to present his vision of honoring Black culture through dance. The company had its debut at the

92nd Street Y 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a cultural and community center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the corner of East 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Founded in 1874 as the Young Men's Hebrew Association, the ...

. The performance included Ailey's first masterpiece, ''Blues Suite'', which followed men and women as they caroused and cavorted over the course of an evening while blues music played in the background until church bells began to ring, signalling a return to mundane life. Also in 1960, Ailey premiered his most popular and critically acclaimed work, '' Revelations'', again at the 92nd Street Y. In creating ''Revelations,'' Ailey drew upon his "blood memories" of growing up in Texas surrounded by Black people, the church, spirituals, and the blues. The ballet charts the full range of feelings, from the majestic "I Been ’Buked" to the rapturous "Wade in the Water," closing with the electrifying finale, "Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham." Alvin Ailey - Revelations

After this performance, and despite their success, the Ailey company struggled to find consistent bookings. Though the

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

sponsored AAADT's first international tour in 1962, which traveled across Asia — with followups to Senegal in 1966 and East & West Africa in 1967 — the company was able to book only a few performances per season in America. After a successful week-long engagement at the Billy Rose Theatre, the company was invited to become the resident company at

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

. The relationship did not go well and ended a few years later. Ailey struggled with the state department tours, which insisted on marketing the company as an "ethnic" company rather than a modern dance company, and were closely supervised by the FBI - the latter referred to Ailey's homosexuality as "lewd and criminal tendencies" and threatened his company with bankruptcy if he showed any signs of effeminate or homosexual behavior while on tour. In 1970, with few bookings on the radar — and on the eve of a tour to Russia as part of a cultural exchange agreement — Ailey announced at a press conference that he was closing the company. In response, the State Department sponsored an Ailey tour of North Africa to tide things over. That August, the company toured to Russia where it was ecstatically received. Their performances were broadcast on Moscow television and seen by over 22 million viewers. On closing night, because the Russian audiences would not stop applauding, the company gave over 30 curtain calls. Returning home with news of this triumph, the company performed a two-week engagement at the ANTA Theater. By the end of the January 1971 performance, the entire run was sold out. After 13 years, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre was a monumental success. In August 1972 the company was briefly renamed Alvin Ailey City Center Dance Theater and became a resident company of

New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational parent of the New York City Ballet and, until 2011, the New York City Opera. and t ...

. While Ailey choreographed more than 100 ballets for his dancers, he insisted that the company perform pieces by other choreographers rather than stand as a singular vehicle for his voice. Though AAADT was formed to celebrate African American culture and to provide performances for black dancers, who were frequently denied opportunities due to racist mores of the time, Ailey proudly employed artists based solely on artistic talent and integrity, regardless of their background. In addition to his work as artistic director and choreographer with AADT, Ailey also choreographed ballets for other companies including American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, and The Metropolitan Opera. For American Ballet Theater, he created ''The River'' (1970), one of several choreographies he set to the jazz music of

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was bas ...

The Ailey School

In 1969, Ailey founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center with the famed

Martha Graham Dance Company The Martha Graham Dance Company, founded in 1926, is known for being the oldest American dance company. Founded by Martha Graham as a contemporary dance company, it continued to perform pieces, revive classics, and train dancers even after Graham's ...

principal and choreographer

Pearl Lang Pearl Lang (May 29, 1921 – February 24, 2009) was an American dancer, choreographer and teacher renowned as an interpreter and propagator of the choreography style of Martha Graham, and also for her own longtime dance company, the Pearl Lang ...

as his co-director of the school. Their aim was to provide access to arts and dance to under-resourced communities. They started off in Brooklyn with 125 students. A year later the school relocated to Manhattan behind the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

complex. In 1984,

Denise Jefferson Denise Adele Jefferson (November 1, 1944 – July 17, 2010) was an American dance educator who served as the director of the Ailey School of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from 1984 until her death. Jefferson was born in Chicago and b ...

assumed directorship. Under her leadership, the school developed a Bachelor of Fine Arts Program in partnership with Fordham University in 1998. The school was renamed The Ailey School in 1999. Several years later, the school moved into The Joan Weill Center for Dance. Following Jefferson's death in 2010, Tracy Inman and Melanie Person assumed stewardship of the school as co-directors of the school. In 2012, after leading Ailey 2 for 38 years, Sylvia Waters retired. The second company's resident choreographer and associate director Troy Powell took over her role as artistic director. With the addition of the Elaine Wynn and Family Education Wing, the Ailey school is still growing and is now the largest place in New York City committed to training dancers. From her joining in 1965, the dancer

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 ...

served as Ailey's muse. In 1971 she premiered ''Cry'', which he dedicated to his mother and black women everywhere. She took over as artistic director following his death in 1989. Other important figures in the company include Sylvia Waters, who in 1974, after performing with the company for six year was asked by Ailey to lead The Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble — a junior company, known today as Ailey 2, that prepares leading students for professional dance careers - and Masazumi Chaya, who danced with the company for 15 years then became rehearsal director, and was appointed associate artistic director in 1991.

Personal life

Ailey loathed the label "Black choreographer" and preferred being known simply as a choreographer. He was notoriously private about his life. Though gay, he kept his romantic affairs in the closet. Following the death of his friend Joyce Trisler, a failed relationship, and bouts of heavy drinking and cocaine use, Ailey suffered a mental breakdown in 1980. He was diagnosed as manic depressive, known today as

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevat ...

. During his rehabilitation, Judith Jamison served as co-director of AAADT.

Death

Ailey died from an

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

-related illness on December 1, 1989, at the age of 58. He asked his doctor to announce that his death was caused by terminal blood dyscrasia in order to shield his mother from the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.

Reception and Legacy

Recognition and honors

*1968:

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the art ...

for Creative Arts, US & Canada *1977:

Spingarn Medal The Spingarn Medal is awarded annually by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for an outstanding achievement by an African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) ...

from the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&n ...

*1992: Inducted into the

National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame, in the Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga Springs, New York, was established in 1986. It contains photographs, videos, artifacts, costumes, and biographies. The museum is located in the former Was ...

*1989:

Kennedy Center Honors The Kennedy Center Honors are annual honors given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. They have been presented annually since 1978, culminating each December in a gala celebrating five hono ...

*2012: Ailey crater on Mercury named in his honor *2012: Inducted into the

Legacy Walk The Legacy Walk is an outdoor public display on North Halsted Street in Chicago, Illinois, United States, which celebrates LGBT contributions to world history and culture. According to its website, it is "the world's only outdoor museum walk and y ...

in 2012 *2014: Posthumously received the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...

from

President Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

. * August 2019: Inducted in the

Rainbow Honor Walk The Rainbow Honor Walk (RHW) is a walk of fame installation in San Francisco, California to honor notable lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals from around the world "who left a lasting mark on society." Its bronze pla ...

, a

walk of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood noting

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

people who have "made significant contributions in their fields" * 2020:

Figure-skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are men ...

choreographer Rohene Ward and Olympic medallist Jason Brown co-choreographed a tribute to Ailey set to

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blu ...

's version of " Sinnerman," which Brown competed in both the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 seasons, including at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Bei ...

. After his death, Ailey’s personal papers were housed at the

Black Archives of Mid-America The Black Archives of Mid-America also known as BAMA is a learning and research center located in Kansas City, Missouri, focused on the African American experience in the central Midwest. History The Black Archives of Mid-America is an archive th ...

in Kansas City, Missouri.

Documentary

In 2021, the documentary ''Ailey'' by director Jamila Wignot was released in the United States. Wignot first discovered the work of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater by attending a performance while she was a student at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial ...

; in her documentary more than twenty years later, Alexandra Villarreal of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' writes, "What emerges is a towering figure who won worldwide acclaim with art steeped in personal experience, yet was too afraid to openly share his full identity even in death." Though Ailey's work has been met with popular and critical acclaim, there have been detractors of his theatrical style. Marcia Siegel accused the company of "selling soul," and of amplifying and transforming the emotivity characteristic of

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She ...

and his modern dance teachers into "metaphors of the American black experience" while creating a positive stereotype of "supremely physical, supremely sensitive beings" at the expense of genuineness." Ailey responded to such criticism by stating, "The black pieces we do that come from blues, spirituals and gospels are part of what I am. They are as honest and truthful as we can make them. I'm interested in putting something on stage that will have a very wide appeal without being condescending; that will reach an audience and make it part of the dance; that will get everybody into the theater. If it's art and entertainment — thank God, that's what I want to be."

Associated people

In 1960,

James Truitte James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

joined the dance company, and later became an authority on

's technique.

Works

Choreography

* ''Cinco Latinos'', Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Kaufmann Concert Hall, New York City, 1958? * ''Blues Suite'' (also see below), Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Kaufmann Concert Hall, 1958. * '' Revelations'', Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Kaufmann ConcertHall, 1960 * ''Three for Now'', Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Clark Center, New York City, 1960. * ''Knoxville: Summer of 1915'', Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Clark Center, 1960. * (With Carmen De Lavallade) ''Roots of the Blues'', Lewisohn Stadium, New York City, 1961. * ''Hermit Songs'', Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 1963. * ''Ariadne'',

Harkness Ballet The Harkness Ballet (1964–1975) was a New York ballet company named after its founder Rebekah Harkness. Harkness inherited her husband's fortune in Standard Oil holdings, and was a dance lover. Harkness funded Joffrey Ballet, but when they r ...

, Opera Comique, Paris, 1965. * ''Macumba'', Harkness Ballet, Gran Teatro del Liceo, Barcelona, Spain,1966, then produced as ''Yemanja'', Chicago Opera House, 1967. * ''Quintet'', Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Church Hill Theatre,

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh F ...

, Scotland, 1968, then Billy Rose Theatre, New York City, 1969. * ''Masekela Langage'', Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, American Dance Festival, New London, Connecticut, 1969, then Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City, 1969. * ''Streams'', Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 1970. * ''Gymnopedies'', Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 1970. * ''The River'', American Ballet Theatre,

New York State Theater The David H. Koch Theater is a theater for ballet, modern and other forms of dance, part of the Lincoln Center, at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and 63rd Street in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Original ...

, 1970. * ''Flowers'', Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, ANTA Theatre, 1971. * ''Myth'', Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1971. * ''Choral Dances'', Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1971. * ''Cry'', solo created for

, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1971. * ''Mingus Dances'', Robert Joffrey Company, New York City Center, 1971. * ''Mary Lou's Mass'', Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1971. * ''Song for You'', solo created for Dudley Williams, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1972. * ''The Lark Ascending'', Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1972. * ''Love Songs'', Alvin Ailey City Center Dance Theater, New York City Center, 1972. * ''Shaken Angels'', 10th New York Dance Festival, Delacorte Theatre, New York City, 1972. *''Sea Change'', American Ballet Theatre, Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington, D.C., 1972, then New York City Center, 1973. *''Hidden Rites'', Alvin Ailey City Center Dance Theater, New York City Center, 1973. *''Archipelago'', 1971, *''The Mooche'', 1975, *''Night Creature'', 1975, *''Pas de "Duke''", 1976, *''Memoria'', 1979, *''Phases'', 1980 *''Landscape'', 1981.

Stage

Acting and dancing

*(Broadway debut) ''House of Flowers'', Alvin Theatre, New York City, 1954 – Actor and dancer. *''The Carefree Tree'', 1955 – Actor and dancer. *''Sing, Man, Sing'', 1956 – Actor and dancer. *''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

'', Marine Theatre, Jones Beach, New York, 1957 – Actor and dancer. *''

'', Imperial Theatre, New York City, 1957 – Actor and lead dance. *'' Call Me By My Rightful Name'', One Sheridan Square Theatre, 1961 – Paul. *''Ding Dong Bell'', Westport Country Playhouse, 1961 – Negro Political Leader. *''Blackstone Boulevard'', ''Talking to You'', produced as double-bill in ''2 by Saroyan'', East End Theatre, New York City, 1961–62. *''Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright'', Booth Theatre, 1962 – Clarence Morris.

Stage choreography

* ''Carmen Jones'', Theatre in the Park, 1959. * ''Jamaica'', Music Circus, Lambertville, New Jersey, 1959. * '' Dark of the Moon'', Lenox Hill Playhouse, 1960. * (And director) ''African Holiday'' (musical), Apollo Theatre, New York City, 1960, then produced at Howard Theatre, Washington, D.C., 1960. * ''Feast of Ashes'' (ballet), Robert Joffrey Company, Teatro San Carlos, Lisbon, Portugal, 1962, then produced at New York City Center, 1971. * ''

Antony and Cleopatra (opera) ''Antony and Cleopatra'', Op. 40, is an opera in three acts by American composer Samuel Barber. The libretto was prepared by Franco Zeffirelli. It was based on the play ''Antony and Cleopatra'' by William Shakespeare and made use of Shakespeare's ...

'', Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, New York City, 1966. * ''

La Strada ''La strada'' () is a 1954 Italian drama film directed by Federico Fellini and co-written by Fellini, Tullio Pinelli and Ennio Flaiano. The film tells the story of Gelsomina, a simple-minded young woman (Giulietta Masina) bought from her mother ...

'', first produced at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 1969. *

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

's ''Mass'', Metropolitan Opera House, 1972, then John F. Kennedy delícia Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia Academy of Music, both 1972. * ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the ...

'', Metropolitan Opera, 1972. * Choreographed ballet, ''Lord Byron'' (opera; also see below),

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely ...

of Music, New York City, 1972. * '' Four Saint'''' s in Three Acts'', Piccolo Met, New York City, 1973.

Director

* (With William Hairston) ''

Jerico-Jim Crow ''Jerico-Jim Crow'' is a 1964 musical, with a book written by Langston Hughes and William Hairston. It was a pioneering work in the urban contemporary gospel musical style, based on the themes of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. ...

'', The Sanctuary, New York City, 1964, then Greenwich Mews Theatre, 1968.

References

Citations

Cited works

External links

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
* * *

Kennedy Center biography
*
NPR: Holiday Dance at the Alvin Ailey Theater
'
Archive footage of Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble dancing Revelations in 1988 at Jacob's Pillow

Archival footage of Matthew Rushing performing in Alvin Ailey's ''Revelations'' in 2007 at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival

Archival footage of Ailey II performing in Alvin Ailey's ''Revelations'' in 1988 at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

Archival footage of Dance Theatre of Harlem performing in Alvin Ailey's ''The Lark Ascending'' in 2013 at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

Alvin Ailey
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ailey, Alvin 1931 births 1989 deaths 20th-century African-American artists 20th-century American male artists 20th-century LGBT people African-American ballet dancers African-American choreographers African-American male dancers AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) American choreographers American male ballet dancers American male dancers Burials at Rose Hills Memorial Park Dancers from Texas Deaths from pneumonia in New York City Gay artists Kennedy Center honorees LGBT African Americans LGBT choreographers LGBT dancers LGBT people from New York (state) LGBT people from Texas Modern dance Modern dancers People from Rogers, Texas People with bipolar disorder Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Spingarn Medal winners