Alvin Ailey: The fascinating artist who changed modern dance forever
In 2020, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre marked its sixtieth anniversary in quarantine. Sequestered in my home, I subscribed to their channel and watched their performances with the same fervor that I first experienced American ballet at the Herodion. It was my first encounter with black dancers. The works of Alvin Ailey have become cultural treasures, cherished by many generations over half a century.
Today, it’s hard to find a dance enthusiast who hasn’t seen Alvin Ailey’s ballets. Greece has always been a favored stop on the company’s tours, filling venues like the Herodeion, Lycabettus, and the Megaron Music Hall with iconic performances such as “Revelations”, “Cry”, and “Rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham”. Audiences repeatedly request encores. While the concept of inclusion in art may seem more straightforward today, it was far from a given when Ailey began his mission to reshape the dance landscape. He took his performances on extensive tours, introducing dance to people who had never experienced a contemporary dance performance before, particularly African-American audiences who became the backbone of the Dance Theatre.
The greatest gift Ailey gave to the world through his life in dance was hope. His work paved the way for future black dancers and choreographers. Dance professionals, especially Americans, regard Ailey as more than a choreographer – they see him as an American hero.
At a time when dance was predominantly white – even today a black prima ballerina is newsworthy – and multicultural dance forms were unheard of, Ailey managed to permanently alter the perception of not only American dance, but also global dance. He introduced works where the black body took center stage in the most poetic manner, making intensely personal and deeply emotional statements that spoke to each viewer individually. He bridged classical and contemporary dance, demonstrating that art is a realm of joy, creativity, and freedom for all.
Major Exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art
On September 25, the first large-scale museum exhibition dedicated to the life, work, influences, and enduring legacy of visionary artist and choreographer Alvin Ailey, aptly named “Edges of Ailey,” will open at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The exhibition, presented in two parts, sprawls over 1,500 square feet and features works by more than 80 artists. It unveils archival materials and performances that will also be showcased live at the museum.
The exhibition brings together visual arts, live performance, music, archival materials, and a multi-screen installation of performances from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre (AAADT) repertoire, offering a comprehensive exploration of the founder’s personal and creative journey.
The exhibition is composed of performance footage, recorded interviews, notebooks, letters, poems, short stories, choreographic notes, performance plans and programs, and posters collected from the archives of AAADT and other sources. This creative, uniquely influential, and unrepeatable world is largely made up of archival exhibits from the Library of Congress, digitized specifically for this exhibition. Other materials come from the Black Archives of Mid America in Kansas City, Missouri.
A Dance Icon
Alvin Ailey envisioned and founded a dance company that was open to reflection and ideologies. The initial members he invited did not possess the traditional dance experience or credentials required by conventional dance troupes. Instead, he recruited dancers based on their talent and ability to internalize and communicate the essence of a composition to the audience. Today, the company welcomes dancers from around the globe and continues to foster a diverse ensemble.
Ailey’s greatest gift to the world, as exemplified by his life in dance, was hope. His work paved the way for future black dancers and choreographers. Ailey is revered not just as a choreographer, but as an American hero in the dance community, particularly among Americans. His legacy continues to thrive through each choreography he created. Today, he is recognized as an unparalleled dancer, a forward-thinking visionary, and one of the most significant choreographers of the 20th century. His contributions have indelibly shaped the trajectory of modern dance.
Ailey was born on January 5, 1931, in Rogers, Texas, during the height of the Great Depression, in the racially divided and segregated South. As a child, he witnessed the brutality of the Ku Klux Klan and the horrific assault on his mother by four white men.
Coming from a background of social exclusion, Ailey grew up accompanying his mother, a laborer in cotton fields and a housekeeper. His early memories were filled with the hardships of fieldwork and the river baptisms organized by the local church. These experiences later became the inspiration for some of his most notable works. His world was a fusion of blues and gospel, punctuated by moments in the church where he observed adults dancing. He began to keep a diary, a habit he sustained throughout his life.
In 1941, he relocated to Los Angeles with his mother. During his middle and high school years, he was exposed to the arts. He saw African-American performers such as Lena Horne, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington in Los Angeles theaters. At the age of 15, he watched the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo on a school trip, an experience that ignited a lifelong passion for dance.
During this time, Ailey discovered his homosexuality, which made him feel even more isolated. Determined to explore his physical impulses, he turned to dance. His classmate and girlfriend, Carmen De Lavallade, introduced him to Lester Horton’s Melrose Avenue studio, where he began to seriously pursue contemporary dance.
Horton’s school, which became a mentoring space for Ailey, was one of the most progressive dance institutions. There, Ailey learned a variety of dance styles and techniques, ranging from ballet to Native American dances. He also studied language and creative writing at UCLA. It was at UCLA that he met Maya Angelou, then known as Marguerite Johnson, with whom he opened the nightclub Al and Rita.
Like all of Horton’s students, Ailey explored other art forms, including painting, acting, music, set design, and costume design. He later studied acting under Stella Adler. In the summer of 1953, he choreographed his first piece, “Afternoon Blues”, a solo blues adaptation of “Afternoon of a Faire” that he had seen performed by the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo.
In the same year, Horton died of a heart attack. Ailey stepped in as the artistic director and choreographer of the Horton Dance Company, with the support of the permanent faculty members. In 1954, he created his first major group piece, “Creation of the World”, and began featuring the group’s work on television shows.
In 1954, Ailey and his friend Carmen De Lavallade, a dancer, actress, and choreographer, were invited by choreographer Herbert Ross to New York to participate in the Broadway musical, “House of Flowers”. Ross was eager to work with Ailey and De Lavallade, who had already established their reputation with Horton’s dance company in Los Angeles.
After the performances concluded, Ailey joined the Harry Belafonte tour as a dancer.
The inspiration to form his own group arose when he couldn’t find a choreographer whose work fully satisfied him. Intent on continuing the work he started at the Horton School, he began to assemble dancers to bring his unique vision of dance to life. In 1958, he established the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre to celebrate black culture through dance. The company made its debut on March 30, 1958 with his inaugural masterpiece, “Blues Suite”, which was a reflection of his childhood in Texas with blues music as the backdrop. Ailey himself performed in the piece, and following the success of his first show, he continued to choreograph for his company, which at that time did not have any permanent dancers, as well as for other groups, including the Shirley Broughton Dance Company.
On January 31, 1960, AADT premiered several new pieces at the 92nd Street YM-YWHA and showcased its most popular and acclaimed work, “Revelations”. This creation drew from his memories of Texas, the blues, and church spiritual circles, with his full spectrum of emotions choreographed in a sublime manner. Ailey’s work during this period was distinct from many other contemporary dance choreographers. His storytelling and the narratives he chose resonated with a multiracial audience beyond New York City and piqued the interest of the avant-garde. Most notably, his creation of Revelations in 1960 solidified his reputation as an innovative choreographer with the ability to transcend racial barriers and deeply connect with diverse communities.
Revelations – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
In the autumn of 1961, the U.S. State Department invited the AADT to tour Southeast Asia and Australia as part of President Kennedy’s Special International Program for Cultural Presentations.
Ailey put together a team of ten dancers and four musicians to tour the globe. Over two years, they delivered 60 performances and in 1968, they graced the stage at the Edinburgh Festival. Ailey became a global ambassador for African-American dance, and the State Department’s advocacy for racial equality played a significant role in garnering the group international recognition.
However, the very relationship that propelled the group to fame, their association with the state, also placed immense pressure on Ailey. He was under constant surveillance by the FBI due to his “lewd and criminal homosexual tendencies”. There were threats to disband his group if he exhibited any signs of “effeminate” or homosexual behavior during tours.
Despite the international acclaim, performances on home soil were sporadic. This changed when Ailey began collaborating with Duke Ellington. During this partnership, he crafted new choreographies, including “The Blues Ain’t”, “Light”, “My Mother My Father”, “Rivers”, “Streams”, and “Doors”.
During a European tour in 1965, Ailey suffered a physical breakdown. Coupled with the negative reviews he received at the Florence Festival, he made the decision to retire from dancing and temporarily cease his choreographic work.
Three years on, with a Guggenheim Fellowship under his belt, he produced his first pop music piece, signing one of his most commercial works, “Diversion No.1”.
In 1968, he created a politically charged piece, “Masekela Langage”, set against the backdrop of South Africa, addressing racial politics and apartheid. This unconventional work for Ailey garnered immediate acclaim and is frequently revived by the AAADT.
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Since 1969, his group had been based at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where he sponsored free classes for children and young adults, with the aim of transforming immense youthful anger into art. In 1970, he toured Russia, and AAADT became the first American contemporary dance company to perform in the Soviet Union. Their performances, broadcast on Moscow television, were viewed by over 22 million people, who watched in awe. The success in the Soviet Union echoed worldwide, and 13 years later, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre was a resounding success.
Ailey also choreographed ballets for other companies, including the American Ballet Theatre, the Joffrey Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, and the Metropolitan Opera. For the American Ballet Theatre, he created The River (1970), one of his many choreographies set to jazz music by Duke Ellington.
His solitary attempt to choreograph on Broadway, with the musical La Strada, opened and closed after a single performance on 14 December 1969.
He established the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center to provide access to the arts and dance for communities lacking resources. To this day, the Ailey School remains the largest in New York City, dedicated to training dancers from all walks of life.
The stigma of AIDS
Ailey was notably private about his personal life. He passed away on 1 December 1989 due to complications related to AIDS. His dancer and muse, Judith Jamison, who performed a moving “Cry,” a piece he had dedicated to his mother and black women worldwide, succeeded him as the artistic director of AADT.
In an essay titled “Loving the Unknown Alvin Ailey,” former dancer and journalist Juan Michael Porter II writes, among other things: “[…] Few people truly knew who Ailey was. The tragedy is that this secrecy likely contributed to his death at the age of 58. Indeed, when he succumbed to AIDS-related complications on December 1, 1989, he requested his doctor to declare hematological dyscrasia as the cause of his death, in an effort to spare his mother the stigma associated with AIDS […] As a black gay man living with HIV, I find a tragic irony in the fact that the day he passed away is recognized as World AIDS Day. Back in 1989, HIV and AIDS were largely seen as a death sentence, and those diagnosed with the virus were often ostracized […] Ailey loved his people unconditionally, regardless of who they were. Yet, he lived and died in a time when he was compelled to conceal his own identity […] 32 years after his passing, his work continues to offer the world some of the most profound portrayals of black people in all their intricate beauty. Regrettably, while Ailey’s creations celebrate life and continue to inspire many of us, the very factors that led to his death – HIV, AIDS, and stigma – persist in claiming lives. This is particularly true for black individuals, who are disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS. The stigma surrounding HIV hinders them from accessing preventative and life-saving care. Ailey was never able to freely express his love for himself and others…
Today, every community, every individual across the globe owes a debt to Alvin Ailey for the liberation they experience with each choreography, a jubilant, redemptive ascension, the sensation of living as openly as he couldn’t. In his invaluable work, he underscored, years before the advent of the Black Lives Matter movement, the significance of visibility, inclusion, acceptance, and access to art for the underprivileged. He posited that these elements could and should serve as a unifying force and sanctuary for both artists and audiences.
Edges of Ailey | Exhibition Preview
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