Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater by Jack Mitchell

'Ailey liked to give dancers the opportunity to move in varied ways, not just in one vocabulary or one technique. Those pieces continue to be shared all over the world.' - Misty Copeland, principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre Pieces that unapologetically reflect the black experience in America and which, by extension, ARE the American experience. Our history as black people in America lives on through the masterpieces that Mr. Sixty years later and they're still setting the standard in dance and for diversity. 'What Alvin Ailey has done for American dance is incomparable. Upon the company's 60th anniversary season, espnW caught up with notable performers, including American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Misty Copeland and Ailey's artistic director emerita, Judith Jamison, to discuss how the organization has forever changed the world of dance. Dance wasn't just delicate it was athletic and rooted in social change.

The goal was to revolutionize performance art as we know it. In 1958, Alvin Ailey, a Broadway performer, choreographer and activist, and a group of young black modern dancers performed for the first time as members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at New York City's 92nd Street Y. The organic connection between song, story and movement are what make the Ailey experience special. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĬelebrating 60 Years of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theaterįront to back and back to front, bodies of all shapes and hues sway in unison to the lyrics of 'Wade in the Water,' a spiritual believed to be sung by African-Americans escaping slavery on the underground railroad, in an Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performance of 'Revelations.' Ailey performers - lithe, bold, powerful, technically sound and artistically driven - are griots, mapping out history through modern dance.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater by Jack Mitchell