Pas de "Duke" The River Sea-Change |
Alvin Ailey was born in Rogers,
Texas on January 5, 1931 and
moved to Los Angeles, California
at the age of twelve. There, on a
junior high school class trip to the
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, he
fell in love with concert dance.
Inspired by performances of the
Katherine Dunham Dance
Company and classes with Lester
Horton, Mr Ailey began his formal
dance training. It was with Mr.
Horton, the founder of the first
racially integrated dance company
in this country, that Mr. Ailey
embarked on his professional
dance career. After Horton's death
in 1953, Mr. Ailey became the
director of the Lester Horton
Dance Theater and began to
choreograph his own works. In
1954, he and his friend Carmen de
Lavallade were invited to New York
to dance in the Broadway show,
House of Flowers by
Truman Capote. In New York,
Mr. Ailey studied with many
outstanding dance artists,
including Martha Graham, Doris
Humphrey and Charles Weidman
and took acting classes with Stella
Adler. The versatile Ailey won a
number of acting roles, continued
to choreograph and performed as a
dancer.In 1958, Mr. Ailey founded his
own company, the Alvin Ailey
American Dance Theater. Mr.
Ailey had a vision of creating a
company dedicated to the
preservation and enrichment of the
American modern dance heritage
and the uniqueness of black
cultural expression. In 1960, he
choreographed
Revelations, the classic
masterpiece of American modern
dance based on the religious
heritage of his
youth.Throughout his lifetime, Mr. Ailey
created some 79 ballets, many of
which have appeared in the
repertoire of major dance
companies, including American
Ballet Theatre, The Joffrey Ballet,
Dance Theatre of Harlem, Paris
Opera Ballet and La Scala
Ballet.Mr. Ailey died on December 1,
1989. Anna Kisselgoff of The New
York Times wrote of Mr. Ailey,
"You didn't need to have known
Ailey personally to have been
touched by his humanity,
enthusiasm and exuberance and
his courageous stand for
multiracial
brotherhood." |
All rights reserved.