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An Essay On Alvin Ailey

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Alvin Ailey is a famous pioneer dancer that was a choreographer. He was born in texas in 1931 and died in New York City of AIDS in 1989. He was birth by a teenage mother and grew up without a father figure. At the age of 12 he moved to Los Angeles and his gift was proven in many ways. He was really good at athletics. Alvin had many talents to get any type of career and he chose dancing out of all of them and made many accomplishments that some could not. After school he had joined a dance company called Horton’s Dance Company the following year after he decided to pursue dance.
In 1954, Ailey made his Broadway debut in Truman Capote's. This was his first debut in his career in Broadway. Helped him be successful in his career and collab with …show more content…

What made this accomplishment so great is that it was another set that made its way on Broadway. This event included some other famous people like Lena Horne and Ricardo Montalban during 1967. Things like this lead to him getting his own dance company and opening a school. The time he started his own company was the year after the Broadway show. His theatre of his company is located in New York. Which went on a international tour in 1962.
In 1968, Alvin Ailey had the performance of Revelations on Ballet Folklorico for the beginning of the Olympics that took place in Mexico City. This set had credibility because it not only popular dance work it became a cultural treasure. This work of art was performed plenty of times around the globe. The music they had use for the performance was gospel and holy blue songs. It is supposed to explore the places of your deepest grief and holiest joy in the soul.
Ailey hade debuted Blues Suite a piece that drew the southern roots. This is the ballet that launched the sensational Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. During this time Alvin was only 27 years old when the ballet had premiered. Some would say that this piece was one of Alvin’s greatest masterpiece.He had found his own voice in the creative artist he was presenting on the concert dance

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The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater was created after a famous performance, led by Alvin Ailey and a group of African-American dancers in March 1958, dramatically changed how individuals viewed American dance. The theater’s goal was to celebrate the African-American culture and preserve the legacy of modern dance, which has since, been achieved through performances, “for an estimated 25 million people at theaters in 28 states and 71 countries on six continents[...] (by) more than 235 works by over 90 choreographers,” (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater). Alvin Ailey, born in Texas, grew up knowing that his experiences living in the South would have some influence on his works later on his life. In Los Angeles, Ailey began to dance when he discovered the beauty of dance by the performances of Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and the Katherine Dunham Dance Company. Soon after, his friend persuaded Ailey to join a class in one of the first racially-integrated dance studios which existed in the United States, led by Leston Horton.

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One of his male friends introduced him to the dance world at Horton’s Dance School. This school had a dance company that was actually the first company that accepted dancers of all races. At the age of 22, Alvin began complete training at Horton’s school. At the end of 1953, Horton passed away leaving the company without a choreographer. Though Alvin had little training and was only 22 years old, he was well known and respected in the Horton School.

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Ailey being an American choreographer shows how he was able to become a household name in the dance world. Ailey choreographed over 80 ballets which easily illustrates how Ailey became an acknowledged figure in his community. Ailey’s most popular show Revelations is being performed till this day which shows how Ailey was able to leave a historical footprint on the dance world. Ailey's choreographic masterpiece Revelations is believed to be the best known and most often seen modern dance performance in history.

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Alvin Ailey had a dream of starting his own company and, encouraged by Lester Horton, he moved to New York City to pursue a dance career. When first arriving in New York he took dance classes all over town and met many different dancers. Nine of those dancers shared his dream to start a unique modern dance company that would include blues and gospel music which was the heritage of African-American people (Pinkney 20). He shared his dream for this company and said, " I am trying to show the world that we are all human beings and that color is not important. What is important is the quality of our work" ( Defrantz).

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