How Did Alvin Ailey Contribute To Dance

Alvin Ailey was one of the greatest choreographers of his time and his legacy still lives on through his techniques and his preeminent dance company. Despite racial issues of his time, he was able to overcome them, learn from one of the greatest modern choreographers who came before him, land a job on Broadway, and later create his own long living dances through his own dance company which began with all black dancers. His legacy lives in his ability to rise above racial issues and create a new community of African American dancers in modern dance. Born in Texas during the Great Depression, Ailey grew up in hardship while also facing racial issues in the South. Around age 11 was where Ailey’s life began to gain purpose. He moved to Los

He knew there was a need for change in the lives of aspiring African-American dancers. There was no place or company where African-American dancers could come together and perform what they stood for and show their background to the world through the medium of dance. “Revelations” did so in an incredibly successful way. It allowed these black dancers to finally express themselves and stand in a community of others like them who shared the same life experiences because they were black growing up in a slowly integrating

He wanted his culture to be prominent in his work and he did so by showing the world what he, as a black man, stood for through his choreography. He choreographed a piece titled “Survivors” in 1987. This powerful dance was in honor of the rights activists Nelson and Winnie Mandela in South Africa. This dance captures the hurt and anger of the activists in South Africa using symbolism, unique lighting, and emotional live music, according to Anna Kisselgoff’s article in the New York Times from 1987 after the piece was debuted. Ailey uses current events to attract his audience and exemplify the culture of Africans, and in this case the hardships of Africans, which is one of his main goals as a