Papers On Alvin Ailey

Alvin Ailey Jr. is a well known African American choreographer. He is also known for founding the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater located in New York City. Alvin Ailey Jr. was also an activist of African American culture, that helped him shape the way he choreographed his modern dances. His early life had many obstacles that helped him become the man he was throughout his tenure.

Alvin Ailey Jr. was born to Alvin and Lula Elizabeth Ailey on January 5, 1931, in Rogers, Texas. His father, Alvin, left the family when Alvin Jr. was only 1 and a half years old, leaving his mother to raise Alvin alone. During his childhood, he dealt with segregation in his neighborhood. Schools were divided and there was much violence and hatred on his own race

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. He was then selected to became the new artistic director of the company. This was a great accomplishment for someone of his age and was only the beginning to his successful

After establishing his own dance company, he got much recognition inside an outside of the dance world. He was asked multiple times to choreograph for other companies including a dance for the well known American Ballet Theater, named The River. In 1988, Alvin received the Kennedy Center Honors Prize for his contributions to the arts. In 1979 Alvin won the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP and the Capezio Award. Recently in 2014, 25 years after Alvin Ailey’s death, Barack Obama selected Alvin Ailey to be the recipient of the Presidential Metal of