The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will return to Lincoln Center this June for 15 performances. This engagement will feature new productions of works by Judith Jamison and Robert Battle, as well as a world premiere of Exodus by Rennie Harris. Also included in the program are crowd favorites, Grace by Ronald K. Brown, Ulysses Dove‘s Bad Blood, and Revelations by Alvin Ailey.
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was founded in 1958 with a mission to bring African-American cultural expression and the American modern dance tradition to the world. This mission was first carried out with the creation of Ailey’s masterpiece, Revelations, in 1960. A school was established in 1969 and the following year, both school and company found a home in Manhattan. In the years to come, the company gained national and international acclaim as the ensemble grew and Ailey collaborated with the Metropolitan Opera (Carmen) in 1972, p
erformed at the Duke Ellington Festival at Lincoln Center with the Ellington Orchestra in 1975, and performed for President Carter at the White House in 1978. In 1987, Alvin Ailey received modern dance’s greatest honor, the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award
The following year, he was the recipient of The Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime contribution to American culture through the performing arts. Shortly before Ailey’s untimely death in 1989, Judith Jamison, a company member since 1965, was named Artistic Director. Jamison continued to take the company further causing Dance Magazine to call the Ailey company “recession-proof” due to its worldwide success in 1992. Under her leadership, the company has continued to tour all over the world and dancers from all over the world have come to study at the Ailey School. In 2011, Jamison became Artistic Director Emerita and choreographer Robert Battle became the active Artistic Director, continuing a legacy of dance that has become vital in the artistic fabric of America.
Check out Alvin Ailey’s REVELATIONS below!
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will perform at Lincoln Center at the David H. Koch Theater June 10-21.
For tickets and more information, visit www.alvinailey.org
