Alvin Ailey was a legendary a dancer, choreographer and activist.
He was a revolutionary of modern dance who amplified the movement of Black bodies. And, perhaps most notably, he was the artistic director and founder of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which he founded during the Civil Rights era in March 1958, in a role that cannot be overstated.
At a time when full Blackness was often castigated, Ailey’s performances portrayed a beautiful spectrum of Blackness as fully human. Ailey’s work forced America to view itself through his experiences being raised in the deep South, in the racists pockets of Rogers, Texas, and through his cultured world travels. He elevated Black excellence and delivered a sense of pride for the Black community as well as his dance group.
Ailey’s magnum opus Revelations, first performed in 1960, is an example of fine art, and continues to awe audiences around the globe decades later. This work and others are testaments of Ailey’s brilliance and contribution to American culture. Ailey’s artistic productions birthed icons as you can imagine. In commemoration of the anniversary, Blavity spoke with the fabulous artistic directors Judith Jamison and innovative Robert Battle to learn about their journeys, and discuss the legacy Ailey created through his dance theater as the company celebrates its 60th anniversary.
BLAVITY: Can you tell us about that journey in those times?
Judith: I was in Philadelphia, I was six-years-old, I was a gangly little child. My parents decided that they wanted a graceful little girl, and I was gangly, and kind of clumsy. My parents put me in dance school. When I was six, I did my first performance then I loved the way the audience reacted from then on in, it was just studying and performing.
BLAVITY: There's this iconic photo of you in a striking pose floating around. I’ve known it since I was a little girl.
Judith: Cry. Mr. Ailey made to celebrate black women, especially our mothers, and it was a birthday present to his mama at the time because he couldn't afford a gift. I thought that was brilliant. Mr. Ailey was brilliant as you well know because you know we’re celebrating 60 years of his legacy?
(Alvin Ailey Instagram)
BLAVITY: I do! Tell me, in an industry dominated by white bodies, who were your influences growing up?
Judith: If you see a piece like revelations, which we’ve been doing since 1960, you know what that is spiritual. It's the longest living modern dance in history. It’s been done more than any other dance that is celebrating the black experience our cultural representation and our spiritual representation, and also the brilliance of someone who happens to be black who is an incredible artist, an incredible genius that’s Mr. Ailey. The way that he influenced us was that the company was started during the Civil Rights movement, and out of that Mr. Ailey wanted to make sure people understood that not only are we strong in protest being out there on the streets, but we are also strong in our art, in our painting, in our sculpture, in our writing, in our poetry, in our architecture, in every way you can be artistic and shine culturally. That’s what the Alvin Ailey American Dance Studio has always been about.
BLAVITY: What are one of your fondest memories of Mr. Ailey?
Judith: He was so open, he was so available to everyone, not [just to] us the dancers, he was approachable. He was an open-armed human being who embraced his humanity and his dances were reflected in that. Also his interaction not just with dancers but the rest of the world.
(Alvin Ailey Instagram)
BLAVITY: How has playing artistic director, which is such an instrumental part in Alvin Ailey’s dance company, impacted your life?
Judith: Gosh… it impacted my life because I did it for 21 years. The directorship of any legacy, particularly Mr. Ailey, is extremely important. There are not major dance companies founded by one black man in existence today that’s been around for 60 years. When Mr. Ailey passed it on to me, it became even more important that we sustain this legacy and tell the truth about what it is to be an African American artist with so much talent and be able to change our concept of what we think that should be. There are people who come to see Ailey companies that would never have come to see dance, but they come to see Ailey and then they are hooked.
BLAVITY: What do you and Robert have planned for the 60th anniversary?
Judith: Robert and I don’t have anything planned because I’m retired, but Robert has extraordinary things planned for the 60th anniversary. I have handed this over.
We have a premier by the great Ron Brown, also a piece called Lazarus and Robert is revising a piece that I brought into the repertoire when I was artistic director. It was the first piece I brought in by Robert battle. Other than that I’m sure he has some great plans with Masazumi Chaya the associate artistic director.
(AlvinAiley.org)
BLAVITY: Robert, you grew up in Liberty City, Florida, I’m I curious where you get the inspiration for dance in that type of environment?
Robert: What’s interesting is there almost feels sometimes like there’s two Liberty City’s. There’s one that has some of the infamy as that video game where people are shooting out and all of this; there is that element — there’s certainly some of the negative history. Liberty City for me was home and there was nothing to compare it to. You know there was certainly that street, at night, that you wouldn’t go down. But I grew up in the arts because of my mother, not my birth mother, but my cousin who raised me. She used to play piano for the church that we went to so there was music. She was an English teacher so I was always hearing literature in the house; Shakespeare and all that, and she was an actress she had a group called the Afro Americans. They did poetry and songs relating to the black experience. I say that to say the notion of the arts being apart my childhood was very strong so finding dance was almost natural to me.
BLAVITY: You have this incredible artistic journey — you attended Julliard, started Battle Works, have been commissioned all over the globe. Was becoming a part of Alvin Ailey a goal of yours?
Robert: Yes, I mean, and not knowing how that would happen. I always wanted to be a part in some way or another. It was certainly amazing to get my first chance to choreograph with the second company, Ailey II, in 1999 and never knowing Judith Jamison would choose me to succeed her. I wouldn’t even think. I think more about winning the lottery. I just never thought,
You never know who’s watching you and what their thinking.
BLAVITY: How does it feel for you to stand in such large shoes?
Robert: There’s a sense of gratitude, knowing that your life has purpose. I’m now standing in that purpose, but it’s scary knowing that sometimes you don’t always feel like you’re doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing, but that’s a good thing because that means there is still more to do — that I don’t ever feel settled. You know, when I was a kid I wanted to be a preacher because the preacher in my church was charismatic; he could move the people in the church and bring out those emotions. Sometimes I feel like the kid that wants to be the preacher and sometimes I feel like the preacher on any given day you ask me.
(Alvin Ailey Instagram)
BLAVITY: We are 60 years with Alvin Ailey, what do you have planned for us?
Robert: One thing I’m excited to do is commissioning a piece for Rennie Harris to do and that work is a two-part work called Lazarus and its inspired by Ailey’s life cause in the work you see references of the Civil Rights movement, you see parallels with what we’re going through today and I think it will be very timely. Also we look through the lens of hip hop. We’re doing a program called Timeless Ailey which of course we’ll be doing excerpts of work that is timeless so it gives people a chance to see The Founding, Revelations, Cry. A new work by Ron Brown; The Call is the name of the work, umm gosh we will be doing a lot.
BLAVITY: What’s next for Alvin Ailey and Robert Battle?
Robert: We’re focused on the places that we tour, especially the places we tour often. We’re trying to establish a year-round presence; we started in Atlanta. We’re doing ongoing partnerships with local civil and cultural organizations so we don’t just come to town and leave. During the year there are workshops maybe the second company comes to town doing different things to keep us rooted in the community. We’re also looking at technology How do we continue to integrate technology because that’s where people get their information. That’s how people engage so we are looking at the future we’re definitely not sitting on our hands and resting on our laurels. We are really focused on continuing to push the envelope, continuing to move forward.
(Alvinailey.org)
The celebration was kicked off with a 60th anniversary Gala and runs through Dec. 30, 2018 at New York City Center. Get info and tickets here.
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