Witnessing the Power of Ailey
Wednesday, 1/2/25
It's New Year’s and I want to start my year off right. A friend prompted me to visit the Whitney, a museum I haven’t spent the most time in but I always wanted to visit more intentionally. I decided to go with him and enjoy two exhibitions featuring the art of Black folks that have deep roots in their communities, cultures, and perspectives.
When it comes to Black Art, I find myself becoming more and more immersed in how these artists came to be and what makes them so influential in their communities.
I decided to visit “Edges of Ailey”, the first large-scale museum exhibition of Alvin Ailey’s work and life. I will admit that I didn't know much about him and left feeling inspired by him. Of course, now I would love to go to one of his company’s productions and see the magic of his legacy live on.
Dance has always been an art form I was drawn to. As a little girl, I went to daycare right across the street from the Strand Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. We would take ballet classes at the theatre and be invited to see many of their various plays including my favorite, the Nutcracker. I loved the theatrics and the element of performance however this became very much a short memory as for much of my young life I didn’t get many opportunities to visit the theatre much.
Alvin Ailey born in Texas in 1931, was a dancer and choreographer who once described dance as a “movement full of images”. Drawing from the inspiration of many sources of music, he and his dance company created many opportunities for Black dancers who never saw themselves being on stages that he frequented. What I find striking about what inspired him very early on was his love for Black women that he admired in his life. There were several pictures of him and his mother, friends, some of the dancers and choreographers in his company and you could just tell how much he loved them. He celebrated their strengths and he used that love as an opportunity for all Black women to have agency over their bodies whether on the dance floor or through his dance company.
His dance also drew inspiration from Black culture and historical liberation movements, evident through the artwork and films exhibited in this show. I sense the profound power and beauty he wanted to showcase.
Curator Adrienne Edwards and the staff at the Whitney did a wonderful job with this show bringing together visual art, live performances, music, Ailey’s archives, and even recordings of his dance company, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) in exploring his personal & creative life. There are more than 80 artists presented in this show. Some of whom include Jean Michel Basquiat, Romare Bearden, Faith Ringold, and Jacob Lawerence.
What I enjoyed the most was the themes presented and the clear articulation of what histories were important to Ailey and his community which spoke to Black Spirituality, Migration, and histories of the American South, Caribbean, Brazil, and West Africa.
Ailey was a gay black man who was born in Texas, eventually moving to New York and his presence in the dance field tested the very idea of freedom during a time of strife for many Black Americans. Like any creative industry, it was especially cruel for minorities, especially for those that are queer. From looking deeply at his archives, he truly wanted to make Black dance “universal”, sharing these stories in a non-monolithic way and also making it more accessible not only for all to see but also for all those who belong within the community itself. This was cool for me to find out because as I shared earlier, I didn’t have many opportunities to enjoy plays and live performances. Sometimes it was a costly thing, sometimes it was simply because I didn’t feel like these spaces were for me. I also felt not as interested in dance if it weren’t for music videos and or early 2000s movie franchises like “Bring it On”. I think that if I had seen a dance production, with different bodies, skin tones, hair textures, and stories that represented me I would have been a lot more inclined to pay a visit to more shows.
In 1962, Alvin Ailey created a multi-racial dance company we now know as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Before creating his company he had trained to be what we call a “total dancer” meaning he trained in Horton, jazz, ballet, and other dance forms as he insisted on creative experimentation. His training became the catalyst for his dancers as his works showcased all of their abilities, never staying in one box or another, and challenging the norm of what professional dance productions should look like. Some of his infamous works are the Masekela Languagein 1969 and Survivors in 1986.
He established his dance school in 1969 and used his company to support the advancement of Black choreographers and dancers to live on. Despite how busy he was, he remained an equal presence in local public schools, community centers, HBCUS, and even international venues– providing everyone with the chance to see his beautiful work.
Ailey was extremely collaborative and saw his partnerships were a bridge to his full creative potential. I love this quote where he talks about his collaborators, “ I love the idea of people coming and working together… Start with a space, and a body or two, and we say, "I love this space.” As a person who loves community building and working within a collaborative framework, I deeply resonate. The joy of hearing others’ perspectives and it all coming together sometimes makes the process alone so much more fulfilling than the end product or project.
In this show, I also learned that Ailey was the first modern dance choreographer whose company did not perform his works exclusively. He viewed his company as a “living repository [of] classics and curiosities.” In turn, the company became a lifeline for Black dancers and choreographers. Ailey remembered his younger days as an emerging artist and wanted to give each Black dancer that same opportunity. Some of the artists he worked with and I noticed in this show were powerful & historical Black artists we all know today as Maya Angelou, Duke Ellington, and even Langston Hughes. As you go through the show you see many pictures, videos, and writings of them. Ailey enlisted a lot of artists he worked with to create set designs, musical scores, costumes, and much more. Alvin Ailey and his dancers frequented local venues here in New York like the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and Studio 54– both historical sites of exchange for the emerging Black artist community.
As I walked through I loved hearing the music of his time and what was used in many of his productions. Ailey believed music allowed an artist to express the spectrum of their feelings and experiences. As a music lover, I couldn't agree more as some of my favorite artists simply have the words to describe how I often feel without me having to say anything at all. To be honest, I don’t who or what I would be without music. Some of the music he was inspired by included gospel, blues, and jazz where his dances embody their energy to enhance its possibilities through movement.
On December 1, 1989, Alvin Ailey departed the Earth due to AIDS-related complications. He continues to live on through his company, school, and his foundation. He provided us the greatest blessing in still being able to enjoy many of his shows today that continue to be produced by his dancers and the leadership of his company–moving and shaking through today's sounds, stories, and various perspectives.
You can see this show at the Whitney through February 9th, and I recommend that you do because it truly is a great show. Go visit, pay homage, enjoy the duality of the elements presented in the exhibition, and maybe even get a ticket to an upcoming production by his company. I think you will leave deeply inspired and grateful for this incredible person, leader, friend, educator, and lover of dance that he truly was.
