How Did Alvin Ailey Contribute To Dance

Alvin Ailey (1931-1989), American choreographer and activist became one of the leading figures in the 20th century modern dance. He began dance training at age of eleven. At this age he was learning classical, folk, social, and modern dances. He started studying extensive dance at the age of 19 with Lester Horton in 1949. He joined Lester’s dance company in 1950. After a few years, Alvin made his debut in the Broadway musical House of Flowers and in The Carefree Tree. He also had the opportunity to study with Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, and Karel Shook. He achieved fame by creating his own dance company called Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The company first began with seven dancers studying and dancing modern dance. Ailey

Revelations had established a great deal of the African American familiarity. The dance became a signature ballet in the company. The dance created by Ailey was helped to educate students studying dance in the history and art of modern dance and ballet. He also produced dances that would feature the talents of his African American dance students even though the company was never fully all black. Throughout his dances, Ailey produced his dance techniques from his memories of growing up in the South. From these memories, he created certain dance movements that he could call his own. Alvin saw these memoires as blood memories because he felt so strongly towards them because they were a part of him. Some main elements that are portrayed in this dance and many others well as were the turning, jumping, and bending across large distances, creating angular and contracted muscles, expressing movements of the hands, and influencing major African American influences. The dance “Revelations” is comprised of three sections representing the different aspects of Baptist worship. The Pilgrim of Sorrow is a dance scene where the dancers portray people wishing and hoping for freedom in spite of the difficulties that people are faced