Alvin ailey
Alvin aileyEvery company has what is known as a “signature piece,” that is, a work which expresses something about the artistic direction and the spirit of the company. For the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater that piece is Revelations. Choreographed and set to traditional music, Revelations was first performed at the Ninety-second Street YM-YWHA New York, NY., January 31, 1960. The lead dancers were Joan Derby, Minnie Marhsall, Merle Derby, Dorene Richardson, Jay Fletcher, Nathaniel Horne, and Herman Howell and the soloists were Nancy Redi and Gene Hobgood. The music was performed by the Music Masters Guild Chorus of the Harlem Branch YMCA under the direction of Frank Thomas. The piece as originally performed consisted of danced portions and music interleudes grouped under three broad headings, “Pilgrim of Sorrow,” “That Love My Jesus Gives Me,” and “Move, Members, Move.” The work was revised extensively a month after its first performance and was again given at the Ninety-second Street YM-YWHA. Revelations has been seen in every country that the company has toured and has been universally acclaimed.
Born in Rogers, Texas on January 5, 1931, Alvin Ailey spent his formative years going to Sunday School and participating in The Baptist Young People's Union. At age twelve, he moved to Los Angeles and, on a junior high school class trip to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, fell in love with concert dance. Ailey began his formal dance training inspired by the performances of the Katherine Dunham Dance Company and the classes with Lester Horton that his friend, Carmen de Lavallade, urged him to take. Horton, the founder of...
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