The Afro-American Newspaper: Alvin Ailey elevates Black dance

By Zenitha Prince
Washington Bureau Chief

It doesn’t seem that long ago, but 50 years ago, seven young Black dancers, led by Alvin Ailey II, gave a performance at the 92nd Street Young Men's Hebrew Association in New York City that became the stuff of legend.

It was the beginning of an era of American dance that celebrated the African-American experience. The repertory, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, performed to both classical dance numbers as well as original choreography by Ailey and other young choreographers.

Their debut piece, Blues Suite, depicted the angst and joys of life on the edge of poverty in the South. But it was Ailey’s 1960 piece, Revelations, an interpretation of the spectrum of Black religious experience that was set to a series of spirituals and gospel selections, that established Ailey as a giant in the dance world.

“He was one of the ones who was able to put the African-American experience onto the stage in a concert setting,” said Renée Robinson, a Southeast Washington native and 27-year member of the Alvin Ailey company. “It gave people of the world a change to see that part of our culture and history.” Full Post