Alvin Ailey
Sign in to saveAlso known as Alvin Ailey Jr., Alvin Ailey Jr
African-American dancer, choreographer and activist (1931-1989)
Key facts
- Born
- ( 1931-01-05 ) January 5, 1931, Rogers, Texas , U.S.
- Died
- December 1, 1989 (1989-12-01) (aged 58), Manhattan, New York City , U.S.
- Occupations
- Dancer, choreographer
- Awards
- Presidential Medal of Freedom , Kennedy Center Honors
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Alvin
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Rogers
- Place of death
- Manhattan
- Occupation
- artistic director
- Educated at
- University of California, Los Angeles
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Student of
- Stella Adler
- Image
- Alvin Ailey Ellington career.jpg
Show 9 more facts
- Commons category
- Alvin Ailey
- date of birth
- 1931-01-05
- date of death
- 1989-12-01
- ethnic group
- African Americans
- place of burial
- Rose Hills Memorial Park
- on focus list of Wikimedia project
- Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
- name in native language
- Alvin Ailey
- manner of death
- natural causes
- medical condition
- HIV/AIDS
Sources (7)
via Wikidata · CC0
~35 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (later Ailey School) as havens for nurturing Black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance.
Ailey's work fused theater, modern dance, ballet, and jazz with Black vernacular, creating hope-fueled choreography that is credited with spreading global awareness of Black life in America. His choreographic masterpiece Revelations is recognized as one of the most popular and most performed ballets in the world.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Alvin Ailey” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.