Alvin Ailey

Alvin Ailey Jr. was born on January 5, 1931, in Rogers, Texas, in his maternal grandfather's home, at the height of the Great Depression. His father abandoned the family shortly after his birth, leaving his mother, Lula Elizabeth Cliff, to support them through cotton field labor and domestic work in white households. By age five, Ailey was picking cotton alongside her. The family's circumstances were shaped by the violently segregated South, and Ailey witnessed Ku Klux Klan activity as a child. Following his mother's rape by four white men in 1936, Ailey developed a fear of white men that marked his early years. He found refuge in church, in journal writing, and in secretly watching adults dance at night.

In 1941, Lula departed for Los Angeles in search of better employment, and Ailey followed a year later. He enrolled at George Washington Carver Junior High School before moving on to Thomas Jefferson High School, where he participated in glee club, wrote poetry, and studied gymnastics. Regular visits to the Lincoln and Orpheum Theatres exposed him to African American performers including Pearl Bailey, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie. In 1946, a school trip to see the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo and independent visits to watch Katherine Dunham Dance Company's Tropical Review at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Auditorium gave Ailey his first encounters with concert dance. He also discovered his homosexuality during his high school years, adding another dimension of isolation to his already segregated experience.

Ailey's serious engagement with dance began in 1949 when his classmate Carmen De Lavallade brought him to the Melrose Avenue studio of Lester Horton. Horton's school was among the first racially integrated dance schools in the United States, and Ailey studied a broad range of styles there, from ballet to Native American-inspired movement. Recognizing the limited professional opportunities available to Black male dancers, he did not commit to dance full-time and instead pursued academic study, taking courses in romance languages and writing at UCLA, Los Angeles City College, and San Francisco State University between 1949 and 1952. While living in San Francisco, he met Maya Angelou, then known as Marguerite Johnson, and the two formed a nightclub act called Al and Rita. He returned intermittently to Horton's studio throughout this period before joining the Horton Dance Company in 1953.

With the company, Ailey took daily technique classes, studied art and music, and taught children's classes. He made his performance debut in Horton's Revue Le Bal Caribe and created his first choreographic work, Afternoon Blues, during a summer 1953 workshop. When Horton died suddenly of a heart attack in November 1953, Ailey stepped in as artistic director and choreographer to fulfill the company's existing commitments. Among the works he created in this capacity were According to St. Francis and Morning Mourning, both performed on June 4, 1954, and Creation of the World, presented on July 13, 1954, at Jacob's Pillow. The company also appeared on television programs including The Red Skelton Show and the Jack Benny show, and Ailey and De Lavallade performed in a segment of Carmen Jones.

Ailey's Broadway career began in December 1954 when choreographer Herbert Ross recruited him and De Lavallade to join House of Flowers as featured dancers. The production featured a book by Truman Capote, music by Harold Arlen, and starred Pearl Bailey and Diahann Carroll. It was during this production that Ailey and De Lavallade met Geoffrey Holder, who performed with them in the chorus and later married De Lavallade, becoming a lifelong artistic collaborator with Ailey. Following House of Flowers, Ailey appeared in Harry Belafonte's touring revue Sing, Man, Sing, with Mary Hinkson as his dance partner. His Broadway work continued with The Carefree Tree and Burning Bright, and in 1957 he appeared in the musical Jamaica, which starred Lena Horne and Ricardo Montalbán, with Cristyne Lawson serving as his collaborator and dance partner on the production. His Broadway appearances spanned from 1954 to 1962.

During the late 1950s, Ailey continued studying dance technique with Hanya Holm, Anna Sokolow, Charles Weidman, and Karel Shook through the New Dance Group. Unable to find a choreographer whose work satisfied his artistic vision, he began assembling his own group of dancers. This led to the founding of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which he established as a space for nurturing Black artists and exploring the African American experience through dance. Ailey's choreographic approach fused modern dance, ballet, theater, jazz, and Black vernacular forms. His work Revelations became recognized as one of the most performed ballets in the world. In 2008, the United States Congress passed a resolution designating the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater a vital American cultural ambassador to the world. That same year, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared December 4 Alvin Ailey Day, and Governor David Paterson honored the organization on behalf of New York State, coinciding with the company's 50th anniversary. Ailey died on December 1, 1989.