Alvin Ailey Biography

Dancer and choreographer. Born January 5, 1931 in Rogers, Texas. In 1943, Alvin Ailey and his mother moved to Los Angeles, where he nurtured his interest in dance. He became a member of Lester Horton's company in 1950, and when his mentor died in 1953, Ailey was chosen to take over as director and choreographer.

After training in New York City with Martha Graham and others, he founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1958, which was a hugely popular, multi-racial modern dance ensemble. The company popularized modern dance around the world thanks to tours sponsored by the U.S. State Department. His most famous dance, Revelations, is based on Ailey's own experience of growing up African American in the rural South and is a celebratory study of religious spirit. He retired from the stage in 1965 to devote himself to the company.

Ailey received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1988 and died a year later of AIDS.

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