Throughout history, trailblazing Black dancers have propelled dance and choreography into the future, breaking countless barriers in their pursuit of artistry. Alvin Ailey had a vision for his Company to be a mixed repertory company, particularly to give other Black choreographers a place to showcase their work.
In honor of Black History Month, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater recognizes twelve choreographers whose works became a part of its repertory and who collectively broadened the landscape of modern dance. Part of Alvin Ailey's motivation was to dispel the notion that Black dance referred to a single sensibility, and to show that African American choreographers possessed a wealth of aesthetic and thematic diversity.
Here, we delve into the lives and contributions of some of the most influential figures in African and African American dance.
Katherine Dunham: The Mother of African American Dance
Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) did more for the exposure of Black dance forms in American concert halls than any choreographer before her. An anthropologist and choreographer, Dunham drew from her travels in Africa, the Caribbean, and the West Indies.
She learned folkloric dance forms from her travels and combined them with modern dance to create a distinctly African American form of concert dance. Through her touring company and her schools, she inspired a generation of Black dancers, including Alvin Ailey, who first saw the Katherine Dunham Dance Company in 1945 at the Biltmore Theater in Los Angeles.
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Dunham was an outspoken anti-segregationist, successfully suing two hotels for refusing her accommodation. In 1972, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater commissioned Dunham’s work Choros, a dance based on a Brazilian Quadrille, first performed in 1943. In 1987, the Company premiered the evening length work The Magic of Katherine Dunham.
Talley Beatty
Talley Beatty toured with the Katherine Dunham Dance Company for five years before starting his own career as a choreographer. Beatty’s works combine modern, ballet, and jazz movements to create a distinctive personal style. His ballet The Road of the Phoebe Snow (1959), set to music by Duke Ellington, is perhaps his most famous.
It depicts a community living alongside railroad tracks in the Midwest, both abstractly and dramatically conveying the feeling of the world passing them by. Several of his works made it into the Company’s repertory with the last addition being Stack-Up, which depicts the emotional 'traffic' in a community that is stacked on top of each other.
As well as making his mark with contemporary works for ballet and modern dance companies-such as Dance Theatre of Harlem, Batsheva, and Ballet Hispanico-he was a renowned choreographer of Broadway musicals.
Donald McKayle
Before becoming a renowned choreographer, Donald McKayle began his dance education in his teens at the New Dance Group in New York City, where he learned from Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, and Pearl Primus, among others. He clearly had talent and performed with Martha Graham and José Limón, then was chosen by Jerome Robbins to be the dance captain for the original production of West Side Story.
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Growing up in East Harlem, McKayle aspired to show the experiences of Black Americans on stage and create dances that confronted racial injustice. His work Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder (1959), which became part of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater repertory in 1972, depicts a Southern chain gang and the violence inflicted on Black men seeking freedom.
When most dance companies were still overwhelmingly white, McKayle insisted on working with a diverse cast of dancers. “My dance companies were always multiracial because of my deep belief that injustice, prejudice, discrimination and ethnic persecution stems from fear and ignorance of the other, the alien that looks different,” McKayle said. “All that matters to me beyond the technique of the dancer is his passion, expression, and his soulful approach.”
Janet Collins
As a Black ballet dancer, Collins confronted the prejudiced views of audiences and critics who believed Black dancers were physically incapable of executing ballet technique. She was initially offered a position with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, but refused when the director Leonard Massine told her she’d have to paint her skin white.
Before her time at the Met, she danced with Katherine Dunham and presented her own work, a combination of classical ballet and modern dance set to Mozart and Black spirituals, at the 92nd Street Y in 1949. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater recognized Collins’s legacy in 1974 and invited her to stage two works on the Company: Spirituals (1949) danced to Black spirituals much like Revelations, and Canticles, a new work staged for the Company.
Pearl Primus
Like Katherine Dunham, Pearl Primus (1919-1994) was a dance anthropologist as well as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher who became a leading figure in presenting dance of the African diaspora. Her works drew from her African heritage-her grandfather was a member of the Ashanti people in Ghana-and she traveled to Africa and the Caribbean to learn all of their traditional dance movements.
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She was the first Black student at the New Dance Group in New York, a school that trained dancers with the moto “Dance is a weapon,” meaning that dance should be created with social and political awareness and not just art for art's sake. She also spent time in the deep south immersing herself in the hardships of African American life at the time.
She used her experiences to create Strange Fruit (1945), a meditation on lynching, and The Negro Speaks of Rivers (1944), inspired by Langston Hughes’ poetry. In 1974, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater commissioned two of Primus’ works: Fanga (1949) based on a Liberian dance of welcome, and The Wedding (1961), based on Congolese ritual dances.
Geoffrey Holder
Geoffrey Holder (1930-2014) was born in Trinidad and Tobago in 1930 and by the age of seven had begun dancing for his brother’s dance troupe, the Holder Dance Company, eventually becoming the company’s director. He was a chameleon: an accomplished dancer, choreographer, actor, composer, designer, and painter.
He first came to New York in 1954 and joined the cast of House of Flowers just as Alvin Ailey and Carmen de Lavallade, whom he would eventually marry, had done the same year. As a choreographer, Holder combined Afro-Caribbean dance with modern and ballet techniques.
His work often took inspiration from historical figures, such as Haitian folk painter Hector Hypolite, whom Holder depicted in his ballet Prodigal Prince (1967) for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. As an actor, he performed in an all-Black staging of Waiting for Godot in 1957. He won two Tony awards for his work on the musical The Wiz, for direction and costume design.
George Faison
George Faison danced with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from 1967 to 1970, but first saw the Company perform when he was a student at Howard University. After leaving the Company, he formed his own, the George Faison Universal Dance Experience.
Faison stunned audiences with his dynamite performances in the “Sinner Man” trio of Mr. Ailey’s Revelations. To earn money, he choreographed music concerts, working with Roberta Flack and Stevie Wonder, along with Earth, Wind, and Fire. His greatest success came when he choreographed the musical The Wiz, winning a Tony for his choreography.
Eleo Pomare
Eleo Pomare (1937-2008) was a divisive and radical figure in the world of modern dance-a Black choreographer who openly disdained the limitations of white critics and subverted expectations of what constituted Black dance. “I didn’t stick to the cliché of what a Negro is supposed to look like and behave like on stage,” he said.
“I have something to say and I want to say it honestly, strongly and without having it stolen, borrowed or messed over.” His work Missa Luba (1965) critiqued the colonizing missionaries in Africa and was danced to a Latin Catholic Mass performed by a Congolese Boys Choir.
A year later he choreographed Blues for the Jungle (1966) as a direct response to the 1964 Harlem riots, depicting the drug-use and routine imprisonment that had become standard for Harlemites. For Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Pomare created Blood Burning Moon in 1978.
Bill T. Jones
Bill T. Jones is one of America’s most prolific living choreographers. He is the cofounder of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and is now the Artistic Director of New York Live Arts. His work uses both dance and spoken word to confront urgent socio-political issues.
Over his career, Jones has challenged such critics and revealed the systemic racism within the institutions of modern and postmodern dance. Jones has choreographed two works for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: the fast-paced, jazzy Fever Swamp (1983); and How to Walk an Elephant (1985), a collaboration with his partner Arnie Zane and a satirical take on Balanchine’s Serenade, which also upset the critics.
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Ulysses Dove
Ulysses Dove (1947-1996) choreographed works that played between form and expressive meaning. He started out as a dancer, the first and only one to dance in both Alvin Ailey's and Merce Cunningham's companies. At Mr. Ailey’s urging, Dove turned to making dances.
In 1980, he created Inside, a solo for Judith Jamison which she described as “one of the hardest pieces I’ve ever done.” Shortly after, he left the Company to make work for New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, and Dutch National Ballet.
His dynamic works Bad Blood (1984), Vespers (1986), and Episodes (1987) became audience favorites in Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s repertory. In 1995, Dove returned to choreograph a new work for the Company, Urban Folk Dance, a ballet about two passionate neighboring couples.
Jawole Willa Jo Zollar
Choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s work embraces African forms of dance and music. Her company is a women-centered group dedicated to telling stories of the African diaspora through traditional and modern Africanist dance forms.
In 1988, Zollar choreographed Shelter, a reflection on the depravations of unhoused people to the drumming of Junior “Gabu” Wedderburn. In 1992, Judith Jamison approached Zollar about setting the piece on Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater- she accepted and recast the work to feature all women. Zollar also choreographed C# Street-Bb Avenue for the Company in 1999.
Camille A. Brown
Using forms of dance from the African diaspora, Camille A. Brown creates thought provoking work that is deeply rooted in ancestral and contemporary African American narratives. In 2006, she founded her own dance company, Camille A. Brown and Dancers, but didn’t stop there-going on to choreograph for other dance companies, Broadway, opera, film, and television.
She directed and choreographed the Broadway revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf (2019), making her the first Black woman to direct and choreograph a Broadway show since Katherine Dunham in 1955. Brown created her first work for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 2007 called The Groove to Nobody’s Business, depicting an encounter on a subway that transforms from pedestrian movement to feats of street dance virtuosity.
Izzy Odigie: Afrobeats Sensation
At the front line of this renaissance is award-winning, Izzy Odigie. This Nigerian-American is on a mission to transform the world's perception of Africa through dance. The superstar choreographer has worked with iconic brands like Samsung, Spotify, Uber and Ugg but her impact doesn't end here.
Izzy has also choreographed pieces for mega stars including Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy. Dance has always been there for her from the beginning of time. She fell in love with Afro-dance in 2014; her sophomore year of college.
One of her highest profile performances was her being cast as the official dance visualizer for Wizkid and Burna Boy’s ‘Ginger’. She has led annual Dance Tours and for her third year, she did a class tour in Japan for her viral choreography to ‘Killin Dem’ by Burna Boy and Zlatan.
Odigie is currently touring four continents to spread the gospel of African dance. PAP stands for Pan African Passport. She is connecting to lovers of dance, lovers of music, black cultures around the world and just people who are open to exchange with her. That's what the PAP tour is about.
Yahaya Kamate
My name is Yahaya Kamate. I was born and raised in the West African country of Côte d’Ivoire - the Ivory Coast. I am the ninth oldest child of my father’s thirty. He had four wives. I am the ninth oldest child of my father’s thirty. He had four wives.
For most of my young adult life, I spent time going to school in the city of Abidjan. Although my Dad was a trader living in the city, I would spend school breaks on a farm in my his village to helping my uncle plant igname (yams), maïs (corn), and patate (sweet potatoes). After my meal I would meet my friends and we would dance and tell stories under the moonlight.
Yahaya Kamate is a West African dancer and drummer. In this residency, he explores the movement, rhythm, sequencing, and social-historical context of several West African dance styles, as well as their connections to American dances such as Hip Hop and Charleston.
Johannes Radebe
Johannes Radebe (born 27 April 1987) is a South African dancer and choreographer. Radebe was a professional dancer on South Africa's version of Strictly Come Dancing from 2014, for two seasons, on SABC 3 and reached the final on both occasions.
In 2018 the BBC announced that Radebe would join the cast of professional dancers on the British Strictly Come Dancing, although he was not allocated a partner in his first series. For series 19, he was partnered with chef John Whaite. They are the first male same-sex pairing in the history of the UK format. The couple reached the final, where they finished as Runners-Up to winners Rose Ayling-Ellis, and her partner Giovanni Pernice.
Maguette Camara: Preserving West African Dance in New York City
Maguette Camara is a globally recognized West African dancer, choreographer, teacher, and drummer who is based in New York City. Maguette began his career at a young age with The Ballet Bougarabou Dance Company in Dakar, Senegal. Today, he teaches at Barnard College, The Ailey School, The Ailey Extension, and Djoniba at Peridance Capezio Center.
Camara shares how African dance is at the root of most dance forms and thus benefits any dancer to train in, and how New York City has a flourishing African dance scene. He teaches six days a week and every year, organizes a trip back to Senegal to visit and do dancing, drumming, and singing.
Since he started teaching in academia, he has seen opportunities for students to study Afro diasporic dance forms. He values African dance the same as every other teacher. It makes them better because the dances they do almost always originated from African dance. There’s more awareness and training in African dance in New York.
Here's a summary of the dancers and choreographers discussed in this article:
| Dancer/Choreographer | Key Contributions |
|---|---|
| Katherine Dunham | Brought Black dance forms to American concert halls, combined folkloric dance with modern dance. |
| Talley Beatty | Combined modern, ballet, and jazz movements. Choreographed for various dance companies and Broadway musicals. |
| Donald McKayle | Showed the experiences of Black Americans on stage and created dances that confronted racial injustice. |
| Janet Collins | Confronted prejudiced views as a Black ballet dancer and staged works for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. |
| Pearl Primus | Presented dance of the African diaspora, drawing from African heritage and social/political awareness. |
| Geoffrey Holder | Combined Afro-Caribbean dance with modern and ballet techniques, working as a dancer, choreographer, actor, and more. |
| George Faison | Danced with Alvin Ailey and choreographed the musical The Wiz, winning a Tony for his choreography. |
| Eleo Pomare | Radical figure in modern dance who critiqued colonization and expectations of Black dance. |
| Bill T. Jones | Confronts socio-political issues through dance and spoken word, challenging racism in modern dance. |
| Ulysses Dove | Created works that played between form and expressive meaning, dancing for both Alvin Ailey and Merce Cunningham. |
| Jawole Willa Jo Zollar | Embraces African forms of dance and music, telling stories of the African diaspora through dance. |
| Camille A. Brown | Creates thought-provoking work rooted in African American narratives, directing and choreographing for Broadway and opera. |
| Izzy Odigie | Afrobeats choreographer transforming perceptions of Africa through dance, working with major artists and brands. |
| Yahaya Kamate | West African dancer and drummer, exploring West African dance styles and their connections to American dances. |
| Johannes Radebe | South African dancer and choreographer, known for his appearances on Strictly Come Dancing and other dance shows. |
| Maguette Camara | Preserves West African dance in New York City |
