Auditorium Theatre 2018-19 Issue 3 Alvin Ailey

6 | AUDITORIUM THEATRE 2018-19 - March 6 - March 30, 2019 This season, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater commemorates its 60 th anniversary as a company and the 50 th anniversary of its first performances at the Auditorium Theatre. This legendary company, established by Alvin Ailey in 1958, forever changed the perception of American dance. Take a look through the company’s significant history as we celebrate these important milestones. 1931 – Alvin Ailey is born in Rogers, TX. 1949 – Ailey, who relocated to Los Angeles at the age of 12, begins studying with modern dance legend Lester Horton and joins Lester Horton Dance Theater the next year. Horton was one of the first choreographers in the United States to insist upon racial integration in his company. “What it came down to was that, for Lester, his art was much more important than the color of a dancer’s skin,” Ailey would later state. 1953 – Horton dies and Ailey briefly takes over leadership of Lester Horton Dance Theater. 1954 – Ailey relocates to New York and begins dancing in Broadway productions. 1957 – Ailey performs as a lead dancer in the Broadway musical Jamaica , which stars Lena Horne. 1958 – Ailey establishes his own company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The company performs for the first time on March 30, 1958, at the 92 nd Street Y in New York City, premiering Ailey’s work Blues Suite . 1960 – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater becomes the company-in-residence at the 92 nd Street Y. Ailey’s work Revelations , a tribute to African American cultural heritage and born out of Ailey’s “blood memories” of growing up in rural Texas, premieres for the first time. 1962 – The Ailey company tours Asia and Australia as part of President John F. Kennedy’s “Special International Program for Cultural Presentations.” 60 Years of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater! NORMAND MAXON A young Alvin Ailey.