Judith Ann Jamison (born May 10, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania^[1]) is an American dancer and choreographer, best known as the Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Early Training:[link]

Judith Jamison was born on May 10, 1943 and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with her mother, father, and older brother.^[2] Her father taught her to play the piano,and violin. She was exposed to the prominent art culture in Philadelphia from a very early age. At the age of six, she began her dance training at Judimar School of Dance. There she studied with Marion Cuyjet who became one of Jamison’s early mentors. Under Cuyjet’s tutelage, Jamison studied classical ballet, and modern dance. The Judimar studios were treated as a “holy place” and there was always a sense of performance and theatricality in Cuyjet’s classes.^[3] By age eight, Jamison began dancing on pointe and started taking classes in tap dancing, acrobatics, and Dunham technique (which was referred to as “primitive”). A few years later, Cuyjet began sending Jamison to other teachers to advance her dance education. She learned the Cechetti method from Anthony Tudor, founder of the Philadelphia Ballet Guild, and studied with Delores Brown Abelson, a graduate of Judimar who pursued a performance career in New York City before returning to Philadelphia to teach. Throughout high school, Jamison was also member of numerous sports organizations, the Glee Club, and the Philadelphia String Ensemble. She studied Dalcroze Eurhythmics, a system that teaches rhythm through movement. At age seventeen, Jamison graduated from Judimar and began her collegiate studies at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she spent three semesters studying psychology before transferring to Philadelphia Dance Academy.^[4] There she studied with James Jamieson, Nadia Chilkovsky, and Yuri Gottschalk. In addition to her technique classes, she took courses in Labanotation, kinesiology, and other dance studies. During this time, she also learned the Horton technique from Joan Kerr, which required great strength, balance, and concentration.^[5]

Performance Career:[link]

In 1964, after seeing Jamison in a master class, Agnes de Mille invited her to come to New York to perform in a new work that she was choreographing for American Ballet Theatre, ‘’The Four Marys’’.^[6] Jamison immediately accepted the offer and spent the next few months working with the company. When the performances ended and she found herself in New York without a job, Jamison attended an audition held by Donald McKayle. She felt that she performed very poorly in the audition and claimed, “I felt as if I had two left feet.”^[7] However, a few days later, a friend of McKayle’s, Alvin Ailey, called Jamison to offer her a place in his company – Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. Jamison made her premiere with Alvin Ailey Dance Theater at Chicago’s Harper Theater Dance Festival in 1965 in ‘’Congo Tango Palace’’, and in 1966, she toured Europe and Africa with the company. Jamison had always had a strong interest in African identity; therefore, traveling to Africa with the company and having the opportunity to observe the culture first-hand was an exciting and valuable experience for her.^[8] Unfortunately, soon afterward, financial complications forced Ailey to put his company on a temporary hiatus. During this time, Jamison danced with Harkness Ballet and served as an assistant to the artistic director. However, she immediately returned to Alvin Ailey Dance Theater when the company re-formed in 1967.Jamison spent the next thirteen years dancing with Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and learned over seventy ballets. Throughout her performance career with the company she danced in many of Ailey’s most renowned works, including ‘’Blues Suite’’ and ‘’Revelations’’. On May 4, 1979, Jamison premiered her famous solo, ‘’Cry’’. Alvin Ailey choreographed this sixteen minute dance as a birthday present for his mother, Lula Cooper, and later dedicated it to “all-black women everywhere, especially our mothers.”^[9] The solo is intensely physical and emotionally draining to perform. It celebrates the journey of a woman coming out of a troubled and painful world and finding the strength to overcome and conquer. She never ran the full piece from start to finish until the premiere, the piece received standing ovations and overwhelming critical acclaim, rewarding Jamison with great fame and recognition throughout the dance world. Today, ‘’Cry’’ remains a crowd favorite and is still featured in the company’s repertoire. Throughout her years with Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, Jamison continued to perform all over the world. Along with her work with Ailey’s company, she also appeared as a guest artist with the Cullberg Ballet, Swedish Royal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and numerous other companies. She danced alongside many renowned dancers, including the ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov, in a duet entitled ‘’Pas de Duke’’, choreographed by Alvin Ailey in 1976.^[10] Finally, in 1980, she left Ailey’s company to perform in the Broadway musical, ‘’’Sophisticated Ladies’’’. It was Jamison’s first stage experience outside the realm of concert dance, and she admits it was initially very challenging for her. It was a completely different performance atmosphere and required a variety of new skills.

The Jamison Project:[link]

In addition performing, Jamison wanted the opportunity to explore working with her own group of dancers. She began teaching master classes at Jacob’s Pillow in 1981 and soon began choreographing her own works. She later formed The Jamison Project with a group of dancers with a strong desire to work and learn. The Project premiered on November 15, 1988 at the Joyce Theater in New York City, performing works such as ‘’Divining’’, ‘’Time Out’’, and ‘’Tease’’. Jamison later invited guest choreographers, including Garth Fagan, to set work for the company.

Return to Alvin Ailey Dance Theater:[link]

In 1988, Jamison returned to Alvin Ailey Dance Theater as an artistic associate. Upon Ailey’s death, on December 1, 1989, she assumed the role of artistic director and dedicated the next 21 years of her life to the company’s success.^[11] Alvin Ailey Dance Theater continued to thrive as Jamison continued to rehearse and restage classics from the company’s repertory, as well as commission distinguished choreographers to create new works for the dancers. Jamison also continued to choreograph, and created dances such as ‘’Forgotten Time’’, ‘’Hymn’’, ‘’Love Stories’’, and ‘’Among Us’’ for the company. In July 2011, Jamison transitioned into the role of Artistic Director Emerita and appointed Robert Battle to the position of Artistic Director Designate.

Choreography By Jamison:[link]

Divining (1984)

Forgotten Time (1989)

Rift (1991)

Hymn (a tribute to Alvin Ailey) (1993)

Riverside (1995)

Sweet Release (1996)

Echo: Far From Home (1998)

Double Exposure (2000)

Here...Now (2001)

Love Stories (in collaboration with Robert Battle and Rennie Harris) (2004)

Reminiscin' (2005)

Among Us (Private Spaces: Public Places) (2009)

==Writing:== Dancing Spirit, Jamison’s autobiography was published by Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. in 1993.

Awards:[link]

• Youngest person ever to receive The Dance USA Award (1998)

• New York State Governor’s Arts Award (1998)

• Kennedy Center Honors for her contribution to American culture through dance (1999)

• A prime time Emmy Award and an American Choreography Award for her work on the PBS Documentary “A Hymn for Alvin Ailey” (1999)

• National Medal of Arts (2001)

• Honored by the National Theater of Ghana (2002)

• The Paul Robeson Award from the Actors’ Equity Association (2004)

• Bessie Award for her commitment to development in dance and the arts (2007)

• The BET Honors Award – a tribute to the achievement of leading African Americans (2009)

• Listed in the TIME 100: The World’s Most Influential People (2009)

• Congressional Black Caucus’ Phoenix Award (2010)

• The Handel Medallion (2010)

 [12]

References[link]

1. ^ Judith Jamison, Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2011. Web. 26 April 2011.
2. ^ DeFrantz, Thomas. “Great Performances: Judith Jamison.” PBS: Free To Dance. 11 Nov 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/freetodance/biographies/jamison.html>
3. ^ Jamison, Judith. Dancing Spirit. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1993.
4. ^ DeFrantz, Thomas. “Great Performances: Judith Jamison.” PBS: Free To Dance. 11 Nov 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/freetodance/biographies/jamison.html>
5. ^ Jamison, Judith. Dancing Spirit. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1993.
6. ^ Jamison, Judith. Dancing Spirit. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1993.
7. ^ Jamison, Judith. Dancing Spirit. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1993.
8. ^ DeFrantz, Thomas. “Great Performances: Judith Jamison.” PBS: Free To Dance. 11 Nov 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/freetodance/biographies/jamison.html>
9. ^ “Repertory: Cry.” Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation. 8 Nov 2011. < http://www.alvinailey.org/about/people/judith-jamison>
10. ^ Long, Richard A. The Black Tradition in American Dance. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1989.
11. ^ “Judith Jamison.” Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation. 8 Nov 2011. < http://www.alvinailey.org/about/people/judith-jamison>
12. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Judith_Jamison&action=submit#

Ailey, Alvin. Revelations: The Autobiography of Alvin Ailey. New York: Birch Lane Press, 1995.

DeFrantz, Thomas. “Great Performances: Judith Jamison.” PBS: Free To Dance. 11 Nov 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/freetodance/biographies/jamison.html>

Jamison, Judith. Dancing Spirit. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1993.

“Judith Jamison.” Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation. 8 Nov 2011. < http://www.alvinailey.org /about/people/judith-jamison>

Long, Richard A. The Black Tradition in American Dance. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1989. Mara, Thalia. To Dance, To Live. New York: Dance Horizons, 1977.

“Repertory: Cry.” Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation. 8 Nov 2011. < http://www.alvinailey.org /about/people/judith-jamison>

Siegel, Marcia B. Watching the Dance Go By. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977.

External links[link]

• Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater biography
• PBS "Great Performances" biography
• Kennedy Center biography
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Judith Jamison on Charlie Rose
• Judith Jamison collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about Judith Jamison in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Archival footage of Judith Jamison performing Scene Seen in 1988 at Jacob's Pillow

Judith with the Head of Holophernes, by Cristofano Allori, 1613 (Royal Collection, London)

Judith with the Head of Holophernes, by Simon Vouet, (Alte Pinakothek, Munich)

Caravaggio's Judith Beheading Holofernes

The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the Septuagint and the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian Old Testament of the Bible, but excluded by Jews and Protestants. The book contains numerous historical anachronisms, which is why many scholars now accept it as non-historical; it has been considered a parable or perhaps the first historical novel.^[1]

The name Judith (Hebrew: יְהוּדִית, Modern Yehudit Tiberian Yəhûḏîṯ ; "Praised" or "Jewess") is the feminine form of Judah.

In the Deuterocanon[link]

The Book of Judith has a tragic setting that appealed to Jewish patriots and it warned of the urgency of adhering to Mosaic law, generally speaking, but what accounted for its enduring appeal was the drama of its narrative. The story revolves around Judith, a daring and beautiful widow, who is upset with her Jewish countrymen for not trusting God to deliver them from their foreign conquerors. She goes with her loyal maid to the camp of the enemy general, Holofernes, with whom she slowly ingratiates herself, promising him information on the Israelites. Gaining his trust, she is allowed access to his tent one night as he lies in a drunken stupor. She decapitates him, then takes his head back to her fearful countrymen. The Assyrians, having lost their leader, disperse, and Israel is saved. Though she is courted by many, she remains unmarried for the rest of her life.

It is not clear whether the Book of Judith was originally written in Hebrew or in Greek. The oldest extant version is the Septuagint and might either be a translation from Hebrew or composed in Greek. Details of vocabulary and phrasing point to a Greek text written in a language modeled on the Greek developed through translating the other books in the Septuagint.^[2] The extant Hebrew language versions, whether identical to the Greek, or in the shorter Hebrew version, are medieval. The Hebrew versions name important figures directly such as the Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes, thus placing the events in the Hellenistic period when the Maccabees battled the Seleucid monarchs. The Greek version uses deliberately cryptic and anachronistic references such as "Nebuchadrezzar", a "King of Assyria," who "reigns in Nineveh," for the same king. The adoption of that name, though unhistorical, has been sometimes explained either as a copyist's addition, or a voluntary literary name assigned to the ruler of Babylon (more or less as Caesar, in the Gospel, was used for Tiberius in his quality of Roman Emperor).

The historicity and canonicity of the Book of Judith in early Christianity was never disputed before Jerome began to translate the Bible into Latin. The first quote of the Book can be found by the end of the 1st century AD in the First Epistle of Clement^[3] to the Corinthians: the story is briefly told by the fourth Pope, but the narration omits the name of the city of Bethulia and of the king of Nineveh. The book is quoted by Pope Clement I (1 Clement ch. 55) side-by-side with the canonical Book of Esther, and both are clearly assigned the same degree of historicity and canonicity. Judith was generally listed among the Anagignoskomena, i.e. those books (now called Deuterocanonical) which the Church believed to be authoritative despite not belonging in the Jewish Canon. Ambrose of Milan also quotes the book as canonical.^[4] The historical identity of Nebuchadrezzar was unknown to the Church Fathers, but some of them attempted an improbable identification with Artaxerxes III Ochus, not on the basis of the character of the two rulers, but because of the presence of a "Holofernes" and a "Bagoas" in Ochus' army. Jerome advanced some doubt regarding the historicity and inspiration of those books which were absent in the Palestinian Canon due to the principle Veritas Hebraica; yet Pope Gelasius I obliged Jerome to obey the canons of the so called third Council of Carthage, held in Africa under St. Augustine of Hippo in 397, which declared the canonicity of the Deuterocanon. The book was thus added by Jerome in his Vulgate, despite being translated from a different text (in Chaldean) than the LXX version used in the early centuries for the Old Latin translations. The Canons of the Council of Carthage were later confirmed by the Quinisext Council, which makes the book a part of the Orthodox Bible; while in the West, the book's canonicity was later ratified at the Council of Trent.

Even though the Book of Judith is not considered a part of the official Jewish religious canon, many Jewish scholars regard it as true reference to the background events relating to military struggle leading up to the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. (See also 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees).

The city called "Bethulia," (properly "Betylua") and the narrow and strategic pass into Judea that it occupies (Judith IV:7ff VIII:21-24) are believed by many to be fictional settings^{[citation needed]}, but some suggest that a city called Meselieh is Bethulia.^[5]

Main characters[link]

Judith, the heroine of the book. She is a widow, once married to a certain Manasses. She uses her charm to become an intimate friend of Holofernes, but finally beheads him allowing Israel to counter-attack the Assyrians.

Holofernes, the villain of the book. He is a devout soldier of his king, whom he wants to see exalted in all lands. He is given the task of destroying the rebels who didn't support the king of Nineveh in his resistance against Cheleud and the king of Media, until Israel also becomes a target of his military campaign. Judith's charm occasions his death.

Nebuchadnezzar, claimed here to be the king of Nineveh and Assyria. He is so proud that he wants to affirm his strength as a sort of divine power. Holofernes, his Turtan, is ordered to take revenge on those who refused to ally themselves with him.

Bagoas, a Persian name denoting an official of Holofernes. He is the first one who discovers Holofernes' beheading.

Achior, an Ammonite king at Nebuchadnezzar's court; he warns the king of Assyria of the power of the God of Israel but is mocked. He is the first one to recognize Holofernes' head brought by Judith in the city, and also the first one to praise Hashem.

Oziah, governor of Bethulia; together with Cabri and Carmi, he rules over Judith's city.

In the Christian West from the patristic period on, Judith was invoked in a wide variety of texts as a multi-faceted allegorical figure. “Mulier sancta,” she personified the Church and many virtues – Humility, Justice, Fortitude, Chastity (the opposite of Holofernes’ vices Pride, Tyranny, Decadence, Lust) – and she was, like the other heroic women of the Hebrew scriptural tradition, made into a typological prefiguration of the Virgin Mary. Her gender made her a natural example of the biblical paradox of “strength in weakness”; she is thus paired with David and her beheading of Holofernes paralleled with that of Goliath – both deeds saved the Covenant People from a militarily superior enemy.

Later artistic renditions[link]

In literature[link]

The first extant commentary on The Book of Judith is by Hrabanus Maurus (9th c.). Thenceforth her presence in medieval European literature is robust: in homilies, biblical paraphrases, histories and poetry. An Old English poetic version is found together with Beowulf (their epics appear both in the Nowell Codex). At the same time she is the subject of a homily by the Anglo-Saxon abbot Ælfric. The two conceptual poles represented by these works will inform much of Judith’s subsequent history.^{[citation needed]} In the epic, she is the brave warrior, forceful and active; in the homily she is an exemplar of pious chastity for cloistered nuns. In both cases, her narrative gained relevance from the Viking invasions of the period. Within the next three centuries Judith would be treated by such major figures as Frauenlob, Dante, and Geoffrey Chaucer.

In medieval Christian art, the predominance of church patronage assured that Judith’s patristic valences as “Mulier Sancta” and Virgin Mary prototype would prevail: from the eighth century frescoes in Santa Maria Antigua in Rome through innumerable later bible miniatures. Gothic cathedrals often featured Judith, most impressively in the series of 40 stained glass panels at the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris (1240s).

In Renaissance literature and visual arts, all of these trends were continued, often in updated forms, and developed. The already well established notion of Judith as an exemplum of the courage of local people against tyrannical rule from afar was given new urgency by the Assyrian nationality of Holofernes, which made him an inevitable symbol of the threatening Turks. The Italian Renaissance poet Lucrezia Tornabuoni chose Judith as one of the five subjects of her poetry on biblical ficgures.^[6] A key example is the Judita of the Dalmatian humanist Marko Marulić (1450–1524), which inspired by the contemporary struggle of the Croats against the Ottomans.

A similar dynamic was created in the 16th century by the confessional strife of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. Both Protestants and Catholics draped themselves in the protective mantle of Judith and cast their “heretical” enemies as Holofernes.

In sixteenth-century France, writers such as Guillaume Du Bartas, Gabrielle de Coignard and Anne de Marquets composed poems on Judith's triumph over Holofernes. The Catholic tract "A Treatise of Schisme" written in 1578 at Douai by the English scholar Gregory Martin included a paragraph in which Martin expressed confidence that "the Catholic Hope would triumph, and pious Judith would slay Holofernes". This was interpreted by the English Protestant authorities at the time as incitement to slay Queen Elizabeth I. It served as the grounds for the death sentence passed on printer William Carter who had printed Martin's tract and who was executed in 1584.

In painting and sculpture[link]

Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi

The account of Judith's beheading Holofernes has been treated by several painters and sculptors, most notably Donatello and Caravaggio, as well as Sandro Botticelli, Andrea Mantegna, Giorgione, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Titian, Horace Vernet, Gustav Klimt, Artemisia Gentileschi, Jan Sanders van Hemessen, Trophime Bigot, Francisco Goya, Francesco Cairo and Hermann-Paul. Also, Michelangelo depicts the scene in multiple aspects in one of the Pendentives, or four spandrels on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

In music and theatre[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

The famous 40-voice motet Spem in alium by English composer Thomas Tallis, is a setting of a text from the Book of Judith.

The story also inspired a play by Abraham Goldfaden, oratorios by Antonio Vivaldi, and W. A. Mozart, and an operetta by Jacob Pavlovitch Adler.

Alessandro Scarlatti wrote an oratorio in 1693, La Giuditta, as did the Portuguese composer Francisco António de Almeida in 1726; Juditha triumphans was written in 1716 by Antonio Vivaldi; Mozart composed in 1771 La Betulia Liberata (KV 118), to a libretto by Pietro Metastasio. Arthur Honegger composed an oratorio, Judith, in 1925 to a libretto by Rene Morax. Operatic treatments exist by Russian composer Alexander Sernov, Judith, and by German composer Siegfried Matthus.

In 1840, Friedrich Hebbel's play Judith was performed in Berlin. He deliberately departs from the biblical text:

I have no use for the biblical Judith. There, Judith is a widow who lures Holofernes into her web with wiles, when she has his head in her bag she sings and jubilates with all of Israel for three months. That is mean, such a nature is not worthy of her success [...]. My Judith is paralyzed by her deed, frozen by the thought that she might give birth to Holofernes' son; she knows that she has passed her boundaries, that she has, at the very least, done the right thing for the wrong reasons.^[7]

English playwright Howard Barker examined the Judith story and its aftermath, first in the scene "The Unforeseen Consequences of a Patriotic Act," as part of his collection of vignettes, The Possibilities. Barker later expanded the scene into a short play Judith.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Robin, Diana Maury, Larsen, Anne R. and Levin, Carole (2007). Encyclopedia of women in the Renaissance: Italy, France, and England. ABC-CLIO, Inc. 

External links[link]

Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article: Book of Judith

Wikisource has original text related to this article: The King James Version of the Book of Judith

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Judith and Holofernes

• The Book of Judith Full text (also available in Arabic)
• Another text, this one including a link to download as a single document
• Jewish Encyclopedia: Judith
• Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia: Judith: Apocrypha
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Book of Judith
• World Wide Study Bible: Judith
• The New York Public Library's Judith Project

Alvin Ailey, Jr.
photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1955
Born	(1931-01-05)January 5, 1931 Rogers, Texas, U.S.
Died	December 1, 1989(1989-12-01) (aged 58) Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Dancer, choreographer

Alvin Ailey (January 5, 1931 - December 1, 1989) was an American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. Ailey is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th century concert dance. His company gained the nickname "Cultural Ambassador to the World" because of its extensive international touring. Ailey's choreographic masterpiece Revelations is believed to be the best known and most often seen modern dance performance. Ailey received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1988, just one year before his death.

Early years[link]

Ailey was born to his 17-year-old mother, Lula Elizabeth Ailey, in Rogers, Texas. His father abandoned the family when Alvin was only six months old. Like many African Americans living in Texas during the Great Depression, Ailey and his mother moved very often and she had a hard time finding work. Ailey grew up during a time of racial segregation, violence and lynchings against African-Americans. When Ailey was five, his 22-year-old mother was raped by a group of white men, leaving him afraid of whites. Early experiences in the Southern Baptist church and jook joints instilled in him a fierce sense of black pride that would later figure prominently in Ailey's signature works.^[1]' ^[2]

In the fall of 1942, Ailey's mother, in common with many African Americans, migrated to Los Angeles, California, where she had heard there was lucrative work supporting the war effort. Ailey joined his mother later by train, having stayed behind in Texas to finish out the school year. Ailey's first junior high school in California was located in a primarily white school district. As one of the only black students, Ailey felt out of place because of his fear of whites, so the Aileys moved to a predominantly black school district. He matriculated at George Washington Carver Junior High School, and later attended the Thomas Jefferson High School. He sang spirituals in the glee club, wrote poetry, and demonstrated a talent for languages. He regularly attended shows at Lincoln Theater and the Orpheum Theater. Ailey did not become serious about dance until in 1949 his school friend Carmen De Lavallade introduced him to the Hollywood studio of Lester Horton. Horton would prove to be Ailey's major influence, becoming a mentor and giving him both a technique and a foundation with which to grow artistically.^{[3][page needed]}

Horton's school taught a wide range of dance styles and techniques, including classical ballet, jazz, and Native American dance. Horton's school was also the first multi-racial dance school in the United States.^{[3][page needed]} Ailey was, at first, ambivalent about becoming a professional dancer. He had studied Romance languages at various universities in California,^{[citation needed]} but was restless, academically, and took courses as well in the writings of James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, and Carson McCullers. He moved to San Francisco to continue his studies in 1951. There, he met Marguerite Johnson, who later changed her name to Maya Angelou. They occasionally performed a nightclub act called "Al and Rita". Ailey earned a living waiting tables and dancing at the New Orleans Champagne Supper Club. Eventually, he returned to study dance with Horton in southern California.^{[3][page needed]}

The Horton Dance Company[link]

He was introduced to the company through Carmen, a life-long friend. At the age of twenty-two Ailey began full-time study at Horton's school. He joined Horton's company in 1953, making his debut in Horton's Revue Le Bal Caribe. It was during this period that Ailey performed in several Hollywood films. Like all of Horton's students, Ailey studied other art forms, including painting, acting, music, set design, and costuming, as well as ballet and other forms of modern and ethnic dance.

When Horton died in November 1953 the tragedy left the company without an artistic director. The company had outstanding contracts that required and desired new works. When no one else stepped forward, Ailey assumed the role of artistic director. Despite his youth and lack of experience (Ailey was only twenty-two and had choreographed only one dance in a workshop) he began choreographing, directing scene and costume designs, and running rehearsal.

Ailey designed his first piece in memory of Horton. It was arranged to showcase James Truitte's physical strength and Carmen de Lavallade's beauty and dramatic abilities.

New York[link]

In 1954, he and his friend Carmen De Lavallade were invited to New York to dance in the Broadway show, House of Flowers by Truman Capote, starring Pearl Bailey and Diahann Carroll. He also appeared in Sing, Man, Sing (1956, starring Harry Belafonte) and in Jamaica (1957) with Lena Horne and Ricardo Montalbán. The New York modern dance scene in the fifties was not to Ailey's taste. He observed the classes of modern dance contemporaries such as Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and José Limón. He felt Graham's dancing "finicky and strange" and disliked the techniques of both Humphrey and Limón. Ailey expressed disappointment at not being able to find a technique similar to Horton's. Not finding a mentor, he began creating works of his own.^[4][5]

Alvin Ailey Dance Theater[link]

Ailey formed his own group, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, in 1958. The group presented its inaugural concert on March 30, 1958. Notable early work included Blues Suite, a piece deriving from blues songs. Ailey's choreography was a dynamic and vibrant mix growing out of his previous training in ballet, modern dance, jazz, and African dance techniques. Ailey insisted upon a complete theatrical experience, including costumes, lighting, and make-up. A work of intense emotional appeal expressing the pain and anger of African Americans, Blues Suite was an instant success and defined Ailey's style.

Revelations performed by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in 2011

For his signature work, Revelations, Ailey drew upon his "blood memories" of Texas, the blues, spirituals, and gospel. These forces resulted in the creation of his most popular and critically acclaimed work. Ailey originally intended the dance to be the second part of a larger, evening-length survey of African-American music which he began with Blues Suite.

Although Ailey created 79 works for his dancers, he maintained that his company was not merely a showcase for his own work. Today, the company continues Ailey's vision by performing important works from the past and commissioning new additions to the repertoire. In all, more than 200 works by over 70 choreographers have been performed by the company.

Ailey was proud that his company was multi-racial. While he wanted to give opportunities to black dancers, who were frequently excluded from performances by racist attitudes at the time, he also wanted to rise above issues of negritude. His company always employed artists based solely on artistic talent and integrity regardless of their race.

Ailey continued to create work for his own company and also choreographed for other companies.

In 1962 the U.S. State Departmentsponsored the Alvin Ailey Dance Company's first overseas tour. Ailey was suspicious of his government benefactors' motives. He suspected they were propagandistic, seeking to advertise a false tolerance by showcasing a modern Negro dance group.

In 1970, Ailey was honored by a commission to create The River for ABT (ABT). Ailey viewed The River, which he based on the music of composer Duke Ellington, as a chance to work with some of the finest ballet dancers in the world, particularly with the great dramatic ballerina Sallie Wilson. ABT, however, insisted that the leading male role be danced by the only black man, despite misgivings by Ailey and others about the dancer's talent.