A pirouette isn’t the only full circle happening in Chalvar Monteiro’s life. When the Montclair High School graduate was 12 years old, he saw the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. It was a life-changing moment for him.
Patrick Coker sat mesmerized in a cushy chair in an audience watching the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform. The 12-year- old saw a celebration of the human experience in those dancers’ movements. Struck by their beauty, he had never felt such awe. The feeling soon turned into longing and a revelation. He knew what he wanted for his future: to be an Alvin Ailey dancer on the stage, instead of in his seat. And although it took a little over 12 more years to achieve, Coker will perform in Hampton Roads this week as a member of Alvin Ailey.
It’s that time of year when Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s annual visit to Cal Performances shakes us awake. And with the National Medal of Arts recently bestowed upon the International Association of Blacks in Dance, it’s an apt time to reflect on the ways Black companies have historically been pigeonholed in the U.S. by non-Black writers, who not that long ago still lumped darker-skinned choreographers and performers into one genre, “Black dance.” It’s also worth remembering that, in the decades after Alvin Ailey’s early death in 1989, critics (including this one) often tried to narrow his troupe’s future, asking what Ailey should be, and what it should dance.
Meet Chalvar Monteiro. At what age did you decide you will dedicate your life to the art of dance? My desire to be a professional dancer was first initiated after the Ailey company performed in New Jersey when I was in high school, around 2003. Shortly after, when I was introduced to the breadth of modern and contemporary practices, I knew dancing and creating would forever be a part of my rhythm.
A palpable buzz overtook the Auditorium Theatre Wednesday, with a who’s who from the Chicago arts world arriving dressed to the nines for the 130-year-old venue’s annual gala. It so happened this was also the opening night performance of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s annual pilgrimage to Chicago, a tradition that stems back 55 years. Chicago is woven into the fabric of this New York-based company, with several dancers calling the Windy City home and the Auditorium as a habitual tour stop every year — every year but one, of course: 2021 was canceled due to the pandemic.
Routine is a big part of Deidre Rogan’s life as a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. As a dancer, her life revolves around them. One of her favorites happens to be the 10 minutes of hip stretches she does daily, typically two or three times per day, and always as part of her morning routine. “I really see my stretching time as my me-time, too,” says Rogan. “You know, just a moment to check in with myself and feel centered.”
Celebrating Talent and Beauty: Gala committee members and corporate sponsors including Southern Company joined 500 individual patrons to raise over $1 million to support the Alvin Ailey company's programs and scholarships for local students to attend The Ailey School in New York City.
When the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater opens its latest touring show at the Orpheum Theatre this Friday, March 3, it’s bringing more than entertainment: it’s a whole way of looking at the world, and our own history. The company’s repertory has always taken on such major themes, and this year’s iteration is no different. To dig deeper into the programming this time around, the Memphis Flyer reached out to dancer Khalia Campbell, who figures prominently in both the classic Revelations and the more recent In a Sentimental Mood, now enjoying its world premiere on this tour.
The dancer shares how seeing the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as a young girl led her to join the troupe. When Hannah Alissa Richardson first saw the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Toronto over ten years ago, she saw the future she wanted to be part of.
NPR's Michel Martin speaks to Robert Battle, artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, about the company's 2023 tour, which explores themes of love and joy.