Press Coverage

December 02, 2019

National Museum Of African American History & Culture - Alvin Ailey Photography Collection Is Now Available To The Public

On World AIDS Day and the 30th anniversary of Alvin Ailey’s death (Dec. 1), the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture is making available the collection of more than 10,000 photographs chronicling the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from 1961 to 1994. The Jack Mitchell Photography of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Collection includes 8,288 black-and- white negatives, 2,106 color slides and transparencies, and 339 black-and-white prints depicting private photo sessions, repertory by Alvin Ailey and a wide range of choreographers and iconic solo performers.

September 05, 2019

BBC Radio - Front Row With Kirsty Lang

In 1958 Alvin Ailey, aware that there were few opportunities for African-American dancers and choreographers, founded a company to tell the stories of black people through movement. Since then the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has become one of the most popular modern ensembles in the world. The company's artistic director, Robert Battle, talks to Kirsty Lang about its history, ambition and that constant difficulty - to get boys to dance.

August 11, 2019

CBS Sunday Morning - Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater At 60

When Robert Battle goes to visit Dessie Williams, the cousin who raised him, she loves to brag that she always knew he was special. "You didn't have to encourage him to do anything; he did them. He was self-motivated," she said.

July 09, 2019

The New York Times - Associate Director To Step Down At Ailey

Masazumi Chaya, the associate artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater since 1991, will retire on Jan. 5 after the company's annual City Center season. But he'll still be involved with the organization: After he steps down, Chaya, 72, will be in charge of a licensing project that will assist in the restaging of Ailey's works. Matthew Rushing, a veteran dancer and the company's rehearsal director, will take over as associate artistic director, while Ronni Favors, a former Ailey member, will become the company's rehearsal director. Clifton Brown, a current dancer, will join Linda Celeste Sims as an assistant to the rehearsal director.

June 23, 2019

The New York Times - Scene City: Greeting The Solstice

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater celebrated the 50th anniversary of The Ailey School with a gala on June 13 at Lincoln Center.

February 17, 2019

NBC 6 South Florida - Robert Battle Reflects On Alvin Ailey's Legacy

Liberty City native Robert Battle currently serves as the Artistic Director of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. Battle spoke with NBC 6's Joan Strader about his childhood and his rise to the top.

February 15, 2019

Fox 7 Miami - All The Right Moves: Ailey's Robert Battle Comes Home To Give Back

(WSVN) - The famous Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is performing at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in South Florida. The company's artistic director grew up in Miami and while he's in town, he is taking time to step off the stage and into the classroom. Fox 7's Craig Stevens shows us how he's making "All The Right Moves." New York City may be where he lives, but Miami will forever be home for Robert Battle, the artistic director for the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater.

February 08, 2019

NBC Nightly News - The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Celebrates 60 Years Of Modern Dance And Creative Expression

Dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey gathered a handful of modern black dancers in 1958 to perform with him at New York’s 92nd Street YM-YWHA. It was here that the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, as well as Ailey’s vision for a more inclusive world of the art form, was born. Since then, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has grown to include 32 dancers who have gone on to perform more than 235 works for an estimated 25 million people across six continents. This season, the dance company celebrates its 60th anniversary.

December 28, 2018

ABC Nightline - The Legacy Of Alvin Ailey, Celebrating The Company's 60th Anniversary

In 1958, dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey created a home for dancers to explore identity and self-expression through their art and the dance theater remains a culture institution. ABC's Zachary Kiesch goes behind the scenes of Ailey's 60th and the creation of Lazarus, the Company's first ever two act ballet by hip hop choreographer Rennie Harris.

December 20, 2018

Associated Press - Ailey Troupe Marks 60 Years By Looking Back At Its Founder

NEW YORK (AP) — It was March 1958 when an African-American dancer named Alvin Ailey, then making his living on the Broadway stage, gathered up a group of fellow dancers and presented a one-night show of his own works. In the audience at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan was 18-year Sylvia Waters, who was studying dance across town at Juilliard. She had never seen anything like it. “It was absolutely riveting,” she says now. “I had never seen men dance like that.” Most exciting to Waters was seeing people dance “who I could relate to,” she says. “There was something so visceral about the experience. We didn’t know at the time that it was history, but it was definitely special.”

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