Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Founded in 1958, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is recognized by U.S. Congressional resolution as a vital American “Cultural Ambassador to the World.”  Ailey’s artists have performed for an estimated 25 million people in 71 countries on 6 continents. Ailey’s performances celebrate the human spirit through the African-American cultural experience and the American modern dance tradition.

Featured News Releases

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's 2025 United States Tour Reaches Coast-to-Coast January 31-May 11 During Season Celebrating The Life And Legacy Of Judith Jamison

NEW YORK – January 23, 2025 – After a much-anticipated winter season in New York City, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater—beloved as one of the world’s most popular dance companies—will continue its 2024-2025 season celebrating the life and legacy of Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison with an 18-city United States tour starting January 31 in Cleveland and continuing coast-to-coast to cities including Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; Boston; Chicago; and Los Angeles; before culminating with a Mother’s Day performance in Newark on May 11. The passionate spirit and extraordinary technique of AILEY’s dancers will be showcased in a diverse repertory of new works, repertory favorites, and AILEY classics, including Alvin Ailey’s must-see masterpiece Revelations.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Returns To Atlanta's Fox Theatre February 12-16

ATLANTA – updated January 14, 2025 – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, one of the world’s most popular dance companies and America’s cultural ambassador to the world, returns to the Fox Theatre, February 12-16 for six exciting performances during a season celebrating Legacy in Motion and the life of beloved Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison (1943 – 2024). The 2025 Atlanta engagement will feature season world premieres by choreographers for whom Alvin Ailey paved the way - Sacred Songs by Interim Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, Finding Free by Hope Boykin, Many Angels by Lar Lubovitch, and Al-Andalus Blues by Jamar Roberts. The season will also include the 25th anniversary staging of Ronald K. Brown’s rapturous blockbuster Grace and a new production of Elisa Monte’s mesmerizing Treading. The finale of all programs will be Alvin Ailey's soul-stirring, must-see masterpiece, Revelations, which has captivated audiences globally since 1960.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Opening Night Gala Honors Dance Education Luminary Jody Gottfried Arnhold Wednesday, December 4 At 7pm

NEW YORK — updated November 12, 2024 — Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater kicks off its five-week holiday season celebrating the life and legacy of Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison on Wednesday, December 4 at 7pm with a star-studded Opening Night Gala, including a performance at New York City Center and party at Ziegfeld Ballroom. The Gala honors Jody Gottfried Arnhold for her steadfast commitment to accessible dance education for all and her invaluable support of AILEY’s mission. The Honorary Chairs for the evening are Gayle King, co-host of “CBS Mornings” and Editor-at-Large of Oprah Daily, and Phylicia Rashad, two-time Tony® Award-winning actress.

Featured Press Coverage

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Dance Magazine - Introducing Our 2025 “25 to Watch”

Where is the dance field headed next? The dancers, choreographers, directors, and companies on our annual “25 to Watch” list offer heartening, imaginative, exciting possible answers to that question. Whether or not you’re already familiar with these up-and-comers, our editors and contributors from across the dance world predict that we’ll be hearing a lot more from these artists on the verge of a breakout in 2025 and beyond.

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Interview - “If You Can Walk, You Can Dance”: Inside the Whitney Museum’s Alvin Ailey Retrospective

In 1949, as legend has it, Alvin Ailey, then a young gymnast, followed school buddy and fellow future dance icon Carmen de Lavallade to the famed Lester Horton “Dance Theater” on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. It was a simple gesture that would lay the groundwork for the future of American concert dance. After Horton’s unexpected death, Ailey took over the Horton company for a while before starting the eponymous Alvin Ailey Company in New York, forming a beautiful, long and deeply intersectional lineage that incorporated dance, art, and innumerable interconnected histories culminating in the very first exhibit of the archival record of the Alvin Ailey Company, a show five years in the making and currently on view at The Whitney Museum of American Art.

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CBS News - "Hail and Farewell": A tribute to those we lost in 2024

Dancer and choreographer Judith Jamison had her own divine grace on stage. As the former artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, she could communicate through movement what poets do in words. "We just happen to be very blessed because we've been given the gift of dance," she said in 1991.