James Gilmer

March 23, 2022

San Francisco Chronicle - Review: Classic ‘Revelations’ Feeds The Soul As Alvin Ailey Company Returns To Cal Performances

Alvin Ailey’s “Revelations” is back in the flesh — and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is dancing it as rousingly as ever. If you’ve never seen “Revelations,” or haven’t gotten a dose in a few years, make haste to the Ailey company’s current run at UC Berkeley’s Cal Performances, where this eternal and indestructible 1960 classic is slated to cap every program (there are five of them) on offer through Sunday, April 3. And brace yourself; as one longtime fan was heard telling a newcomer on opening night Thursday, March 29, “You’re about to go to church.”

January 30, 2022

The Philadelphia Sunday Sun - James Gilmer: From A Dream To The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Pittsburgh native James Gilmer always had a love for the arts. Growing up in a family that was musically and artistically inclined sparked an interest in dance at an early age. His parents began cultivating his love for dance by putting him in a ballet and tap sampler class at the Larry Cervi School of dance when he was just five years old. Gilmer went on to receive a scholarship to attend the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School when he was 8 years old. After graduating high school, he was accepted into the second company at the Cincinnati Ballet and joined the main company shortly thereafter. Eventually he went on to dance with ODC Dance Company in San Francisco before landing his dream job in New York. In 2019, Gilmer became a member of the prestigious Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Gilmer spoke with the SUN about his journey in the world of dance, his dream job with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s upcoming performance at the Kimmel Center Cultural Campus.

December 13, 2021

The New York Times - Ailey’s New Secret Weapon: The Heroically Unmannered James Gilmer

December is never a breeze for an Alvin Ailey dancer, but recently — amid rehearsals and with a performance looming that evening — James Gilmer found himself in an empty closet on the studio side of New York City Center. Armed with a late lunch, he was using his only break of the day for an interview. But as he sees it, it’s better not to waste time.

August 06, 2020

Town & Country - Amazing Grace - Still, We Dance: An Ode To The Deliverance And Joy Of Self-Expression

Every year, in theaters and concert halls around the globe, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater takes audiences to church. Not just any house of worship, but the working-class, Black, Southern temples of rural Texas. The gospel they see and feel is Revelations, the company’s signature dance, which has been staged more often than the troupe’s other celebrated works, for some 25 million fans. This year Revelations turns 60, and it has lost none of its incantatory power.