EDGES OF AILEY
Whitney Museum of American Art
On View Through February 9, 2025
Exhibition Highlight
On September 25, the Whitney Museum of American Art debuted Edges of Ailey, a groundbreaking exhibition that pays homage to the life and legacy of Alvin Ailey (1931–1989), the pioneering choreographer who reshaped modern dance and founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). Curated by Adrienne Edwards, this large-scale exhibition is a vibrant, multisensory experience that blends visual art, live performances, music, archival treasures, and multimedia installations. It immerses visitors in the life and creative journey of Ailey, showcasing his profound impact on both the dance world and broader cultural landscapes.
The exhibition transforms the museum's vast fifth-floor galleries into a dynamic space where over eighty visual artists contribute works that resonate with Ailey's artistic vision and themes. These include renowned figures such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Romare Bearden, and Kara Walker, whose pieces reflect on the Black southern experience, spirituality, and the fight for liberation—central motifs in Ailey’s choreography. Alongside these are newly commissioned pieces, highlighting the continuing relevance of Ailey’s influence in contemporary art.
Central to Edges of Ailey is an extensive collection of Ailey's personal and creative archives, made accessible to the public for the first time in this scale. Rarely seen footage, letters, choreographic notes, and interviews offer an intimate look into his life, from his early inspirations to his transformative works. A multi-channel video installation, created by filmmakers Josh Begley and Kya Lou, forms the emotional heart of the exhibition, looping evocative footage of Ailey’s dances and life moments, bringing his story vividly to life.
Ailey often spoke of his work as being rooted in “blood memories”—deep-seated recollections of the sounds, rhythms, and cultural life of the Black South during the 1930s and 1940s. These memories, rich with blues, gospel, and spirituals, shaped the emotional core of his choreography. Throughout the exhibition, the color red is a recurring visual thread, symbolizing these memories while also nodding to the traditional theater spaces where his works have been performed for decades.
In addition to exploring Ailey’s personal journey, the exhibition highlights the collaborative spirit that was central to his work. Ailey's partnerships with cultural giants like Maya Angelou, Duke Ellington, and Romare Bearden are on full display, emphasizing how his artistic vision extended far beyond dance. Their collaborations, whether in music, set design, or writing, played an integral role in bringing Ailey's imaginative world to life on stage.
Edges of Ailey stands as a powerful tribute to a cultural titan who transformed the world of dance and left an indelible mark on art and Black cultural expression. It not only celebrates the magnitude of Ailey’s achievements but also shines a light on how his legacy continues to inspire and shape the future of art, dance, and storytelling.
The exhibition is divided into several thematic sections, including Southern Imaginary, Black Spirituality, Black Migration, Black Liberation, Black Women, Ailey's Collaborators, and After Ailey, each offering a unique lens into the life, work, and enduring legacy of Alvin Ailey.
Karon Davis, Dear Mama, 2024
Southern Imaginary
"I'm Alvin Ailey. I'm a choreographer. I'm a Black man whose roots are in the sun and the dirt of the South."
Ailey’s "blood memories" emerged from his childhood experiences growing up with his mother, Lula Cooper, in rural Texas. Their lives, shaped by working in homes and fields, were marked by itinerancy, poverty, and the systemic racism faced by many Black Americans in the South—realities deeply rooted in the legacy of enslavement, sharecropping, and Jim Crow laws. These memories became the bedrock of Ailey’s choreography, where he found an enduring spirit, a wellspring of pride, creativity, and a profound sense of humanity in the people and places that populated his early years.
Through his extensive travels and touring, and under the influence of pioneers like Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus, Ailey came to understand the American South as part of a broader southern imaginary that extended beyond U.S. borders to the Caribbean, Brazil, and West Africa. In the 1950s, the mass marketing of calypso music and dance styles—much like the rise of jazz in the 1920s—commodified this rich culture but also opened doors for Black performers to gain artistic recognition and higher wages. Ailey incorporated these diasporic connections into his choreography, weaving together movement, ritual, culture, and mythology inspired by the ingenuity and creative force of Black makers and communities.
Mickalene Thomas, Katherine Dunham (Revelation), 2024
Black Spirituality
Reflecting on the role of the divine in his work, Alvin Ailey once said, "My roots are also in the Gospel church, the Gospel churches of the South where I grew up. Holy blues, paeans to joy, anthems to the human spirit." His iconic ‘Revelations’ (1960) draws directly from his childhood experiences of Sunday services, spirituals, and baptisms in rural Texas. Black churches like the ones Ailey and his mother attended were cornerstones of Black social, political, and educational life in the U.S., and they profoundly shaped his creative vision.
Ailey’s exploration of ecstatic spiritual experiences extended beyond the Black church of the American South. Like anthropologist and choreographer Katherine Dunham, who practiced Haitian vodou, Ailey was deeply influenced by Brazilian candomblé. This African diasporic religion blends spiritual traditions from West African cultures—such as the Fon, Yoruba, and Bantu—with Roman Catholicism. The music, rituals, movements, and attire associated with candomblé and vodou exemplified resilience, imagination, and community in the face of oppression, resonating deeply with Ailey’s artistic sensibilities.
Throughout his career, Ailey was inspired by the vast diversity of Black spiritual practices. He believed that if faith served as a foundation for the pursuit of freedom or salvation, then the fervor—or soulfulness—expressed in those practices was proof of its power. Ailey sought to recreate this outpouring of feeling, theatricality, and passionate storytelling in many of his works, including ‘Revelations’ (1960), ‘Hermit Songs’ (1961), ‘Mary Lou’s Mass’ (1971), and ‘Hidden Rites’ (1973), as well as in his engagements with theater and opera, such as Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Mass’ (1971) and ‘Four Saints in Three Acts’ (1973).
Collection of works by Horace Pippin
Black Migration
Water is a powerful and recurring symbol in Alvin Ailey's choreography and writings. It evokes the Middle Passage—the brutal forced migration of enslaved Africans across the ocean—and also represents the possibility of redemption through ablution, the ritual of washing oneself clean. These dual meanings of water trace both the trauma of displacement and the hope of renewal.
In the early 1940s, Ailey and his mother, Lula Cooper, were part of the Great Migration, during which six million Black Americans left the rural South for urban areas in the North and West. Their move from Texas to Los Angeles reflected a broader search for escape from the racial violence and economic hardships imposed by Jim Crow laws, though segregation and inequality remained prevalent in the North.
Despite these challenges, Black culture thrived in urban centers, and it was in Los Angeles that Ailey first encountered live dance and entertainment. He saw the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Jack Cole, and Duke Ellington, but it was Katherine Dunham's ‘Tropical Revue’ (1943) that captivated him with its dynamic rhythms and powerful representation of Black dancers. Ailey's immersion in dance deepened through his friendship with Carmen de Lavallade, who introduced him to Lester Horton. Horton became Ailey’s mentor both as an artist and as a gay man, and his racially integrated, unconventional modern dance company greatly influenced Ailey’s own choreographic style.
In 1954, Ailey moved to New York, another epicenter of Black cultural expression, to begin rehearsals for the Broadway musical ‘House of Flowers’ (1954), marking the next phase of his artistic journey.
Benny Andrews, The Way to the Promised Land (Revival Series) 1994
Black Liberation
Alvin Ailey saw his dances as a celebration of the strength and resilience of Black art and culture. He declared, "Look how beautiful we are, look how wonderful we are as Black people. Look what's happened to us in all these years despite our problems, despite our being brought here as slaves, look what has grown in us." As a gay Black man, Ailey’s very presence in the dance world challenged conventional notions of freedom. In a time marked by lynchings, apartheid, homophobia, and the AIDS crisis, the question of who could truly be free was ever-present. Alongside these oppressive forces were powerful acts of resistance, including the civil rights and Black power movements, as well as the fight for gay liberation, all of which informed Ailey’s work.
Ailey’s choreography channeled this spirit of resistance and liberation in various ways. His writings reveal a deep engagement with queerness, both in the literature he read and in the sources that inspired his dances. From 1962, he sought to make Black dance "universal" by establishing a multiracial dance company. He embraced the idea of the "total dancer," someone trained in a variety of techniques—jazz, ballet, modern—believing this versatility could break down artistic boundaries. Ailey also championed creative experimentation, refusing to be confined to a single narrative, style, or aesthetic. His body of work ranged from abstract, plotless pieces to politically charged works like ‘Masekela Langage’ (1969) and ‘Survivors’ (1986).
In 1969, Ailey founded a dance school, using his company as a platform to support the advancement of Black choreographers by providing resources for new creations. He maintained a strong presence not only on prestigious performing arts stages and international venues but also in public schools, community centers, and historically Black colleges and universities, ensuring that his art reached a wide and diverse audience.
Lonnie Holley, Sharing the Struggle, 2018
Black Women
Throughout Alvin Ailey's life, Black women were a profound source of inspiration, whether they were his collaborators—such as Maya Angelou, Carmen de Lavallade, Katherine Dunham, Judith Jamison, Pearl Primus, and Sylvia Waters—or the iconic performers he admired, like Marian Anderson, Billie Holiday, Leontyne Price, and Bessie Smith. Chief among them was his mother, Lula Cooper, who raised him on her own. Ailey honored her love and resilience with ‘Cry’ (1971), a dance he described as a "tribute to the tenacity and the strength and the beauty... and the power of Black womanhood." This solo, first performed by Jamison, paid homage to the labor, hopes, and struggles of Black women. Over time, ‘Cry’ became a cherished piece for dancers in Ailey’s company, with each performer adding her own unique interpretation to the role.
With works like ‘Cry’, ‘Quintet’ (1968), ‘Mary Lou's Mass’ (1971), and ‘The Mooche’ (1975), Ailey portrayed Black women not just as dancers or icons, but as symbols of beauty, resilience, and individuality. His choreography often worked to challenge, reclaim, or correct the limiting stereotypes and caricatures imposed on Black women, showcasing their complexity and depth.
Geoffrey Holder, Portrait of Carmen de Lavallade, 1976
Ailey's Collaborators
Alvin Ailey believed deeply in the power of collaboration as a driving force for creativity. He once said, "I love the idea of people coming and working together... start with an empty space, and a body or two, and we say, 'Carve this space.'" This collaborative spirit shaped his innovative approach to the repertory model. Ailey was the first modern dance choreographer whose company performed not only his own works but also those of other choreographers. His vision was to create a "living repository [of] classics and curiosities," showcasing both established and emerging works. This model was particularly important for Black dancers and choreographers, providing opportunities and visibility in an industry that had long marginalized them.
Ailey’s collaborations extended far beyond the realm of dance. He worked with a wide array of writers, musicians, and artists whose ideas complemented his own, including Maya Angelou, Romare Bearden, Duke Ellington, Geoffrey Holder, and Langston Hughes. These collaborators contributed to his work by choreographing, composing musical scores, designing sets, and crafting costumes. Ailey was also a frequent presence in various artistic and nightlife spaces, from the Nuyorican Poets Café on the Lower East Side to the iconic Studio 54, where his dancers performed on opening night. These vibrant spaces fostered creative exchange and enriched Ailey’s artistic world.
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, A Knave Made Manifest, 2024
After Ailey
Alvin Ailey passed away on December 1, 1989, from AIDS-related complications, but he left the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) in the capable hands of Judith Jamison, who had been with the company since 1965. In 2011, Robert Battle succeeded Jamison as artistic director, serving until 2023, becoming only the third person to hold that role in the company's history.
Ailey once said, "This is not about Alvin Ailey. It's about the future, about people going on, it's about making a place... [that] could go on. That's the high point, when that happens." More than three decades after his death, Edges of Ailey provides a vantage point to reflect on how his vision has continued to thrive.
This section celebrates the enduring legacy of Ailey—as an idea, a catalyst, and a source of inspiration—through the vibrant dance company, school, and foundation that carry his name. Surrounding posters, programs, and memorabilia trace the company’s rich history and wide-reaching impact. Complementing these artifacts, researchers Harmony Bench and Kate Elswit offer three visualizations that provide data-driven insights into the company's members, dance programming, and global tours, shedding new light on the lasting influence of Ailey’s work.
Accompanying the visual elements is a robust performance program in the museum’s theater. The AAADT, in residence for five weeks during the exhibition, brings Ailey’s choreography back to life with over ninety performances. These shows, which include both classic and contemporary works, reaffirm the ongoing power of Ailey’s vision. During weeks when the company is not in residence, choreographers like Ronald K. Brown, Bill T. Jones, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar present commissioned works that reflect Ailey’s lasting impact on modern dance.
In its sweeping exploration of Alvin Ailey's life and work, the exhibition not only honors the legacy of a groundbreaking artist but also highlights the enduring cultural resonance of his vision. Through an immersive blend of visual art, archival treasures, and live performances, it offers a profound reflection on the themes that shaped Ailey's choreography—Black identity, resilience, and liberation. As Ailey’s influence continues to inspire new generations of artists, this exhibition stands as a vibrant testament to his genius and the transformative power of dance in shaping both art and society.