Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre Tickets

Alvin Ailey, born on January 5, 1931 in Texas was raised by his mother when his father left the family when Alvin was only six months old.  When he was six years old in 1937, his mother moved into the home of Amos Alexander, a respected black businessman. Alexander became a loving father-figure to Alvin Ailey. As the only African American student in his school, Ailey felt out of place. He felt more secure at the racially mixed Jefferson High School, where his talent for foreign languages and his gymnastic skills were soon recognized. In 1948, he entered the University of California at Los Angeles, planning to become a language teacher. Alvin Ailey Dance Theater would not have been possible without the effort of this young man who worked hard to build his own recognition.

 
A school trip to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo had stimulated his curiosity for dancing. In 1949, Ailey was convinced by one more African American dancer, Carmen de Lavallade, to take classes at the Lester Horton studio in Los Angeles. Eventually Ailey dropped out of college to become a full-time dancer and dance teacher. This was the first step towards the formation of Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. When Horton died in 1953, Ailey took over the company. In December 1954, Ailey and de Lavallade went to New York, where Ailey studied modern dance under well-known artists such as Hanya Holm, Martha Graham, Charles Weidman and Anna Sokolow. He studied ballet with Karel Shook. Ailey became a featured dancer in House of Flowers (1954) and Jamaica (1957) and also acted in several plays. Even more notably, Ailey established his standing as a choreographer with Blues Suite (1958) and Revelations (1960). His dancers became the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, which soon recognized a global standing.

 
Inappropriately, the pressures related with his errands and his secretive homosexuality had driven Ailey to drugs and alcohol. In 1980, he had two public nervous breakdowns, was arrested, and was hospitalized as a manic- depressive. Even though his condition was so critical Ailey tried to keep working and Alvin Ailey Dance Theater kept performing, but he had to surrender many of his responsibilities to others. By the late 1980’s, when the world was giving Alvin Ailey Dance Theater one honor after another, Ailey was in fact dying from AIDS. In September 1989, he was hospitalized once more. He died two and a half months later.

 
For his artistic achievements, Ailey was given a Dance Magazine Award in 1975, the Capezio Award in 1979, the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award in 1987, and a Kennedy Center Award and New York City’s Handel Medallion in 1988. He also received the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Spingarn Medal in 1976 and the United National Peace Medal in 1982.
 

Alvin Ailey Dance Theater is not something new to people. It has been visiting many countries for over thirty one years now. With experience of dancing on foreign stages such as “Tivoli “in Copenhagen it is more like another home for them. Germany has been one of their favorite avenues lately. In 1962, it had been four years since the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater was established. It was then that Alvin Ailey Dance Theater was asked to take its dancing troupe on their first tour to the Far East. The main dancers Carmen De Lavallade and Ailey accompanied the troupe to countries like Australia, Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. Finally through this touring, Alvin Ailey Dance Theater earned a consistent stature that helped the company well. The Far East trek had gathered personalities into a creative element.

 
Good news for Alvin Ailey Dance Theater fans. Alvin Ailey Dance Theater is performing once again for their fans worldwide and Alvin Ailey Dance Theater tickets are already selling out. If you don’t want to miss a thing, then be the first one to get your ticket before they are sold out.