Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Tickets

Dance is a form of entertainment that appeals to the mind and is an essential part of human culture. It is an art form that has a multitude of variations, appealing to different senses of the human mind. For those looking for a place that offers such a multisensory enriching experience, get a hold of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater tickets for a ride that will inspire, elevate and move you.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a place that offers a fusion of some of the best dancers of the country, with the most experienced, talented and visionary choreographers, eventually culminating in a product that celebrates the world of art and dance. At the American Dance Theater, there are 32 professional dancers, under the creative leadership of the art director, Robert Battle and his associates.

Founded by Alvin Ailey, a dancer by profession, in 1958, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has come a long way since its inception. At that time, the first show that Ailey performed was with a group of seven young dancers, and he himself took on the role of a dancer, choreographer, as well as a director. After this initial performance, the troupe toured on station wagons for the two years until in 1960, they registered themselves as a company. The famous dance 'Revelations' was a product of this time period, based upon the traditional elements of dance. Following this, the founder expanded and included dancers from other races to promote talent irrespective of race. The sixties gave way to the art director Judith Jamison, under whose tutelage, the American Dance Theater gave some of its memorable hits in the subsequent decades, like 'Forgotten Time' in 1989, Hymn in 1991 and more recently, 'Love Stories' in 2004.

After domestic performances, the theater engaged in international performances and toured countries like Russia and France in the nineties and established a name for itself in the hearts and minds of the international audience. These performances gave way to the Ailey School, the Dance Foundation and the dance complex.

To this date, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a recognized international name, after having performed in 71 countries and for an audience that has now expanded and reached an astounding figure of 21 million people. Often touted as a representative of the culture of American people, the theater holds great importance in the hearts of the American citizens, a fact validated by its initial inclusion in President Kennedy's program for cultural presentations.

From Southeast Asia in the early sixties, to a tour of Australia following that and putting on a show at the Arts Festival in Brazil, the company made waves internationally. Not only did it perform abroad but also gained international recognition in terms of awards and accolades, for not only the dancers, the choreographers but the company in totality.  The company increasingly gained the status of becoming the cultural ambassador for the United States of America. 

The experience is enhanced more so by the philosophy of the theater which does not only look for a sole contributor or creator of the dance routines but looks to a more diversified collaborative effort. This fact is validated by the choreography statistics which posit that although Alvin Ailey, as the founding father of the company, created and choreographed 70 dances, he was not the only contributing choreographer. The richness of the experience of the performances is partly due to the diversity the company has to offer, not only in terms of forms of dance, dancers but also choreographers, as the company boasts of 200 dance routines that have been choreographed by more than seventy different choreographers. However, diversity is not the sole attractive feature of the company. Rather, and what is most important in a dance company, is the skill and style of the dancers, which exudes personality and extroversion, making the effect more dramatic and resonant.

In line with its roots, the company caters to nostalgia by often repeating earlier successful performances of Alvin Ailey, such as Night Creature, initially performed in 1974 or Cry, initially performed in 1971 that honors Black women and caters to a range of emotions, from the depths of squalor and humiliation, to the resistance and defiance and to the eventual survival and rise of these women. Such a performance is emotionally stimulating, not only for the dancers but also for the audience and is reminiscent of the time that was. Be sure to purchase your Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater tickets today.