Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Tickets

This New York City-based modern dance company was founded in 1958, when Alvin Ailey, a professional choreographer and dancer, first performed with a group of young Black American modern dancers. They performed at New York's 92nd Street Young Men's Hebrew Association, and then moved on to their touring performances, called the Station Wagon Tours. The tours and performances received a good response from the audience, and in 1960 the company managed to become a permanent part of the 51st Street YWCA's Clark Centre for Performing Arts. The founder of the company, Alvin Ailey, produced his masterpiece, The Revelations, during this time, which later became the most often seen and best-known performance of modern dance.

The unique feature that Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre has been known for since its inception is its multiracial company. Black dancers, often left out from being selected by most of the prominent companies at that time, were also inducted based solely on their merit and dancing abilities. The company's first international tour was in 1962 when it was chosen for the tour of Australia, Far East, and Southeast Asia as part of the Special International Program for Cultural Presentations by President John F. Kennedy. Since then, owing to the numerous foreign cultural tours this company has on its credit, it is often known as the Cultural Ambassador to the World.

Emmy Award winner Judith Jamison joined the company in 1965 and soon became the principal dancer. Later, after Ailey's death, she served as the company's artistic director for around 40 years. In 1969, the company moved to the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Alvin established a school affiliated with the company. The financial situation of the company was not very encouraging at that time, and towards the end of the first quarter of the year, Ailey even had to officially admit the threat of dissolution. Nevertheless, due to good management strategies and hard work by the theatre team, the company managed to come out of the financial crisis and performed at New York City Centre in 1971, which is currently the residency for the company.

Masazumi Chaya, a renowned dancer and choreographer, joined the company in 1972 as an associate artistic director with Alvin Ailey. Eight years later in 1980, the company had further expansion and relocated to Broadway, along with sister concerns such as the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble, a touring company, and the Ailey School. They had a bigger and better building there, with four studios at their disposal. The silver jubilee anniversary for the company was celebrated in 1983, but soon afterwards Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre had to suffer a great loss with the death of its founder Alvin Ailey in December 1989. Judith Jamison assumed the place of artistic director, and the management decided to move the whole organization to Manhattan. Fordham University's Fordham College at Lincoln Centre affiliated with the Ailey School and started a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree program.

Struggling with the organizational difficulties after the death of its founder, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre was supported by the "Turnaround King" Michael Kaiser during a time of stress. He worked as its Executive Director from 1990 to 1993, and his expertise and devotion to arts management helped the AAADT come out of difficult times.

In later years, the company and its affiliates received some good news. After international tours to Russia, South Africa, Cuba, and France, the company moved to its new home at the John Weill Center for Dance in 2004 and received financial aid from the government. The Ailey School, headed by Denise Jefferson from 1984 until her death in 2010, became an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD). This made it eligible to participate in Title IV programs of the US Department of Education and Veterans Educational Benefit Programs by the US Veterans Administration.

Struggling with the organizational difficulties after the death of its founder, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre was supported by the "Turnaround King" Michael Kaiser during a time of stress. He worked as its Executive Director from 1990 to 1993, and his expertise and devotion to arts management helped AAADT come out of difficult times.

Later years brought some more good news to the company and its affiliates, as after some international tours to Russia, South Africa, Cuba, and France, the company moved to its new home at the John Weill Center for Dance in 2004 and also received financial aid from the government. The Ailey School, headed by Denise Jefferson since 1984 until her death in 2010, became an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD), and it is now eligible to participate in Title IV programs of the US Department of Education and Veterans Educational Benefit Programs by the US Veterans Administration.

The foundation has received a number of awards, including the National Medal of Arts in 2001. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre tickets enable you to watch modern dance being performed to its ultimate perfection.