Edges of Ailey

Sept 25, 2024–Feb 9, 2025

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Throughout the presentation of Edges of Ailey, a robust performance program in the third-floor theater unfolds alongside the multimedia exhibition on floor five—both inspired, motivated, and organized by Alvin Ailey’s belief in building a platform for Black modern dancers and choreographers. The repertory of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) is an embodied archive, doubling as a vital, ongoing repository for canonical dances, revivals, and new commissions alike. This series of performances operates in the same vein, bringing together for the first time the AAADT with eleven leading choreographers. For their plurality of styles and approaches, these choreographers have been commissioned to create new or restage existing works inspired by Ailey’s life, influences, and themes.

The AAADT will have weeklong residencies at the Whitney each month to showcase the company’s breadth of offerings, from performances of classic and contemporary works by the first company and Ailey II, its junior counterpart; to workshops offered by the Ailey School, a key training ground for dance since 1969; and its educational initiatives like the Extension program, which offers classes to the public for all ages.

The performance program was chosen by the Dance Advisory Committee, comprised of Ailey artistic leadership and Adrienne Edwards, curator of Edges of Ailey. Taken as a whole, this program attests to Ailey’s profound presence—whether as influence, imprint, or shadow—in contemporary dance.

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Edges of Ailey

Performance Program

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Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Inc., Photography by Jack Mitchell

Artists

On the Hour