Edges of Ailey

Sept 25, 2024–Feb 9, 2025

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Performance Program

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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.

View the performance schedule and book tickets

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John Lindquist, Members of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Alvin Ailey, Carmen de Lavallade, James Truitte, Ella Thompson, Minnie Marshall, and Myrna White: Jacob's Pillow, 1961

Six people pose around a ladder, with three women seated, two women standing, and one man sitting on the floor, all in vintage attire.
Six people pose around a ladder, with three women seated, two women standing, and one man sitting on the floor, all in vintage attire.

John Lindquist, Members of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Alvin Ailey, Carmen de Lavallade, James Truitte, Ella Thompson, Minnie Marshall, and Myrna White: Jacob's Pillow, 1961. Photograph by John Lindquist. © Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University

Artists

On the Hour

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Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

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Learn more at whitney.org/artport

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