This research guide is designed to support the April 15, 2011, Visions and Voices event, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

*This trip is for current USC students only. You must use the provided transportation to participate. Space is limited and advance registration is required. Due to high demand, tickets will be distributed on a lottery basis. 

Check-in for the event will begin at 5:15 p.m. on campus. Buses will depart at 6 p.m. and return to campus at 11 p.m. Dinner will be provided at check-in.  

For further information on this event:
visionsandvoices@usc.edu

Though born in Rogers, Texas in 1931, Alvin Ailey spent much of early life in Los Angeles after his family moved here in 1942. His formative years in dance occurred under the tutelage of modern dance choreographer Lester Horton at the Horton school and company, where many modern dancers and choreographers such as Ailey and Bella Lewitzky got their start. Ailey formed the his dance company in 1958 after arriving in New York. His choreography is vibrant and dynamic, drawing from his broad training in modern dance, ballet, jazz, and African dance techniques. Following his death in 1989, the company has continued under Judith Jamison, a long time friend and dancer with the company. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater continues to present works of its founder as well as create new works.

At this performance the audience will experience an all Alvin Ailey choreography program: Memoria, Three Black Kings, Cry (a signature piece for current Artistic Director Judith Jamison), and Ailey's signature work Revelations.

More information about the Company can be found on at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater website.

Modern dance began as a fluid and natural response to the strictures of ballet. It became an American tradition through Isadora Duncan (1877-1927), whose simple and basic movement entered into the vocabulary of dance. Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn established the foundation of the modern dance tradition through their Denishawn school which began in 1915. Many American modern dancers and choreographers today trace their antecedents to this tradition. Dance relies on the transfer of knowledge through physical instruction passed down from one dancer and/or choreographer to the next. Alvin Ailey could trace his technique to the Denishawn school through his teacher and mentor Lester Horton.

An extensive article on modern dance can be found in Oxford Music Online. For more information about modern dance, follow search strategies included in this guide.