BHP - Alvin Ailey, Jr.

(born Jan. 5, 1931, Rogers, Texas, U.S.—died Dec. 1, 1989, New York, N.Y.) American dancer, choreographer, and director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

In 1958 Ailey formed his own dance company. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, composed primarily of blacks, toured extensively both in the United States and abroad. In addition to works by Ailey, the company performed the works of several pioneer choreographers of modern dance, including Horton, Pearl Primus, and Katherine Dunham. The company's signature piece is Revelations (1960), a powerful, early work by Ailey that is set to American Negro spirituals.

Ailey subsequently continued to choreograph works for his own and other modern-dance companies. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, through its highly successful tours on every continent, made him the best-known American choreographer abroad from the 1960s through the '80s.

Biography courtesy of Encyclopædia Britannica.

For those interested in seeing the Alvin Ailey America Dance Theater, they still tour the U.S. They're in Atlanta from February 2 - 5. Visit the Fox Theatre website for show times and tickets.