September 12, 2000 Summary Facts:
Celebrating its 25th anniversary season, Ailey II, the touring arm of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater formerly known as Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble, will perform on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 10 and 11 at 8 p.m. in UCSB Campbell Hall. The audience at Tuesday’s performance is invited to stay after the show for a Meet-the-Artists Discussion. Under the artistic direction of Sylvia Waters since its inception, the company of 12 superb versatile dancers has kept alive many original works by Alvin Ailey and presented them live to audiences around the world. In their Santa Barbara concerts, they will perform Ailey’s classic 1960 dance set to traditional Negro spirituals, Revelations, which the Chicago Tribune calls “a powerful and eloquent...timeless tribute to humanity, faith and survival.” Embracing Ailey’s balletic modern dance style, the company also performs with equal ease and excellence the work of today’s established and most outstanding emerging choreographers including Lar Lubovitch, Talley Beatty, Judith Jamison, Ulysses Dove, Donald Byrd, Shapiro and Smith, and Francesca Harper. Begun in 1974 with a group of advanced students, handpicked by Alvin Ailey from his American Dance Center, Ailey II emphasizes a balance of technique, repertoire and performance. The ensemble has grown into one of the most popular and critically acclaimed dance companies in the United States. Ailey II members are all exceptionally talented artists who have completed advanced study at the Ailey school. Throughout its history, more than 30 Ailey II members have been selected to join the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; many others have gone on to pursue successful careers as dancers, choreographers and teachers. Sylvia Waters joined Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1968 and was a principal dancer with the company, touring throughout the world until assuming her post as director of Ailey II. Waters is credited with the expansion and growth of the company into its currently esteemed status. A Juilliard graduate and student at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, she worked in Paris with the Paris Opera Ballet and performed in various international productions before joining Ailey. Born in Rogers, Texas in 1931, Alvin Ailey spent his formative years going to Sunday School and participating in The Baptist Young People’s Union, experiences that would later inspire some of Ailey’s most memorable works, including Revelations. At age 12, he moved to Los Angeles and fell in love with concert dance on a junior high school field trip. He began his formal training with Lester Horton. Ailey embarked on his professional career in Horton’s ground-breaking multi-racial dance company. When Horton died in 1953, Ailey became director of the Lester Horton Dance Theater at age 22 and began choreographing his own works. The following year, he was invited with his friend and fellow dancer Carmen de Lavallade to perform in House of Flowers on Broadway. In New York, he studied with Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman and Hanya Holm. In 1958, Ailey founded his own company, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which debuted at the 92nd Street Y. Ailey pursued his vision of creating a company dedicated to enriching the American modern dance heritage and preserving the uniqueness of Black cultural expression. He created some 79 ballets. In 1969, Ailey founded the Alvin Ailey American Dancer Center, with an initial enrollment of 125 students. Today, the Center trains 3,500 students annually. Over the course of his career, Ailey received, in addition to numerous honorary doctoral degrees, the 1975 Dance Magazine Award, the Capezio Award in 1979 and the most prestigious prize in modern dance, the Samuel H. Scripps American Festival Award in 1987. In 1988 he was honored by the Kennedy Center for his extraordinary contribution to American culture and achievement in the performing arts. He died in December, 1989. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Center has since been under the artistic direction of longtime star Ailey dancer and choreographer Judith Jamison. Presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures, this residency is sponsored by KEYT-3 TV. For tickets or more information, Editor: For photos, please call |