FANTASTIC BLACK DANCE COMPANIES |
A Heritage of Excellence The Lester Horton Dance Theatre, founded in 1932, was the first racially integrated dance troupe in America. One of the major dancers was Alvin Ailey, who served as the group's director from 1953 to 1954. Ailey left in 1958 to form his own modern-dance company, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In 1960 his new company premiered Revelations, a piece set to a soundtrack of African American spirituals that reacquainted millions of Americans with the beauty and pathos of those traditional songs. One of Ailey's dancers, Judith Jamison, won fame for her intense performance of Ailey's solo Cry (1971), a dance that portrays a black woman's life story. Other prominent black choreographers who have contributed significantly to modern dance include Donald McKayle, Debbie Allen, Talley Beatty, Garth Fagan, Bill T. Jones, and Joel Hall. In recent years several regional modern dance companies have been created to present works by African Americans. Beginning in the 1950s, a number of black ballet dancers, including Arthur Mitchell, Janet Collins, Virginia Johnson, Carmen De Lavallade, and Geoffrey Holder, rose to success in regional and national ballet companies. Mitchell was the first African American to dance with the New York City Ballet, and in 1969 he founded the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Collins served as prima ballerina for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company from 1951 to 1954. The past 20 years in African American dance have been rich in innovations as well as connections with the past. The definition of dance has broadened beyond ballet, modern, and jazz. Popular and social dances, including the urban black dance forms of break dancing and hip-hop, have been recognized for their artistry and expressiveness. All-female companies such as Urban Bush Women have been formed, as has a company devoted exclusively to hip-hop dance, The Pure Movement Dance Company. Dance created and performed by African Americans has become a permanent part of American dance. Contemporary dance companies founded by blacks tour both nationally and internationally. The diversity of dance styles and genres is represented by such groups as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dance Theater of Harlem, Garth Fagan's Bucket Dance Theater, Philadelphia Dance Company, The Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Company, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Kariamu & Company, and Forces of Nature Dance Theatre. Many African American dance companies have specialized in reconstructing traditional African dances, keeping these dance forms alive in America. They have influenced a generation of choreographers who blend African styles with movements from modern and popular dance. These groups include the African American Dance Ensemble; KanKouran West African Dance Company; Ko-Thi Dance Company; Dinizulu and His African Dancers, Drummers, and Singers; and Muntu Dance Theater. |