A Salute to Black Queer Icon Alvin Ailey

Alvin Aileys American Dance Theater, to this day, is widely held as the zenith of black cultural expression in the United States.

In 1958 Ailey founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to present his vision of honoring Black culture through dance. The company had its debut at the 92nd Street Y. The performance included Ailey's first masterpiece, Blues Suite, which followed men and women as they caroused and cavorted over the course of an evening while blues music played in the background until church bells began to ring, signalling a return to mundane life. Two years later he premiered his most popular and critically acclaimed work, Revelations, again at the 92nd Street Y. In creating Revelations Ailey drew upon his "blood memories" of growing up in Texas surrounded by Black people, the church, spirituals, and the blues. The ballet charts the full range of feelings from the majestic “I Been ’Buked” to the rapturous “Wade in the Water”, closing with the electrifying finale, “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham.”

 Ailey was notoriously private about his life. Though gay, he kept his romantic affairs in the closet. Following the death of his friend Joyce Trisler, a failed relationship, and bouts of heavy drinking and cocaine use, Ailey suffered a mental breakdown in 1980. He was diagnosed as manic depressive, known today as bipolar disorder. During his rehabilitation, Judith Jamison served as co-director of AAADT.

Ailey died from an AIDS related illness on December 1, 1989, at the age of 58. He asked his doctor to announce that his death was caused by terminal blood dyscrasia in order to shield his mother from the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.

Alvin Aileys story is the quintessential story of black queer America of his time. Although he left us too soon, his work continues to inspire us today.

We salute you, Alvin Ailey!

——

Have you checked out the latest episode of “the family we choose?” Well, what are you waiting on … get your life, Queen!