By Alex Smith, Jr.
Something very special is about to burst on the NYC cultural scene- Edges of Ailey. The Whitney Museum’s groundbreaking, and multi-faceted interdisciplinary exhibit is a homage to the life and work of the legendary dancer, choreographer and humanitarian Alvin Ailey. This unique collaborative effort between the Ailey Dance Foundation and the Whitney has its official debut on Wednesday, September 25.
The comprehensive exhibition is housed in the 18,000 square-foot fifth-floor galleries and features works by more than eighty artists. These artists consist of Ailey collaborators and influencers such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kevin Beasley, Romare Bearden, Rashid Johnson, Jacob Lawrence, Faith Ringgold, Alma Thomas, Kara Walker, and many others. In addition, personal revelatory archival material comprised of rarely seen performance footage, recorded interviews, notebooks, letters, poems, short stories, choreographic notes, drawings, performance programs and posters assist to provide a sweeping overview of this great artist.
The selection of material from the Alvin Ailey Archival Papers will undoubtedly be of interest to both the armchair dance historian and the Ailey curious neophyte. These papers have been digitized especially for the Edges of Ailey exhibition. Ailey II Artistic Director Emerita and executor of Ailey’s estate Sylvia Waters spoke of how personal and meaningful those handwritten notebooks were to her. “He was always writing in notebooks. Always taking notes”, she said at the September 18th press briefing and preview.
More than archival material and Ailey memorabilia Edges of Ailey brings together visual art, and live dance and multi-media performances to complete the Ailey experience. By far one of the most impressive elements is the 18-channel video installation created by filmmakers Josh Begley and Kya Lou, with curator Adrienne Edwards. The multi-screen video installation snakes its way through the exhibition displaying excerpts of Ailey’s works
During the five-month exhibition (September 25, 2024, through February 9, 2025) both the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) and Ailey II will be “in residence” at the Whitney Museum. The companies will perform in the 275 seat Susan and John Hess Family Theater and Gallery located on the third floor. This residence will take place for one week each month for a total of five weeks. Additional performing artists will augment the remaining weeks including such terpsichorean notables as Ronald K. Brown, Trajal Harrell, Bill T. Jones, Ralph Lemon, Will Rawls, Matthew Rushing, Yusha-Marie Sorzano, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar.
Given the iconic nature of Mr. Ailey on the American cultural scene, the dynamic nature of the company he founded and the creatively sumptuous visual way it is all brought together in this exhibit, this is bound to a very popular exhibition at the Whitney. For more information and to buy tickets online visit https://whitney.org/exhibitions/edges-of-ailey.
Edges of Ailey is organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in collaboration with the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation. Special acknowledgment to the Allan Gray Family Foundation and the Black Archives of Mid-America in Kansas City for access to archival materials. The exhibition is curated by Adrienne Edwards, Engell Speyer Family Senior Curator and Associate Director of Curatorial Programs, with Joshua Lubin-Levy, Curatorial Research Associate, and CJ Salapare, Curatorial Assistant, with thanks to Katie Fong, Curatorial Assistant, for research support.
Photo Credits:
1) Edges of Ailey, gallery installation. Courtesy of Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo by Audrey Wang.
2) Coral Dolphin. Courtesy of Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo by Natasha Moustache.
3) Sylvia Waters. O&A NYC Magazine. Photo by Adewale Adekanbi Jr.
4) Portrait of Alvin Ailey with Judith Jamison, Linda Kent, and Dudley Williams in dance studio (1973) photographer unknown
