Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater will perform in Birmingham on Feb. 17, 2024.
The performance, presented by the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, will take place in the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center Concert Hall. Tickets may only be purchased through Ticketmaster, which can be accessed through alysstephens.org.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is led by Artistic Director Robert Battle and Associate Artistic Director Matthew Rushing. The company’s tour repertory has not yet been announced; but their signature work, “Revelations,” will be performed.
Four seating levels will be available for the 7 p.m. performance, and tickets range from $38-$78 plus fees. There is no service fee if tickets are purchased in person at the BJCC Box Office. For more information, or to see other performers scheduled for the Alys Stephens Center, visit AlysStephens.org.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater grew from a now-fabled performance in March 1958 at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. Led by Alvin Ailey and a group of young African American modern dancers, that performance changed forever the perception of American dance, according to the company’s biography.
The Ailey company has gone on to perform for an estimated 25 million people at theaters in 48 states and 71 countries on six continents — and has reached millions more online and through television broadcasts. In 2008, a United States congressional resolution designated the company as “a vital American cultural ambassador to the world” that celebrates the uniqueness of the African American cultural experience and the preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance heritage.
When Ailey began creating dances, he drew upon his “blood memories” of Texas, the blues, spirituals and gospel as inspiration, which resulted in the creation of his most popular and critically acclaimed work, “Revelations,” now celebrating 60 years. Although he created 79 ballets over his lifetime, Ailey maintained that his company was not exclusively a repository for his own work.
Today the company continues Ailey’s mission by presenting important works of the past and commissioning new ones. In all, more than 235 works by more than 90 choreographers have been part of the Ailey company’s repertory.