Kyle Abraham/Ailey
Issue No. 21 • Spring 2020
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. 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 – as well as millions more through television broadcasts, film screenings, and online platforms.
In 2008, a U.S. 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 Mr. 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. Although he created 79 ballets over his lifetime, Mr. Ailey maintained that his company was not exclusively a repository for his own work.
Today, the Company continues Mr. Ailey's mission by presenting important works of the past and commissioning new ones. In all, more than 235 works by over 90 choreographers have been part of the Ailey company’s repertory.
Before his untimely death in 1989, Alvin Ailey named Judith Jamison as his successor, and over the next 21 years, she brought the Company to unprecedented success. Ms. Jamison, in turn, personally selected Robert Battle to succeed her in 2011, and The New York Times declared he “has injected the company with new life.”
CHOREOGRAPHER: KYLE ABRAHAM
Kyle Abraham is a choreographer and dancer probing the relationship between identity and personal history through a unique hybrid of traditional and vernacular dance styles that speaks to a new generation of dancers and audiences. With diverse training in music, visual art, and dance—and breathtaking skill as a performer—Abraham’s highly physical dance vocabulary reflects the youthful energy of the hip-hop and urban dance he encountered in his adolescence as well as a strong grounding in modern dance technique.
The 2012 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award recipient, Kyle Abraham, began his training at the Civic Light Opera Academy and the Creative and Performing Arts High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He continued his dance studies in New York, receiving a BFA from SUNY Purchase and an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Over the past few years, Abraham has received tremendous accolades and awards for his dancing and choreography including a 2010 Bessie Award for Outstanding Performance in Dance for his work in The Radio Show, a 2010 Princess Grace Award for Choreography, a BUILD grant and an individual artist fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts, a Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grant, and selected in 2009 as one of Dance Magazine’s 25 To Watch.
In 2011, OUT Magazine labeled Abraham as the “best and brightest creative talent to emerge in New York City in the age of Obama”.
His choreography has been presented throughout the United States and abroad, most recently at On The Boards, South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center, REDCAT, Philly Live Arts, Portland’s Time Based Arts Festival, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Danspace Project, Dance Theater Workshop, Bates Dance Festival, Harlem Stage, Fall for Dance Festival at New York's City Center, Montreal, Germany, Jordan, Ecuador, Dublin’s Project Arts Center, The Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum located in Okinawa Japan, The Andy Warhol Museum and The Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA.
SOLOISTS
Ghrai DeVore-Stokes (Washington, D.C.) began her dance training at the DC Youth Ensemble and the Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center, under the tutelage of Homer Hans Bryant. She received additional training at the Kirov Academy, Ballet Chicago, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, and Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet. Mrs. DeVore-Stokes has worked with and performed works by Kevin Iega Jeff, Gary Abbott, Sidra Bell, Thang Dao, George Faison, and Edgar Zendejas. Ghrai has been a member of Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, Hubbard Street 2, Danceworks Chicago, and Ailey II. She is the recipient of the 2009 Dizzy Feet Foundation Scholarship, the 2011 Danish Queen Ingrid Scholarship of Honor, and was a 2010 nominee for the first annual Clive Barnes Award. Mrs. DeVore-Stokes joined the company in 2010. Follow her on Instagram: @ghrai_
Chalvar Monteiro (Montclair, NJ) began his formal dance training at Sharron Miller's Academy for the Performing Arts and went on to study at The Ailey School. He received his BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase, where he performed works by Merce Cunningham, Helen Pickett, Doug Varone, Dianne McIntyre, Kevin Wynn, and Paul Taylor. Since graduating, Mr. Monteiro has worked with Sidra Bell Dance New York, Elisa Monte Dance, Keigwin + Company, BODYTRAFFIC, and most extensively with Abraham.In.Motion. He has assisted Kyle Abraham in setting and creating work for Barnard College, Princeton University, Emory University, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and Wendy Whelan's Restless Creature. Mr. Monteiro was a member of Ailey II and joined the Company in 2015.
Jamar Roberts (Miami, FL) graduated from the New World School of the Arts. He trained at the Dance Empire of Miami, where he continues to teach, and as a fellowship student at The Ailey School. Mr. Roberts was a member of Ailey II and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Dance Magazine featured Jamar as one of “25 to Watch” in 2007and on the cover in 2013. He performed at The White House in 2010, and as a guest star on So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars, and The Ellen Degeneres Show. In 2015 he made his Ailey II choreographic debut with his work Gemeos, set to the music of Afrobeat star Fela Kuti. His first work for the Company, Members Don’t Get Weary, premiered during the 2017 New York City Center season. Mr. Roberts won Outstanding Performer at the prestigious New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Awards and was a guest star with London’s Royal Ballet. He first joined the Company in 2002.