By Emilia Astani
I was met with a wash of warm red when the elevator doors opened to the 5th floor of the Whitney Museum. The entire floor had been covered in the rich blood color as the backdrop to the Edges of Ailey exhibition, which I had later learned was a nod to the “blood memories” Alvin Ailey used to inspire his choreography. Growing up in the south, Ailey was privy to the experience of being Black in America both through experiences of his own and those of his family and community. These stories became the “blood memories” that breathed life into his dance productions and later his dance company, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.
The room was laced with a video installation of compiled archival video footage of Ailey, his productions, rehearsals and influences. The sounds of the dancers’ footsteps on the studio floor and Ailey’s voice accompanied the artworks by various other artists on display. Works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Romare Bearden, Faith Ringgold, Alma Thomas, Jacob Lawrence, Rashid Johnson, Kevin Beasley, Kara Walker and more were staged in tableau to explore the themes also present in Ailey’s work: Black liberation, Migration, Spirituality, Music, Women, Blackness in Dance and Southern Imagery. The installation allowed for visitors to dance their way around the works. I was fascinated in watching which ways the museum-goers were pulled around the room.

Ailey’s practice was rooted in research, “I’m a choreographer. I create movement and I’m searching for truth in movement”, he said. His search for truth was displayed in his handwritten notes with “How I Work + When” and “This is discipline + therapy for me” scribed on paper. Even if some were illegible, there was still a recognizable truth in the movement of hand to paper which reinstilled my love for my pocket journal. These notes were placed near archival photographs and production posters from Ailey’s work before and after establishing his own dance company. The exhibit was mentioned by curator Adrienne Edwards to be unique for the extensive amount of research done on a performing artist.

A special feature of the show also included a monthly performance of Ailey's choreographed dances by the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre. His performances compose the beauty of black culture through the grace of the human body and the outreaching quality of his work.
“I wanted to explore black culture, and I wanted that culture to be a revelation.” - Alvin Ailey

Emilia Astani is an undergraduate student at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences majoring in statistics and minoring in art history and digital humanities. Her love for the arts and the archive have led her to joining the Hart House Art Committee as Acquisition Subcomittee Co-Chair where she hopes to facilitate active learning roles for students within their institutions. Emilia is also a dark room curator at the Hart House Camera Club and shoots film in her free time.
Sources
“Edges of Ailey.” Whitney Museum of American Art, 2024. https://whitney.org/exhibitions/edges-of-ailey.
Whitney Museum of American Art. “Press Review: Edges of Ailey.” YouTube, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCIReJ6mFBw.
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