Alvin Ailey
The African American choreographer and activist is noted for shaping modern dance into a popular art form. His legacy, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre (AAADT) is credited with training and employing dancers “whose body types vary from the standard imposed by the traditional ballet world.”
Throughout Ailey’s career, he choreographed numerous dances, and his choreographic masterpiece, Revelations, is believed to be the best known and most often seen modern dance performance. In 1988, he received the Kennedy Center Honors and in 2014, former President Barack Obama selected him to be a posthumous recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The performer, whose work continues to be performed across the world, died in 1989 from AIDS-related complications. Although he never publicly declared himself gay, he maintained romantic relationships with men exclusively throughout his adult life.
