Judith Jamison to Headline Celebrity Series of Boston's AILEY50 Kick-Off Event

Celebrity Series of Boston kicks off a four-month salute to the 50th anniversary of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's 1968 Boston premiere with a December 6 event that features Ailey Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison and key members of Boston's arts and dance community. The symposium takes place at John Hancock Hall, where the company made its Boston debut with Jamison as a company member.

"REVELATIONS: The Legacies of Alvin Ailey and Elma Lewis" honors the lasting impact of Ailey's internationally recognized choreography alongside the enduring influence of Boston educator and social justice advocate Elma Lewis. Lewis' passion for student engagement in the arts mirrored Ailey's mission to keep African-American stories and traditions alive. Both Ailey and Lewis have generations of devotees in Boston, as well as former colleagues - several of whom will join Jamison on stage or appear as featured guests at the event.

"Celebrity Series made bold choices over the decades in presenting artists and ensembles long before they became iconic public names," said Series President and Executive Director Gary Dunning. "In 1968 my predecessor Walter Pierce took a chance on an all-black American company, led by a relatively unknown choreographer, at a troubled time in Boston. He was continuing in the footsteps of founder Aaron Richmond, who presented Marian Anderson in the 1930s and the great Katherine Dunham in the '40s. There is great satisfaction watching artists connect with the audience and the community, especially when that connection grows over time into a treasured tradition. Few reflect that journey better than the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater."

FORMING TRADITIONS, FOSTERING LEGACIES

Dunning says the connection Boston audiences and artists found with the Company-particularly after the local premiere of Ailey's masterpiece "Revelations"-started numerous relationships in town. These relationships grew deeper and broader over five decades, and fostered a tradition for many families, including in Boston's African-American community, to see the company every time they came to town. Alvin Ailey's mission was to use the performing arts to celebrate the beauty and humanity of the African American heritage, and other cultures, with dance performances, training, and education and community programs uniting people of all races, ages and backgrounds.

Similarly, Boston-born Elma Lewis' famed School of Fine Arts, founded in Roxbury in 1950, underscored her commitment to provide artistic opportunities for young Black children in Greater Boston -- an effort to improve the world around her, one person at a time. The School had a large concentration in dance, but also taught music and visual arts while enhancing appreciation for the art forms and their pioneers. Lewis founded the National Center of Afro-American Artists the same year the Ailey company premiered in Boston; it remains the largest independent Black cultural arts institution in New England.

FEATURED PANELISTS

Judith Jamison joined Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1965 and quickly became both the choreographer's muse and the Company's best-known star before taking the role of Artistic Director from 1989 through 2011.

E. Barry Gaither, a contemporary of Elma Lewis', the longtime Director and Curator of the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, and a respected art historian, educator and writer.

Shaumba-Yandje Dibinga, Founding Artistic & Executive Director of the Roxbury-based OrigiNation, which serves thousands of students in the arts annually, is home to four professional youth dance companies, and is widely seen as a spiritual successor to the legacies of Lewis and Ailey (at whose New York school Dibinga trained).

Jean Appolon, whose company Jean Appolon Expressions advances Haitian cultural traditions to empower young people. Appolon's choreographic work, which synthesizes Haitian folkloric dance with modern technique, was influenced by training at The Ailey School.

An additional panelist will be confirmed soon.

"REVELATIONS: The Legacies of Alvin Ailey and Elma Lewis" will be moderated by Callie Crossley. Crossley hosts WGBH's "Under the Radar with Callie Crossley," and appears on its weekly programs "Beat the Press" and "Basic Black." She is a sought-after public speaker, and a commentator for local and national news broadcasts.

ADDITIONAL #AILEY50 EVENTS

The December symposium is followed early next year by several Celebrity Series-sponsored community events leading up to the Ailey company's return to Boston March 22-25. In January, Ailey company members will do residencies in several Boston-area schools, conducting master classes and workshops as part of Celebrity Series' "Artist Connections" series. In February, Celebrity Series' "Arts for All" initiative presents two free "Revelations Celebration" Community Workshops, where hundreds of Boston residents will gather to learn choreography from Alvin Ailey's masterpiece on February 24 and 25. Former Ailey member Nasha Thomas will lead the workshops, which will be open to people of all ages and dance abilities. Additional details will be released later.

EVENT RESERVATIONS

"Revelations: The Legacies of Alvin Ailey and Elma Lewis" is free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required here.

For details on this and all #Ailey50 Celebrity Series of Boston events, visit celebrityseries.org/AILEY50.

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