This year is the fifth anniversary of “Ailey”, a documentary on the life and work of award-winning and trailblazing choreographer Alvin Ailey. Directed by Jamila Wignot, the film was screened at the Art Farm at Serenbe on Saturday, February 7.
The 94-minute film includes early footage of Ailey’s career as a young dancer in New York City, and of his founding, crafting, and leading the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater (AADT) in 1958. The performance footage in this film is beautiful, and allows the viewer to relive over a dozen on-stage performances from the AADT.
The performances in the film take place across the country and the world. Ailey and others, including legendary AADT dancer Judith Jamison, are seen in the film discussing the early days and the early struggles before AADT became one of the world’s most sought-after theater companies.
The film managed to blend art and inspiration. The dance scenes are stunning, the moments when his dancers speak about Ailey as an inspiration brought me to tears, and finally, the chapter in the story about his death from AIDS-related complications in 1989.
Following the screening, Wignot, Rebecca Walker, the writer and daughter of the legendary author Alice Walker, and former Alvin Ailey dancer Nasha Thomas participated in a short panel discussion on the film.
Watching Thomas perform a solo in “Cry” or perform in Ailey’s classic, “Revelations”, during the film, she was asked how it felt to watch the film again after five years. Thomas credited Ailey, saying, “Mr. Ailey was a visionary. You have to have a vision,” she said.
Wignot said she hadn’t seen the film with other people in three years. “This has been really lovely,” she said. “There’s a choreographic feel to this film.”
