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Is it possible to tell the story of a man who, according to all accounts, kept so much of his personal life hidden from the general public, as well as from some of his closest friends and colleagues? When it comes to Alvin Ailey’s portrait by Jamila Wignot, the dancer and choreographer, the answer is to let his work speak for itself. The documentary “Ailey” takes viewers on a journey from the dance legend’s childhood in Texas to his discovery of ballet in Los Angeles, to his first steps on stage, and finally, to his final bow. An educational journey, an uncompromising look into the difficulties of living an artistic life, and a tribute to the man whose dance studio and company are still in operation today bear his name
Dance provided Alvin Ailey with a means to express himself, despite the fact that he was naturally private and likely affected by homophobia at the time. Despite the fact that he was frequently the only Black man creating in a predominantly white dance world, the documentary does not focus on his exclusion. His resilience, his sources of inspiration that lead him to create both classic and challenging works, as well as his struggles with mental health while under the pressures of success, are the focal points of the film. The film traces his inspirations all the way back to the trailblazing Katherine Dunham and his training with the technique-driven Louis Horton, among other people. After some time had passed, Ailey began to assemble a troupe of dancers with whom he could develop a unique repertoire, which he named the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. “Revelations” and “Blues Suite” were inspired by his childhood memories, which he used as inspiration for other works. By incorporating movement from jazz clubs and church dances into his ballet training, Ailey was able to create a dance vocabulary that felt uniquely his own—and was unlike anything most white audiences had ever seen before. He became an international sensation, traveling the world and working unimaginable hours, all while dealing with racism and homophobia back in his home country of Jamaica. As part of a rare confession, some of the dancers and crew members in his company recall Ailey’s mental health struggles and isolation, allowing the world to see behind the posh façade of a world-class choreographer to reveal the man behind the curtain.
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The documentary follows Ailey’s career in a straightforward manner, but its overarching framing device is at times at odds with the person at the center of the narrative. Between Ailey’s biographical narrative are a series of previews from a then-in-progress piece, which serves as a tribute to the man and his work from the Ailey dance company. While it provides an introduction to Ailey’s life and work, it can feel as if it is interfering with the flow of his own narrative at certain points. When the narrative has settled into a comfortable rhythm, it takes a brief detour into the present day, where it delves deeper into the creative process and challenges of creating a dance that is rooted in Ailey’s style of movement and storytelling. It’s to Wignot’s credit that this creative choice shakes up the rudimentary paint-by-numbers bio-docs that we’ve been exposed to almost our entire lives, and it makes far more sense in terms of the overall narrative than some of the tangential asides I’ve seen other less skilled documentary filmmakers use. It is by no means uninteresting; on the contrary, it is occasionally off-kilter, splitting the audience’s attention between the past and the present in a way that works sometimes and feels off-kilter at other times.
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About the quiz
Making a person come alive in all of their complexities is difficult to do. When Morgan Neville’s latest documentary, “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain,” came to a close, even a figure as open about his past as Anthony Bourdain seemed no less mysterious. It is inevitable that we will always have unanswered questions about those who leave us too soon, stories we wish they had told us, and secrets that are no longer guarded. The only thing we have left are the memories of those who worked with them and knew them personally. This portrait of the choreographer, which is collected together in “Ailey,” does much to demystify the legend, but only to a point, and thus maintains his mystique while also humanizing the historical figure, as is evident in the film. It is more of a tribute to Alvin Ailey than it is a telling-all, and it serves as an introduction to a man whose name has become synonymous with American dance, and whose steps continue to live on in the bodies of countless dance teachers, students, and performers.
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Select theaters are now showing the film.
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