Alvin Ailey on Dancing With The Stars

Alvin Ailey alums finally make Bay Area debut

It's about time. This Saturday, Complexions Contemporary Ballet is finally making its Bay Area debut. The company is 14 and travels all over the globe, from Israel to New Zealand. Founded by former members of Albert Ailey American Dance Theater Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, the company started out small, primarily with duets Rhoden created for himself and Richardson. In the Bay Area, Rhoden's work has been seen most often during the Ailey company's yearly gigs. In 2002, the Oakland Ballet (then under the leadership of Karen Brown) debuted his Glory Fugue to much acclaim. Meanwhile, Richardson, a principal guest artist of American Ballet Theater, is mesmerizing in whatever capacity he chooses to perform. In the Bay Area he is best known for the title role in San Francisco Ballet's filming of Othello. Today, Rhoden is a hot item in musical theater, film, video, and jazz, as well as ballet and modern dance.

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Just Asking: Judith Jamison

On March 30, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater begins celebrating its 50th anniversary, with dozens of churches across the country holding tributes and performances. The Manhattan company is also in the midst of a $30 million fund-raising campaign aimed at giving it one of the biggest endowments of any performing-arts group. (Its endowment now is $22 million.) Artistic director and former dancer Judith Jamison, who has begun looking for a successor to succeed her in 2011, talks below about the troupe.


WSJ: Mr. Ailey was among the first to showcase black dancers and choreographers. What's it like today?

Ms. Jamison: When I started, it was really hard for dancers of color to perform anywhere. It's better but still hard, and there are a lot of great choreographers whose work is hardly seen. But Alvin always said, "You can come and put your dances on my dancers," and that's still important to us.

Your dancers are known for being very athletic. Is running a dance group like running a sports team?

We have two physical therapists who are always on tour with the dancers, and at our home in New York we have an entire room with training and rehab equipment.

Are you trying to reach new and younger audiences?

One of our young staff people came up with the idea of using the Web more to do that. You can see videos of our dancers performing on YouTube and MySpace now.

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End of an Era

While on tour in Atlanta, the great Judith Jamison, artistic director and visionary of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, announced to her company that she would be stepping down in early 2011. Ms. Jamison's retirement will come after 20 years at the helm of what is arguably the most successful modern-dance company in the world. In December 1989, founder and mentor Alvin Ailey tapped Ms. Jamison to succeed him shortly before his death.

When Ms. Jamison inherited the artistic reins of the company it was a cultural powerhouse, but at risk of becoming a financial disaster. The Ailey's operating budget was, in comparison, a meager $6.5 million with an expected deficit that would reach just over $1 million. Under Ms. Jamison's guide, the company rebounded and soared by not only maintaining and extending its cultural reach, but also becoming a fiscal dream. With a current budget of almost $25 million and a hefty endowment of $22 million (surplus), Alvin Ailey is one of the best-run, stable and beloved dance companies in the world.

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