In 2005, Thomas DeFranz of Theatre Journal, wrote an article about the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater praising the groundbreaking work the troupe has done for African Americans in the United States. His main idea to the piece was that by making his company one that did not focus on a specific style or technique of dance, Ailey was able to transform his company into transcendent performers who are able to subjectively take black culture and rewrite its stereotypes as well as show what it really means to be a Black person or African American in the United States, through "mastery of form" and "deformation of mastery".

One of Ailey's main goals in creating his dance company was to create a troupe whose essence was and radiated being Black. Most of dance up to that point was White people of European decent. They dominated the dance scene. This was not the case with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The men: Black. The women: Black. These men and women danced to great bounds to show America, and the world what it truly meant to be Black, what it truly had meant to be Black, and what it truly will mean to be Black.

 This did not necessarily mean to only perform dances that were Ailey's or to only perform dances of other Black artists. Ailey and his company recreated dances of Dunham, Sokolow, and Shawn. They did this not only because Ailey respected the work of his predecessors, but to show the world that Black performers could also perpetuate these roles in a masterful sense. They were able to bring justice to those choreographers while still being Black and not the traditional White. They were able to make these pieces even greater by showing that they could be performed by all, and still have the same if not greater impact because they were performed by Black artists.

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Composite Bodies of Dance: The Repertory of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Author: DeFrantz, Thomas

Journal:Theatre journal (Washington, D.C.)

ISSN:0192-2882

Date:01/01/2005

Volume: 57 Issue: 4 Page: 659-678

http://www.alvinailey.org/about/alvin-ailey-american-dance-theater/current-repertory/dance-performances-current-repertory