In AILEY, director Jamila Wignot uses archival footage and interviews of visionary choreographer Alvin Ailey to tell his own story. 

“Nothing prepares you for the experience of Ailey—the emotional, spiritual, aural, and visual overwhelm the senses. As a filmmaker, I am drawn to stories about artists like Alvin Ailey—innovators who tenaciously follow their own voice and in doing so redefine their chosen forms. Ailey's dances—celebrations of African American beauty and history—did more than move bodies; they opened minds. His dances were revolutionary social statements that staked a claim as powerful in his own time as in ours: Black life is central to the American Story and deserves a central place in American art and on the world stage. A working-class, gay, Black man, he rose to prominence in a society that made every effort to exclude him,” says Wignot in their director’s statement.

Alvin Ailey was born in Texas in 1931, a time in American history that was defined by the oppression of Black Americans.  In the 1950s, Ailey moved to New York City to pursue a dance and choreography career, and in 1958 he founded his groundbreaking company. Just two years later, he would premiere Revelations, which is widely regarded as his seminal work.

For more information on AILEY, visit distributor Neon’s website.