By Andrea Poteet
When the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre comes to the Detroit Opera House in March, some special guests will be in attendance.
Students from Detroit International Academy will attend one of the company's performances, which begin March 3, as part of the company's two-week residency at the school, which ran from Jan. 24 through Feb. 4. Around 100 sixth through 12th graders at the school learned about Ailey's signature piece "Revelations" from some of the company's instructors.
As part of the program, the students read about the history of the company and its founder, Alvin Ailey, complete team-based exercises about the material, design their own choreography and watch dancers perform the piece.
Alvin Ailey Arts in Education director Nasha Thomas-Schmitt said the program helps students see firsthand the kind of commitment demanded of dancers.
"They see what it means to get on stage every night and perform and to set a bar and not go below it," she said. "That's something we really try to instill in them through the process. It's one thing to observe something and sit back, but we really try to bring them into the process so that they can apply themselves to do the same types of things."
Thomas-Schmitt also said the program helps expose students to a side of the arts they may never otherwise see. Many of the students in the program, which travels to schools across the country, have not had prior access to dance or performing arts, she said. Many of them have never before been inside of a theater. Like Ailey, who saw his first dance performance on a school field trip, it could fuel a lifelong love of dance and performing arts in them, she said.
"It's something that opens their eyes to things that are broader than what they might be experiencing," she said. "It was a wonderful opportunity for them to learn a piece of dance history and to work toward a goal every day and to have fun."
The company will insert its own nods to history into the performances; among them is theatrical ballet "Uptown," based on the lives of Harlem-based artists in the 1920s like Langston Hughes and Josephine Baker. The ballet features music by Fats Waller, Count Basie and Eubie Blake. Another performance will include "Three Black Kings," one of Duke Ellington's last major works, and "Revelations," which will be showcased at every performance.
Ailey started the company in 1958. Before his death in 1989, he created more than 70 ballets, including "Revelations," which is set to traditional gospel spirituals based on Ailey's memories of childhood church services and is widely regarded as his masterpiece. Ailey created the ballet to represent the entire spectrum of human emotion; it's been performed at the White House four times.
The company began as a small, mostly black troupe and has grown into a multi-racial dance institution that works to preserve Ailey's dream of bringing dance to everyone.
Thomas-Schmitt said audiences continue to be touched by Ailey's work.
"I think it's really about excellence of work and enjoying an experience and appreciating an art form," she said. "It's about the beauty of what they do, and that's what Alvin always wanted to show – the beauty of his life and story."
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
7:30 p.m. March 3-4, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. March 5, 2:30 p.m. March 6
Detroit Opera House
1526 Broadway, Detroit
$29-$76
http://www.MichiganOpera.org
