• Alvin Ailey (1931-1989) was a dancer and choreographer who founded the world famous Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. •His Broadway debut was in 1954 in Truman Capote’s House of Flowers. •Over the next 10 yrs. he appeared on and off Broadway and on film as a dancer, choreographer, and director •He later decided to focus on his choreography and his company
•Michel Fokine (1880-1942) was trained at the Imperial School in St.Petersburg. He moved to the US in 1923 and re-staged pieces for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and American Ballet Theatre •Fokine strove for a more a natural and expressive choreographic style •He choreographed many plotless ballets; best known are Les Sylphides, Firebird, and Petrouchka; he portrayed artistic essence of the characters and provided rich parts for male dancers
•He created a total of 60 ballets in his lifetime
•He is ranked one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th century
•George Balanchine (1904-1983) founded the School of American Ballet, which opened in 1934. •The ballet was cast mostly for women;the male parts in the ballet were not very demanding.
•In the 1930s and early 1940s, he made a name for himself choreographing for musical comedies. •He choreographed Serenade, Balustrade, and Orpheus. •Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein founded the New York City Ballet,formerly known as Ballet Society.
•Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948) began his ballet studies studies in Riga, Latvia. He made his debut at the Maryinsky Theater in 1967. •He made his debut with the American Ballet Theater in 1974. He staged ABT’s productions of The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, and Cinderella.
•Returned to ABT in 1980 as principal dancer and artistic director •In 1990 he founded the White Oak project with Mark Morris; the company reflects the transformation of Russian ballet into American modern dance.
•Martha Graham (1894-1991) became the “mother” of American dance. In 1916, she joined Denishawn School. •At 22, she became a dancer, dangerously late for a aspiring dancer.
•After 7 yrs. with Denishawn, she moved to New York City, where she gave solo recitals and eventually launched her own company in 1929. •Choreographed the dance dramas Cave of the Heart, and Appalachian Spring. She wanted to be remembered as a dancer, rather than a choreographer.
•Her personal technique has become part of the common vocabulary of dancers everywhere.