Events That Occurred During Alvin Ailey’s Career

Alvin Ailey lived through many historic events during his life and particularly through his career as a dancer and with dance. During the major start of his career in 1953, the great modern dance teacher and also Ailey’s teacher, Lester Horton, died. This led him to take over the Horton Dance Company and become artistic director after leaving Los Angeles, California and arriving in New York City. In 1958 Ailey started the Alvin Ailey Dance Company and during this time the music styles of Blues and Rock ’n Roll were popular. A more notable event during Alvin Ailey’s career with dance is the Civil Rights movement which started in 1955 and lasted until 1965, at it peak. Some other events during is time was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965 were events as well. Other events that happened during Ailey’s career were the term of President Richard Nixon, his Watergate scandal, and the Vietnam War.