"From his roots as a slave, the American Negro - sometimes sorrowing, sometimes jubilant but always hopeful - has touched, illuminated, and influenced the most remote preserves of world civilisation. I and my dance theater celebrate this trembling beauty."
Alvin Ailey was an American choreographer and founder of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He became one of the most influential figures in modern dance and expanded international audiences for Black dance traditions. He died in 1989.