Doll-A-Day 2019 # 32: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Barbie

  I'm super late doing today's post! But because I was really busy today, future posts will be more on time!
  My shoulders are back to normal,which means the left one is fine, and the right one isn't. I was on my feet all day,so my back is hurting too. I even ventured out into the snow today and cleared a path from the car to the mail box and cleared the back steps of all the snow we got the night before. I certainly couldn't have done that a day or so ago.
  Today's doll is courtesy of Ivy. This is her Alvin Ailey doll.

Ivy loved this doll and asked for her for Christmas one year.
 

She was pretty small at the time, so the doll is in beautiful condition considering. 

Ivy took very special care of her. She brought her downstairs from her room before going back to college,suggesting I feature her on Doll-A-Day.

The doll isn't named Alvin. Alvin Ailey was a dancer,choreographer, and founder of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
 

Alvin Ailey

This doll is dressed as the performer in Alvin Ailey's dance "Wade in the Water",from "Revelations", first performed in 1960,and famously danced by Judith Jamison,who joined the company in 1965.

Judith Jamison.

 The doll was released in 2008, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the American Dance Theater,  and 'honors Alvin Ailey's legacy,the remarkable vision of Judith Jamison and AAADT's mission to inspire and unite people of all backgrounds through the universal language of dance.'

Alvin Ailey with dancer Judith Jamison in 1975.

The back of the doll's box pictures Jamison,then artistic director of the American Dance Theater, and tells about the dance company.

The doll is very articulated,being jointed at the neck,shoulders,elbows,wrists,hips,and knees.

She has no articulation at the ankles.

That's appropriate,since Alvin Ailey preferred what he described as 'a ballet bottom and a modern top', which he explained this way, "What I like is the line and technical range that classical ballet gives to the body. But I still want to project to the audience the expressiveness that only modern dance offers, especially for the inner kinds of things."

The outfit is in two pieces,the body suit and the skirt.

Of course, the doll didn't come with shoes,as the dance is performed barefoot.

You can watch a performance of  "Wade in the Water"  HERE.

The doll has huge rooted eyelashes.

  Her hair is swept up in a curly top pouf of hair.

Alvin Ailey was born in Rogers,Texas in 1931. Like many depression era families, Alvin and his mother moved many times during his childhood in an attempt to find work. They finally settled in California when Alvin was 11 years old.  It wasn't until Alvin was 18 that he began to study dance,under Lester Horton. Horton taught classical ballet, jazz, and Native American dance,and his was the first multiracial dance school in the United States.
  Alvin also studied Romance languages. After moving to San Fransisco to continue his studies, he met Marguerite Johnson,who would later change her name to Maya Angelou,and become an author and activist,whose most famous work was her first autobiography,"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". For a time Alvin Ailey and the then Marguerite Johnson,performed as a dance team called Al and Rita. After living and working for a time in New Orleans,at age 22 Alvin returned to study dance with Horton. Horton's students were expected to also study other art forms,and Alvin studied painting, acting, music, set design, and costuming, as well as ballet and other forms of modern and ethnic dance. Alvin appeared in several movies around this time. Eventually,after the death of Horton the same year,Alvin Ailey took over as artistic director of the company, choreographing, directing scene and costume designs, running rehearsals, and directing.
  In 1954 Alvin was invited to dance in "House of Flowers" on Broadway. In 1958 he formed his own dance company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The company was multiracial at a time when very few other dance companies were. He created 79 works for his dancers during his time with the company,as well as choreographing for other companies. In 1969 he opened his own dance school, Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, renamed the Ailey School in 1999. Today the school trains 3500 dancers a year.

Alvin Ailey died in 1989. During his life.Alvin Ailey was honoured with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Kennedy Center Honors. His dance company continues, and in all, has performed more than 200 works by over 70 choreographers. Judith Jamison took over as artistic director, at Alvin Ailey's request, in 1989,and held the post until 2011.

Tomorrow we'll see another doll.