Dancing Revelations

In Dancing Revolutions, Thomas DeFrantz chronicles the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre's journey from small modern dance company to one of the premier institutions of African-American culture. DeFrantz charts the troupe's rise to national and international renown and contextualizes its progress within the civil rights, women's rights and gay rights struggles of the late 20th century. In addition, DeFrantz analyses all the major dances in the Ailey repertoire, examining the relationship between those works and African-American culture as a whole.