Legacy 2016 Miami: Black History Month Issue | Page 17

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2016

AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MIA MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS GROUP TO MIAMI HERALD

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ARTS & CULTURE
By Darrell Canty

“Alvin Ailey Holds that Mirror to Society—Through Art”

Alvin Ailey Artistic Director Robert Battle.
Photo by Andrew Eccles
The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater continues
to globally expand its diverse brand of
breathtaking per-formances under the
strategic artistic direction of Robert Battle.
Battle, was raised here in Liberty City,

Miami. In 2011, the great Judith Jamison
personally selected him, to become the next
Artistic Director. Battle, whom I interviewed
for Legacy shortly after his appointment, has
seamlessly im-plemented his vision of
community unification through art while
utilizing a vessel made up of mul-tiple races
in the process.
Legacy: You’ve now made some changes
to the “Ailey” experience since we last
spoke. What was that process like for you?
Battle: “It was tough. It was trying to
trust my own instincts—trust why Judith
Jamison chose me. And then make decisions
that I knew would be unexpected and that
would push the audience in a different
direction. So it was trying to balance that
out—to the sense of daring and embracing
the history of the company in terms of the
repertory. I didn't want to alienate people,
but I didn't want it to remain the same”.
Legacy: Your new book is entitled “My
Story, My Dance: Robert Battle’s Journey to
Alvin Ailey”. Why do you think it’s important
for young children to read about your

experience?
Battle: “Young people need to be
encouraged to use their imagination. I was
picked on as a child, had physical challenges,
raised by my Great Aunt and Uncle. I was
the outsider kid. But some-how, because I
had a vision for myself— I was able to tap
into that. But I think its important for kids to
see those images from people who may look
like them and how to use that story for
en-couragement as they go through their
lives.”
Legacy: Will you use your artistic vision
to combat the societal ills of today? And
how aggressive will you be in your
direction?
Battle: “Very!—I think though there’s
also a need to entertain, that’s part of what
we do as well. But, I definitely want to do
work that has to do with social
justice—something to do with ‘holding that
mirror to society,’ as Mr. Ailey would say.
Those kind of works are the backbone of
this com-pany. And it was “Revelations” that
made me want to dance seriously. Dance is

one of our most primal forms of expression.
So using that expression to shine a light on
some of the issues of the day is something
that is very important to me—and to the
future of this company.”
Legacy: If you were going to choreograph
a performance based on your Miami
experience how would you stage it?
Battle: “Wow—that’s interesting. I think
it would be som