By Paul Horsley

The staggering 30-year success of the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey has been built on community-based projects, educational initiatives for children and annual visits of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and its youthful Ailey II. But at the heart of that success is something that Tyrone Aiken, the Friends’ executive director since 2005, doesn’t want to lose sight of: great art. “You have to continue to make art relevant,” says the dancer-teacher-choreographer, who was an AileyCamp instructor from 1991 and became artistic coordinator in 1994. The main reason people want to be involved with Ailey, after all, is that the AAADT produces some of the greatest dance of our time. “I am a true believer in art for art’s sake,” Tyrone says. “I don’t think it has to be about education. Great art is transformative, and that’s what we should be trying to bring to young children, both in schools and in theaters.”

The Friends began as a “second home” to the New York-based company founded in 1958 by Ailey (1931-1989), a Texas-born dancer-choreographer whose innovations transformed American dance. But through the years the KCFAA grew from a group whose main goal was to bring the company to town to a powerhouse organization dedicated to giving young people and adults “hands-on” (or “legs-on”) experience with dance, and to using dance as a tool for inner strength and self-awareness. Through programs such as AileyCamp, the Ailey Trio, performances in schools and other programs the Friends reaches 30,000 kids each year. And with the expansion of the AileyCamp concept to other cities, the message of connecting children to art and community has spread like wildfire.

Along the way the Friends’ budget has grown to upwards of $1.3 million and counting. This year the KCFAA received an astonishing $375,000 matching grant from the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation, partly in celebration of the group’s 30-year run but also in recognition of its importance for the future of arts for all Kansas Citians. Over five years the grant will generate $750,000 toward various programs including the Fall Symposium and a new biennial summer Festival that, starting next year, will highlight local performances by national and international companies.

Meanwhile the Ailey company has been transforming itself as well, in an ongoing process of evolution that saw a significant shift with the appointment in 2011 of Miami native, Juilliard-trained and Parsons Dance Company veteran Robert Battle as only the third artistic director in the Ailey company’s history. Unlike his immediate predecessor, Judith Jamison, Robert had not been an Ailey dancer, though he had choreographed several highly successful works for the company. He had actually made his mark in dance with his own path-forging company Battleworks, and his appointment was considered a bold move.

“They could have gone with a much safer choice, and I think that says a lot about the company,” said Arlene Shuler, president of New York’s City Center (where the company performs), to the Los Angeles Times at the time of the appointment. “I think he’s looking at a broader spectrum of artists to work with the company. And that always makes dancers grow.” In the years since Robert assumed the post AAADT has indeed found itself in good hands, and the Kansas City programs—Ailey classics mixed with exciting new dance—are indicative of some of the fresh approaches he has brought to the troupe.

“Robert is an accomplished dancer and choreographer, and as such he has brought those talents from directing his own company to the sensibilities of working with Ailey,” Tyrone says. “He’s continued to move the company forward in the tradition of both Alvin Ailey and Judith Jamison but in doing so he continues in the tradition in bringing classics … works by Paul Taylor and others … and new choreographers that match both Robert’s aesthetic and the Ailey aesthetic.”

From October 22nd through the 25th the KC Friends presents the 2014 Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater residency, with master classes, school presentations, and a series of performances at the Kauffman Center. Included is the world premiere of Matthew Rushing’s Odetta and local premieres of LIFT by Aszure Barton, Four Corners by Ronald K. Brown and a trio from Wayne McGregor’s CHROMA. In addition are classics by Ulysses Dove (Bad Blood) and Ailey’s Revelations and Memoria, the latter dedicated to KC Friends mover-and-shaker Janet K. Miller, who died last year of cancer.

For tickets call the Kauffman Center at 816-994-7222 or see tickets.kauffmancenter.org. For the October 25th “G30” Gala, call 816-471-6003, Ext. 111. Also see kcfaa.org.

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