Meet AILEY’s Archivist

As part of AILEY’s recognition of Women’s History Month, we’re spotlighting some of the women who work behind the scenes to forward AILEY’s mission. One of those women is Dominique Singer, the Ailey Archivist who preserves the organization’s rich history.

Singer began her career as an archivist as a Fellow with the Dance Heritage Coalition, “the sole national nonprofit alliance of institutions holding significant collections of materials documenting the history of dance.” As a Fellow, she worked with different organizations, teaching dancers and dance companies how to archive their materials. As she puts it, she helped them learn “how not to lose everything they had created.” Singer also helped organize the photo collections at Martha Graham Dance Company and archived costumes at Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company.  

Before Singer’s arrival at AILEY in 2008, the Ailey Archives had been informally maintained by Mickey Board, a longtime friend of the organization and driver of the Company’s vehicle during the famous “station wagon tours.” It was under Singer’s leadership that the collection of Ailey artifacts became housed in a formal archive.  

“I created order out of chaos,” Singer said of her early work in the archives, as she pointed to a plethora of VHS tapes and emphasized their initial lack of organization. “I organized all the files, performance programs, photographic prints, and paper ephemera. What we have now [stored at The Joan Weill Center for Dance] is essentially duplicate material of what is stored at the Library of Congress, the chosen repository for the Ailey archival collection.” 

The initial organization of the archive was merely the first step of Singer’s work. In 2013, when AILEY acquired photographer Jack Mitchell’s treasured collection of photographs of Ailey dancers, she led the creation of an archival database to be shared with the Smithsonian Institution. This series now lives on permanent display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “I spent a great deal of time identifying each photograph,” Singer said. “There were over 10,000 pictures, slides, prints, contact sheets, and negatives. I created a database of every single one. I know the dancers from 1959 through 1996 very well.” 

While archival work is dedicated to the past, Singer’s list of upcoming projects is constantly growing. One of her main focuses is the Choreographic Legacy Project, in collaboration with Ailey II Artistic Director Emerita Sylvia Waters and former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Associate Artistic Director Masazumi Chaya. Together, the three are creating “dance capsules” for five of Alvin Ailey’s ballets. “These capsules include footage, images, lighting plots, scenic designs, and interviews with former Company members on whom the ballet was created,” Singer said, creating an archive of each ballet “in its full dimension.” 

Singer has also worked closely with Ms. Waters on Portrait of Ailey, an eight-part documentary on the life and legacy of Alvin Ailey, from his early childhood to his creative influences and his immense impact on American dance.  

Having spent the last 15 years carefully collecting and studying all things Ailey, when asked what has resonated most strongly about Mr. Ailey, Singer answered, “his generosity.”  

“Mr. Ailey would walk through the hallways, and he knew everyone. He took the time to talk with people. He was involved with every aspect of this place. And to be so generous with your time when you are doing absolutely everything yourself, it’s an amazing feat to have that kind of personality, that openness.” 

Audiences at an Ailey performance have the pleasure of watching, in real time, a preserved moment in history when Mr. Ailey’s Revelations or Cry is on stage. The integrity of his ballets is kept alive because of people like Singer who work behind the scenes to ensure his legacy persists. Singer said, “by preserving history, we protect the foundation of this organization. People’s interpretation of works can change overtime, and it’s important to have primary sources so that the truth is not distorted.”