A color photo of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performing Alvin Ailey's Survivors, captured by Paul Kolnik. The image features a group of dancers reaching towards vertical bars, with a central male dancer seated on a stool, looking up with an expression of hope or determination. The dancers surrounding him are in long skirts and head wraps, extending their arms upwards, creating a visually striking and powerful composition. The stage lighting enhances the dramatic effect, highlighting the emotional

Repertory

Survivors

CHOREOGRAPHER

WORLD PREMIERE

Lyric Theater, Kansas City, MO, 1986

CO-CHOREOGRAPHER

Mary Barnett

MUSIC

Max Roach and Peter Phillips

ORIGINAL DÉCOR

Douglas Grekin

COSTUMES

Toni-Leslie James

LIGHTING

Tim Hunter

RESTAGED BY

Masazumi Chaya

RUN TIME

18 Minutes

Alvin Ailey’s impassioned tribute to the profound courage and terrible anguish of Nelson and Winnie Mandela is, more broadly, a portrait of people transformed by injustice. Max Roach’s richly varied drumming and Abbey Lincoln’s vocals set the emotional tone for this powerful work that lifts up those who resist oppression in any form.  

Learn more about the creation of Survivors on the Ailey Blog, and check out The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s review, which calls Survivors “both personal and a universal statement about injustice. Ailey sought to tell a story about the activist couple but not in a purely literal, narrative sense.” 

Music Credits

“Triptych: Prayer/Protest/Peace” courtesy of Kobalt Music Publishing. Survivors used with permission from Peter Phillips. Major support of this new production of Survivors was made possible by Judith McDonough Kaminski and Joseph Kaminski, and Daria L. & Eric J. Wallach. Mr. Ailey expressed his gratitude to Ms. James, Mr. Grekin, and Mr. Hunter for the generous contributions of their talents and artistry to this work.