The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is the most recognized and popular modern dance theater in the world. Its founder, dancer-choreographer Alvin Ailey Jr. (1931–1989), was born in Rogers, Bell County, Texas. Growing up in Texas during tire Great Depression, Ailey drew upon his childhood experiences to create modern dance ballets which identified the southern black experience. His ballets, particularly the secular <italic>Blues Suite</italic> (1958) and the sacred <italic>Revelations</italic> (1960), and the themes present in them—the joys, sorrows, and hopes of southern blacks—propelled the southern black experience into the traditionally elite world of modern dance. These ballets, however, transcended race through their universal appeal to human experience and human dignity. The creation of <italic> Blues Suite</italic> and <italic>Revelations</italic> was timely; they were created during the civil rights and black arts movements. This timeliness, along with Ailey's masterful ability to promote both his company and his rich racial heritage, created for the first time in United States history and after many attempts by other artists, an internationally successful multiracial performing arts company that has broad, popular appeal
