Alvin Ailey was an African-American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. He is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th-century concert dance. Ailey studied other art forms, including painting, acting, music, set design, and costuming, as well as ballet and other forms of modern and ethnic dance. Josephine Baker was an American-born French entertainer, activist, and French Resistance agent. She spent her youth in poverty before learning to dance and finding success on Broadway. In the 1920s she moved to France and soon became one of Europe's most popular and highest-paid performers. She worked for the French Resistance during World War II, and during the 1950s and '60s devoted herself to fighting segregation and racism in the United States. After beginning her comeback to the stage in 1973, Josephine Baker died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1975, and was buried with military honors. Portraits of Alvin Ailey and of Josephine Baker, probably in the 1950s. Written on back of photo: Alvin Ailey choreographer, & dancer, Josephine Baker
Type
image
Identifier
uclalsc_1889_b21_f09_005a.tif ark:/21198/z1932b9n
Subject
African American women dancers African American civil rights workers African American choreographers African American actresses Ailey, Alvin Baker, Josephine, 1906-1975
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