Documentary maker Jamila Wignot was on a mission to chronicle the life of modern dance visionary Alvin Ailey when she made a “shocking” discovery.
There had never been an expansive filmed biography about the late choreographer, dancer and founder of the groundbreaking Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
“That there were no feature-length films that brought the full sweep of his story to life seemed shocking,” Wignot told the Daily News. “I think, however, it’s a reflection of where the filmmaking industry has been in relation to telling stories that center the experiences of BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and gender-expansive people. It is woefully behind.”
Wignot’s documentary “Ailey,” exploring the subject’s triumphant life and his connection to the present dance company bearing his name, premieres this week on PBS as a part of its storied “American Masters” series.
Ailey, who died in 1989 at age 58 from AIDS-related illnesses, created the Manhattan company and its affiliated Ailey School to nurture Black artists and tell the African American experience through dance.
The Brooklyn-based Wignot, whose directing work includes the Peabody, Emmy and NAACP award-winning series “The African-Americans: Many Rivers to Cross,” said she wanted to take an “immersive” approach to the life and legacy of the Texas-born trailblazer.
The 95-minute film features interviews with company dancers and choreographers who give insight into Ailey’s process and legacy, including Rennie Harris, Judith Jamison, Sylvia Waters, Masazumi Chaya, Bill T. Jones and current AAADT Artistic Director Robert Battle.
Footage of the company’s rehearsal process for “Lazarus” — Harris’ 2018 hip-hop-themed ballet with soundtrack featuring the voices of Terence Trent D’Arby, Odetta and Nina Simone — is interwoven throughout the film.
“I knew that I wanted to have the story told by Ailey’s closest collaborators,” Wignot said. “I also knew that I wanted to incorporate a contemporary dance work because Mr. Ailey’s life did not end in 1989. His legacy continues today, and no documentary would be complete without a portrait of the way the company carries on his vision.”
With never-before-heard audio interviews recorded in the last year of his life and rare performances, the film not only tells how its main subject found salvation through dance centering on African American experiences, but also sheds light on how he endured racism and homophobia, mental illness and addiction.
Wignot, 44, said the rare audio recordings were the “most important discovery” for the film.
“It truly opened up the possibility for the kind of intimate … story we’d hoped to be able to make,” she said. “Those became the spine of the film and offer such an extraordinary glimpse into Mr. Ailey’s life as he understood and experienced it.”
“The audio resurrects Mr. Ailey in a way that can lend that feeling,” the filmmaker added. “To be able to hear from him directly is so incredibly powerful. The poetry of his language, the way he was so clearly alive to the world, his curiosity, passion, drive, and, yes, his melancholy all come through.”
The project was started in 2017, but went through many obstacles. “It was a five-year-long process,” Wignot said. “Like all independent documentaries, the initial challenge was fundraising. The other challenge was COVID.”
“Our edit room opened the same day the city shuttered,” she said, referencing the March 2020 pandemic shutdown that paused professional life. “My entire team was scattered … [so] it dramatically shifted the collaborative process, the gathering of the archival materials, the way we communicate.”
The film got the thumbs up from Battle, who has served as theAiley Company’s artistic director since 2011.
“With his artistry, Alvin Ailey said, ‘I’m trying to hold up a mirror to society so that people can see how beautiful they are,’” said Battle.
“In the ... documentary, director Jamila Wignot holds up a mirror to Alvin Ailey, and now millions will be able to see his beauty, along with his brilliance, struggles, strength, creativity and generosity.”
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