Art possesses the power to entice minds and strike emotional chords, and the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble produces in its seduced admirer a love that transforms him or her into an instrument of its dance expression.

Fernando Carillo, a member of the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble, said being part of such artistically free group brings certain pressures upon the dancers. But this pressure helps the dancers gear up for a higher level of performances.

There is pressure not just being a member and dealing with the competition of the other dancers, but when people hear the name Alvin Ailey they expect right away to see great choreography and dancers on stage, he said. They expect high quality dance so we try extra hard to give it to the crowd.

Advertisement

The Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble, which will perform 8 p.m. Wednesday in Shryock Auditorium, is a group of 12 hand-picked scholarship students from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center who are instruments in the art of dance.

The late Ailey was once one of these allured victims of the arts. On a junior high school class trip to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Ailey fell in love with and became an instrument of concert dance.

Ailey launched his professional dance career with Lester Horton, founder of the first racially integrated dance company in the United States.

After Horton’s death in 1953, Ailey was appointed director of the Lester Horton Dance Theater. There he began to choreograph his own works.

As director of Horton’s Dance Theater, Ailey obtained the opportunity to study with many outstanding dance artists from Broadway and abroad.

His drive to create a company dedicated to the preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance heritage and the uniqueness of black cultural expression lead Ailey to give birth to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1958.

Ailey’s theater company was a success. He created 20 new ballets, and more than 170 works by 63 choreographers have been performed by the Ailey Company.

Advertisement*

In 1969, Ailey founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, the official school of the Ailey Company.

The Alvin Ailey Dance Center was constantly on the road, so Ailey needed a cohesive troupe of dancers to pick up the overflow of requests by smaller theaters and communities for Ailey Company appearances.

It was from this need that the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble was created in 1974. The ensemble has attracted dancers eager to perform since its creation.

Briana Reed, a member of the Ailey Ensemble, said her love for dancing led her to the ensemble though the road was winding.

Ever since I was in kindergarten, I wanted to dance, she said. I took a few lessons, but my mom didn’t have the money at the time to continue the training that I needed.

But the power of fate would not be undone. Surprisingly, at a summer camp offering free dance lessons, a dance teacher who taught Reed dance when she was three remembered Reed from an earlier class.

The teacher asked Reed if she wanted to come to her school and train in the performing arts.

I, of course, said yes. It all began from that one class and I will never forget it, Reed said.

Carillo, an ensemble member for two years, has been dancing only four years and already has made it as a member of the Alvin Ailey Repertory Dance Ensemble.

Ever since I started dancing I knew it was what I wanted to do, he said. I always knew in my heart something good would come from it.

Because of Ailey’s legacy, many students with dance dreams have come to the Ailey school to train.

But becoming a dancer, being the best and following a dream are no easy tasks as both Carillo and Reed have found out since becoming members.

When the ensemble is training in New York, they have a 10:30 a.m. class and a rehearsal period from noon to 6 p.m. The dancers are in the studio five days a week.

Its hard work and an extensive program, Carillo said. But the teachers make it easier. If you really want to be a dancer they can tell and they will help you.

They give you good advice and they help you grow, and you do grow. Your mind and body will change, and in time you will become a better dancer.

These dancers are the instruments of the art form and the carriers of Ailey’s legacy.

The Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble surrender their body and talents to their art form. As a combined unit of expressionistic instruments they will grace Shryock’s stage with majestic movements and spell-casting motions.

The light of Ailey’s creed will shine through the performers and enchant audience members with the same spell that enchanted Ailey himself.

The Ailey legacy always lives on because a lot of the work that we do is Ailey choreography. said Reed. Performing Revelations,’ one of his ballets, you get a certain feeling that no matter if you’re a dancer or not.

Even though I never met the man, just doing his work you can feel what he was trying to say.

FACTOID:Tickets for the Alvin Ailey Repertory Dance Ensemble are $14.50 and $12.50. For information, call 453-2787.