Troy Powell (born January 27, 1969, in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
) also known as Troy O'Neil Powell is an American dancer, choreographer, educator, and director. He is a former principal dancer with the
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) is a modern dance company based in New York City. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey. It is made up of 32 dancers, led by artistic director Robert Battle and associate a ...
and former artistic director of AAADT's second company, Ailey 2.
Powell was fired in July 2020 after an independent investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at the Ailey School concluded that he had engaged in "inappropriate communications" with students who were interested in joining the Ailey 2.
Early life
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Powell met
Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Cente ...
at the age of nine when Ailey came to his school to teach a masterclass. Unknown to Powell at the time, the class was actually an audition for a scholarship to attend the first children's program at The Ailey School. Though he lacked formal dance training, Powell was handpicked by Ailey to join the program. During his time at school, Ailey served as a mentor and father figure to Powell. In 1987 he graduated from
LaGuardia High School of The Performing Arts with a concentration in dance. The following year he was invited by
Sylvia Waters to join Ailey 2, which was then known as the AIvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble.
As a member of AAADT's second company, Powell danced in a wide range of ballets by Ailey and other commissioned choreographers. During his time with Ailey 2, Powell was singled out for his dancing by
Jennifer Dunning who wrote in her review for the
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
that "he performs as if filled with the dance, with an infectious though private look of delight that has a
Nijinsky
Vaslav (or Vatslav) Nijinsky (; rus, Вацлав Фомич Нижинский, Vatslav Fomich Nizhinsky, p=ˈvatsləf fɐˈmʲitɕ nʲɪˈʐɨnskʲɪj; pl, Wacław Niżyński, ; 12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a ballet dancer and choreog ...
-like radiance to it."
Career
Powell was invited to join the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1991 by
Judith Jamison
Judith Ann Jamison (pronounced JAM-ih-son) (born May 10, 1943) is an American dancer and choreographer. She is the artistic director emerita of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Early training
Judith Jamison was born in 1943 to Tessie Brown Ja ...
, who had assumed artistic directorship of the company following Ailey's death in 1989. During his tenure with the AAADT, Powell toured across the globe performing principal roles in Ailey's ''Blue's Suite,'' ''For 'Bird'-With Love,'' ''Masekela Language,'' ''The River,'' ''Night Creature,'' ''Phases,'' and the ''Sinner Man'' trio in ''Revelations,''
Ulysses Dove
Ulysses Dove (January 17, 1947 in Columbia, South Carolina – June 11, 1996 in Manhattan) was a choreographer.
Dove began his dance training at Boggs Academy in Georgia. Dove gave up his premedical studies at Howard University to transfer to ...
's ''Episodes,''
Hans van Manen
Hans Arthur Gerard van Manen (; born 11 July 1932) is a Dutch ballet dancer, choreographer and photographer.
He studied under Sonia Gaskell and Françoise Adret. Van Manen wrote many ballets. He worked for the Dutch National Ballet from 1973 ...
's ''Polish Pieces,''
George Faison
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Pres ...
's ''Suite Otis,''
Talley Beatty Talley Beatty (22 December 1918 – 29 April 1995) was born in Cedar Grove, Louisiana, a section of Shreveport, but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He is considered one of the greatest of African American choreographers, and also bears the titles danc ...
's ''Stack-Up,'' Earl Mosely's ''Days Past, Not Forgotten,'' Billy Wilson's ''The Winter in Lisbon,'' Donald Byrd's ''Dance at The Gym,'' and in
Jawole Willa Jo Zollar
Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (born December 21, 1950) is an American dancer, teacher and choreographer of modern dance. She is the founder of the Urban Bush Women dance company.
Biography
One of six children, she was born Willa Jo Zollar in Kansas City ...
's male casting of ''Shelter.''
After presenting his choreography for ''Passages'' at the 1996 Ailey Gala, Powell was commissioned to create a ballet for the main company. The piece, ''Ascension,'' debuted in 1998 and was dedicated by Powell to the memory of his mother. In an interview with the NYTimes, Powell praised Judith Jamison for continuing Ailey's tradition of providing opportunities to people of colour to choreograph and showcase their artistry. In tandem with his career at Ailey, Powell also danced with
Complexions Contemporary Ballet
Complexions Contemporary Ballet is a contemporary ballet company founded in 1994 by Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson. The company, based in New York City, is a multicultural mix of classical and contemporary dancers.
History
Complexions Co ...
, which was founded by his Ailey colleagues
Dwight Rhoden and
Desmond Richardson, and performed as a Principal Guest Artist with
Batsheva Dance Company
The Batsheva Dance Company (Hebrew: להקת בת שבע) is a renowned dance company based in Tel Aviv, Israel. It was founded by Martha Graham and Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild in 1964.
Its inception was inspired by Israel's growing intere ...
, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, and Fred Benjamin Dance Company.
Director of Ailey 2
In 2001, after performing with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for 10 years, Powell left the company to join The Ailey School as a master Horton technique teacher and to become the resident choreographer of Ailey 2. His ballets for Ailey 2 have included ''The Tyner Project,'' ''Fragments,'' ''First Circles,'' ''Point of Departure,'' ''How Small a Thought,'' ''External Knot,'' ''Hope (How They Rise),'' ''Reference Point,'' and ''Ebb and Flow.'' In 2003 he was appointed associate director of Ailey 2. Following the retirement of Sylvia Waters in 2012 he was designated artistic director of Ailey 2, making him the second person to lead the company in its 38 year history. In 2015, Powell produced Ailey 2 in the company's first solo season at the
Joyce Theatre
The Joyce Theater (“The Joyce") is a 472-seat dance performance venue located in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. The building opened in 1941 as the Elgin Theater, a movie house, and was gut-renovated and reconfigured in 1981-82 to re ...
.
As part of the 2019 Ailey Spirit Gala—which commemorated the 50th anniversary of The Ailey School—Powell choreographed a biographical ballet that followed his journey through the Ailey institution, from entering the school to joining the first company. He used students from The Ailey School along with members of Ailey II and the main company to choreograph the piece which he titled, ''Testimony.'' AAADT leading dancer Solomon Dumas danced as the adult version of Powell. Powell stated that Dumas' status as the first graduate of AileyCamp to join the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as a company member, made their stories mirror images of each other. Powell dedicated ''Testimony'' to Alvin Ailey, crediting him as "a lifesaver" who "gave me these two feet that I’m standing on."
Media
Powell appeared on season 14 of
America's Next Top Model
''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to ...
the episode ''Let's Dance'' as a guest coach and choreographer, teaching the models how to pose in different styles of dance. He was featured on the Polish edition of
So You Think You Can Dance
''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has ...
as a guest choreographer in 2012, teaching the contestants choreography from his ballet ''External Knot''.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Troy
20th-century American dancers
African-American ballet dancers
African-American male dancers
American male dancers
People from Brooklyn
American choreographers
1969 births
Living people
21st-century American dancers
20th-century African-American people
21st-century African-American people