This week we’re sharing tributes to all the 2024 Dance Journal Award honorees. For tickets to the awards ceremony on December 2, go to retailer.dancemedia.com.
For choreographer George Faison, it began when a highschool good friend took him to a efficiency of Alvin Ailey’s Revelations. Reflecting on the enduring wedge formation from the opening part, Faison says, “that was how I needed to dwell. With abandon. With out restrictions. With out holding again. So targeted. So purposeful.”
That’s exactly what Faison did—first as a number one dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the place his spirited presence, lengthy strains, and spitfire turns have been unforgettable, after which as a performer and choreographer in musical theater and past.
Broadway reveals like Purlie (1970), through which he danced, and the critically acclaimed Don’t Trouble Me I Can’t Cope (1972), which he choreographed, have been works that captured the spirit of the Civil Rights and Black Energy actions that nurtured them. “We have been born in a revolutionary time,” Faison says.
That spirit was additionally mirrored within the dances he created for the George Faison Common Dance Expertise, which he based in 1971 after leaving AAADT. The corporate of 12 charismatic performers—together with Debbie Allen—had a repertory that embodied the highly effective tales of a individuals who have been, as Faison likes to say, “simply three minutes out of slavery” and demanding social and financial justice with a passionate dedication.
Faison had one other aspect mirrored in his work with main recording artists, like Stevie Surprise, Roberta Flack, Ashford & Simpson, and Earth, Wind & Hearth. Some dismissed it as “industrial,” however Faison merely shrugs: “I used to be a Black artist following my roots.”
Allen remembers these early days dancing with Faison, earlier than her personal identify appeared on Broadway marquees. “All that fantastic work he was doing—it was actually breathtaking,” she says. “Everyone got here to see it. I bear in mind assembly Miles Davis backstage.” Faison was not solely choreographing and coaching his dancers, she says, however even making their costumes. “He was just like the true Renaissance man,” she says. “It was the most effective of occasions.”
And it bought higher. In 1975, Faison was awarded Tony and Drama Desk Awards for choreographing the Broadway present The Wiz. He was the primary Black choreographer to win a Tony.
In 1999, Faison and his life associate Tadeusz Schnugg purchased a decommissioned Harlem firehouse, which they transformed into a fancy that included a theater, rehearsal studios, and residing house. For greater than twenty years Faison Firehouse Inc. provided an area the place youthful dancers might study, develop and hone their abilities, and observe in Faison’s footsteps.
“I’ve had a beautiful life,” Faison says.
