Elswit, Kate and Bench, Harmony (2024) Radical accounting: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s data as a framework for historical imagination. [Show/Exhibition]

Abstract

These three time-based interventions transform archival materials to visualize the interconnections of time, space, and bodies across the history of The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The series traces the retention and transmission of embodied knowledge across generations of dancers. It particularizes how the AAADT grew from a small touring company to a global phenomenon. And it helps us understand the importance of Alvin Ailey not only as a choreographer but also as someone who shared a living history of dance with audiences around the world.

The underlying datasets were composed over three years from more than 30,000 documents gathered from archives across the United States. Materials ranged from programs and tour itineraries, to performer diaries and other personal materials, as well as data previously compiled by AAADT. Drawing movement out from static records, the process of intentional data curation and visualization constructs a new framework for historical imagination. Radical accounting brings each artist, performance venue, and choreography into view, foregrounding how dance histories are collective.

The Radical Accounting series consists of:

“Generations of Embodied Knowledge: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Dance Artists, 1958-2023”, Radical Accounting Series 1 of 3, 2024
“Global Architectures: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, City by City and Year by Year, 1958-89”, Radical Accounting Series 2 of 3, 2024
“Repertory as Living Dance Museum: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Performance History, 1958-89”, Radical Accounting Series 3 of 3, 2024

All datasets and underlying visualizations have been created by Moving Data, led by Kate Elswit and Harmony Bench, with project team members Antonio Jiménez-Mavillard and Tia-Monique Uzor.