Every dancer has an intimate story regaling their first visit to the theater; that monumental occasion when the light was tripped fantastic, the background dimmed, and the only thing in focus was dance. For Inglewood, California, native and Alvin Ailey principal dancer Matthew Rushing, that life-altering day came in the spring of 1987, when his mother shuffled him over to the Wiltern Theatre in the hopes of securing a pair of stray tickets to the Ailey company’s sold-out performance. Her tenacity paid off, and after a swift exchange with a scalper, the two found themselves inside of a packed theater, watching the company’s most critically acclaimed work, “Revelations,” unfold in a magnificent flurry. “I connected with everything about that performance,” Rushing recounted in a recent phone interview with The Independent. “Not only did I leave that show knowing I wanted to become a dancer, but that I wanted to dance for Alvin Ailey.”
In 1992, he did just that, becoming one of the youngest dancers to be invited into the organization’s main company at the age of 18, and spending the next 24 years touring venues both modest and majestic. “’Dance came from the people and should be delivered back to the people’ is Ailey’s mantra,” Rushing stressed, “and each year I get it more and more. It’s about going to places you’ve never been before and introducing Ailey to audiences who may have never seen this kind of work before. This should not be an elitist art form.”
Now 42, Rushing has been hailed as one of the most prolific modern dancers of our time, stylizing various hats within the organization including choreographer, principal dancer, rehearsal director, and company advocate. In 2013, when Ailey’s artistic director, Robert Battle, hosted a tribute in his honor to an overflowing house at City Center, the seasoned artist assured the New York crowd he wouldn’t be hanging up his performance tights any time soon. He’s made good on his promise, leading the main company this season on a 20-city tour as both dancer and rehearsal director, making him one of the most senior professional dancers of any major company.