Radical Accounting: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Data as a Framework for Historical Imagination by Kate Elswit

Radical Accounting: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Data as a Framework for Historical Imagination consists of three time-based interventions that were presented in the gallery as part of the Whitney Museum of American Art's Edges of Ailey exhibition, open from September 25th, 2024 through February 9th, 2025.

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. Available at: https://whitney.org/media/61535

“Global Architectures: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, City by City and Year by Year, 1958-89”, Radical Accounting Series 2 of 3, 2024. Available at: https://whitney.org/media/61534

“Repertory as Living Dance Museum: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Performance History, 1958-89”, Radical Accounting Series 3 of 3, 2024. Available at: https://whitney.org/media/61533

In the context of the Edges of Ailey exhibition, these visualizations were presented on three 75" screens, near the windows overlooking the Hudson River, a collection of posters, and Ailey's square from the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. There is also an accompanying essay with a foldout of static visualizations in the exhibition catalogue.