Dance in Film · 2021
Ailey (2021)
Jamila Wignot lets Alvin Ailey narrate his own artistic life through rare audio and performance archives, then tests that legacy in the present by following Rennie Harris as he builds Lazarus on the Ailey company.
Ailey is a 2021 dance documentary centred on ballroom and social dance. For dancers, it's a chance to see the style performed on screen — the phrasing, partnering, and musicality that the same dances carry onto a real floor.
Jump to the 6 indexed dance sequences ↓
Where to watch: Available to rent or buy on Prime Video in the United States and listed on Apple TV; availability verified 2026-08-09 and may change. PBS/American Masters also offers the official episode page and clips, with full access subject to station or Passport availability.
Trailer
Official trailer.
The dance sequences in Ailey
6 sequences — what is danced, by whom, and where to find it.
Archival Blues Suite performance
Ailey modern dance / blues dance-theatreDanced by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (archival footage) · Choreography Alvin Ailey
Ailey’s first major success appears as an early statement of the sorrow, humor, and humanity he drew from Black Southern experience.
The documentary uses Ailey’s 1958 breakthrough to show him finding a theatrical language rooted in Southern blues life.
Open the film at this point · Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. No edition-specific timestamp was inferred. The opened U.S. Apple TV page identifies the exact 2021 documentary and lists a 1h34m runtime; paid-access availability may change.
Archival Masekela Langage performance
Political modern dance-theatreDanced by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (archival footage) · Choreography Alvin Ailey
Its urgent theatrical tableaux expand the portrait beyond celebration, presenting Ailey as an artist of protest and historical witness.
The film selects this politically charged work to show how Ailey could answer contemporary racial violence through dance theatre.
Open the film at this point · Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. No edition-specific timestamp was inferred. The opened U.S. Apple TV page identifies the exact 2021 documentary and lists a 1h34m runtime; paid-access availability may change.
Archival Memoria performance
Ailey modern dance / memorial balletDanced by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (archival footage) · Choreography Alvin Ailey
The work’s passage from an isolated grieving figure toward a joyful ensemble crescendo makes remembrance visibly collective.
Memoria gives the documentary a vulnerable register, showing how Ailey transformed personal loss into communal movement.
Open the film at this point · Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. No edition-specific timestamp was inferred. The opened U.S. Apple TV page identifies the exact 2021 documentary and lists a 1h34m runtime; paid-access availability may change.
Archival Revelations performance
Ailey modern dance (Horton-rooted)Danced by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (archival footage) · Choreography Alvin Ailey
The familiar spirituals, sculptural groupings, and emotional ascent make Revelations the documentary’s clearest emblem of Ailey’s legacy.
Original performance footage lets the dancing carry the film’s account of Ailey’s signature work, moving through grief toward spiritual joy.
Open the film at this point · Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. No edition-specific timestamp was inferred. The opened U.S. Apple TV page identifies the exact 2021 documentary and lists a 1h34m runtime; paid-access availability may change.
Judith Jamison performs Cry
Ailey modern dance soloDanced by Judith Jamison · Choreography Alvin Ailey
Jamison’s commanding presence turns the tribute to Black women into one of the film’s most indelible performance memories.
The archival solo centers Jamison’s physical authority and shows how Ailey built a three-part dramatic journey from hardship to ecstatic release.
Open the film at this point · Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. No edition-specific timestamp was inferred. The opened U.S. Apple TV page identifies the exact 2021 documentary and lists a 1h34m runtime; paid-access availability may change.
Lazarus rehearsal thread
Philadelphia GQ / hip-hop dance-theatreDanced by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater dancers · Choreography Rennie Harris
The company’s rehearsal labor and Harris’s off-kilter, intricate movement make legacy feel active rather than archival.
Rehearsals for Harris’s 60th-anniversary tribute give the documentary a present-tense spine, connecting Ailey’s life and legacy to a contemporary Black vernacular vocabulary.
Open the film at this point · Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. No edition-specific timestamp was inferred. The opened U.S. Apple TV page identifies the exact 2021 documentary and lists a 1h34m runtime; paid-access availability may change.
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