Barry Jenkins Set To Direct Alvin Ailey Movie Produced By Alicia Keys

Alvin Ailey, one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th Century, will have a film based on his life directed by ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’s’ Barry Jenkins and produced by R&B songstress Alicia Keys.

Jenkins and Fox Searchlight made a deal last year with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to begin work on the untitled film. The deal, according to Deadline, granted full cooperation from the organization that controls the rights to Ailey’s choreography as well as the rights to Jennifer Dunning’s biography ‘Alvin Ailey: A Life In Dance.’

The Oscar award-winning director’s team for the film consists of Julian Breece, who also worked on Ava DuVernay’s ‘When They See Us,’ and Artistic Directors Robert Battle and Judith Jamison, to bring Ailey’s story and choreography to life on screen.

Ailey is credited with popularizing modern dance and positioning African-Americans at the forefront of professional and artistic dance in the 20th century. His world-renowned, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, was created in 1958 and was inspired by his mentor Lester Horton. He died of AIDS/HIV complications in 1989 and was posthumously awarded with the Presidential Medal Of Freedom by forever President Barack Obama.

No release date has been set for the film, as it is in the first stages of production.