阿尔文•艾利美国舞蹈团希望传递什么信息？

    艾利先生说得好：“舞蹈源于民间，应当回到民间。”他希望民众能欣赏惊叹舞者的作品，但他也希望人们能在舞台上看到自己的影子。

    这个信息能被人们理解是因为舞者是在用自己的身体表演，而每个人都有身体，这就是连结两者的纽带。当然，舞者的身体已经接近完美。

我真希望我能拥有阿尔文•艾利美国舞蹈团舞者那样的身体。

    是的，我也一样。这很自然。

你如何发扬舞蹈团灿烂的传统？

    真诚对待自己和自己的信仰，与所处的时代和未来进行对话。我给舞者上课的时候，会让他们用手臂摆出最简单的姿势，告诉他们：“它属于你，因为没人能把这个动作做得和你完全一模一样。”

    所以，如果我的姿势是做个领头人，通过这些舞者、通过我对保留剧目的选择以及通过我自己的舞蹈动作编排，向世界呈现我认为的真善美，那么，就算我遭到批评，我也必须坚持自己的信念。我发现这是最大的挑战，也是最大的回报。

还有什么其他的挑战？

    作为一名舞蹈指导，我对肢体语言非常敏感；对人们的感受也非常敏感。我觉得没有这样的敏感就无法成为一名高效的领袖。但这种敏感有时会妨碍人们做出抉择。因此，必须与内心的情绪保持一定距离，做出对公司最有利的决定。

    作为艺术家，我们情感外露。从这个角度来讲，这不是一家公司。我们要求舞者在舞台上要非常敏感。因此，在这么要求的同时，我们也非常关注他们的感受。

而你不得不拒绝很多人希望加入阿尔文•艾利美国舞蹈团的请求。

    是的。总会有人落选。他们走进这扇门的时候，我们就已经达成了这样的共识。舞者已经习以为常，他们必须适应这一点。

能给些建议如何通过舞蹈面试吗？

    尽管随时可能会被打断，但是必须往下跳。表达出你对舞动的热爱，表达出希望同观众沟通的强烈愿望。可能最终还是会落选，但至少心里会好过些。

What is the message of the company?

    Mr. Ailey said it so well: "Dance comes from the people and should always be delivered back to the people." He wanted people to be in awe of what these dancers are able to do, but he wanted them to see reflections of themselves on stage.

    That message comes across in dance because performers use their bodies and everybody has a body, so there is that connection. Even though these bodies are pretty spectacular.

I wish I had the body of an Alvin Ailey dancer.

    Right, me too. There's nothing wrong with that.

How do you carry on such a rich tradition?

    Be true to yourself and your convictions, because that speaks to the time you're in and to the future. When I'm teaching dancers, I have them do the simplest gesture with their arms, and I say, "You have to own that, no one will do that gesture exactly the way you do."

    So if my gesture is being a leader and presenting what I see as the truth to the world through these dancers and through my choice of repertory and through my own choreography, even if I'm criticized, I have to stand in the belief in my own convictions. I find that that is the greatest challenge, but the greatest reward too.

What are other challenges?

    As a choreographer, I'm very in tune with body language; I'm in tune with how people feel. I don't believe you can be an effective leader if you don't have that kind of sensitivity. But that sensitivity can sometimes get in the way of hard decisions. So you do have to find within yourself the distance to make decisions that are for the greater good of the company.

    As artists, we wear our hearts on our sleeves. In that way, it isn't a corporation. We are asking the dancers to be vulnerable on stage. So in asking all that, we're very sensitive to how they feel.

And you have to turn plenty of people down who want to be in the company.

    Yeah. Somebody's going to be rejected, we agree on that when they come through the door. Dancers are sort of used to that, they have to be.

Any advice on how to survive an audition?

    You have to go ahead and know you might get cut, then you can express your love of movement and the strong desire you have to communicate that to an audience. You still may not get in, but you'll have a better time.