Alvin Ailey and Me: FCB New York Sends Heartfelt Messages to An American Creative Legend

It’s hard to encapsulate a legacy like that of Alvin Ailey. One of the defining dancers and choreographers of his generation, his work brought international awareness to the experience of being Black in America, fusing theatre, modern dance, ballet, and jazz to create hopeful and optimistic choreography. He also founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT), which has been recognised by the US Congress as a "vital American cultural ambassador to the World". 

In September, ‘Edges of Ailey’ opened at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, and will continue to run up to the 9th February. It’s the first large-scale museum exhibition to celebrate the life, dances, influences, and enduring legacy of Alvin Ailey. To promote the exhibition, the museum enlisted the help of FCB New York - and the resulting project, ‘Alvin Ailey and Me’, is an emotive, honest, and searingly heartfelt tribute to an artist whose career left such a profound imprint on America’s creative soul. 

FCB New York invited artists, celebrities, and members of the public to write letters to Alvin Ailey, sharing how his life and work has impacted, inspired, or changed them. The resulting messages were then displayed around New York City in high-impact OOH placements. It amounts to a beautiful tapestry of gratitude, appreciation, and love for Alvin Ailey. 

To find out more about the project, LBB’s Adam Bennett caught up with FCB New York’s creative directors Pieter Claeys and Roxane Schneider, as well as the agency’s head of brand experience Ben Nilsen.

LBB> To start at the beginning, why did you want to elevate these heartfelt letters to Alvin Ailey in order to promote this exhibition?

Pieter Claeys and Roxane Schneider> When we began working on this, we quickly realised the profound impact Alvin Ailey had on people’s lives. Rather than having a single narrator tell his story through the exhibition, we decided to share Alvin Ailey’s journey through the voices of those he impacted throughout his life. So, we invited everyone to write a letter directly to Alvin Ailey. 

LBB> Was the decision to create the campaign in this way based on any insights you uncovered?

Pieter and Roxane> There’s a certain gravitas we had to keep in mind when developing this campaign. This is the first retrospective of Alvin Ailey’s life - we wanted to capture this importance and give people a unique canvas.

LBB> Can you tell me more about the locations where you decided to place these ads? What was the thinking behind the positioning?

Pieter and Roxane> As part of the project, some of these letters were projected onto prominent buildings across New York City, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, P.S. 175 in Harlem, and the Whitney itself. 

These locations were selected for their significance and relevance in Mr. Ailey’s life, creating a citywide celebration of his legacy. The projections are complemented by out-of-home and social ads, ensuring that these letters are seen far and wide.

LBB> Is there any plan for what to do with these messages after the campaign/exhibition has ended?

Pieter and Roxane> We expect that all the letters will become an official part of the Museum’s archive, which would be a significant achievement for this project. In today’s digital age, much of the content we encounter is short-lived — created for quick consumption and often forgotten just as quickly. In contrast, these letters are physical items that will remain in the Museum for years to come.

LBB> Did any of the themes within the messages stand out to you as particularly moving? If so, which ones?

Pieter and Roxane> The letters explore many themes, including intersectionality, sexuality, and mental health, while reflecting the beauty and struggle of Blackness in America. The letters highlight how Alvin Ailey's legacy uplifts and amplifies the voices of Black dancers, particularly Black women, and demonstrates how his life continues to inspire people of all ages, races, genders, and nationalities.

LBB> What was the most challenging aspect of this campaign?

Ben Nilsen> An ongoing challenge was balancing the expectation of craft and polish expected by a museum in communications while allowing space for people to contribute in a way that feels authentic to them, and different from person to person, in their letters back to us. 

LBB> If you could do anything differently, what would it be?

Ben> This campaign grows and scales with time, and something we would love to be able to push into is spending more time with the wider circles of influence that Mr. Ailey affected.

Naturally, the start of this project had the most passion from people closest to Mr. Ailey, his dancers, artists, and fans.

One of the striking things to us, however, was how far the ripples of Mr. Ailey’s influence   extended. We learned that Simone Biles’ floor routine was in some ways influenced by Mr. Ailey’s movement, and that artists like Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé have expressed being influenced by him. 

LBB> Finally, how would you describe Alvin Ailey's impact on culture in your own words? If you were invited to write a message for this campaign, what would you have said?

Ben> For me — as someone who, at the start of this campaign, didn’t know Mr. Ailey’s work directly — it is impressive how much of my day-to-day cultural references were directly influenced by Mr. Ailey. The music I listen to, and the artists I admire, draw directly from Mr. Ailey. In that regard, I’m so happy to have gone deeper now, but wish I’d known Mr. Ailey sooner.