Ulysses Dove (1947 - 1996) was one of the most innovative contemporary choreographers of the past half century. Dove was born January 17 1947 in Columbia, South Carolina. He began his dance training at Boggs Academy in Georgia. Dove gave up his premedical studies at Howard University to transfer the University of Wisconsin and study dance with Xenia Chilistwa of the Kirov Ballet. He then transferred to Bennington College where he graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in dance in 1970. He then moved to New York City and was offered a scholarship to Merce Cunningham School as well as a position in the company. While in New York he performed for Mary Anthony, Pearl Lang, and Anna Sokolow. Alvin Ailey asked Dove to join his company in 1973 after seeing Dove perform in Sokolow's Rooms. Dove soon became Alvin Ailey's principle dancer and became renowned for his ability to command the stage with a powerful and dramatic clarity. His choreographic debut came in 1979 with the piece "I see the moon…. and the moon sees me." He then left Alvin Ailey the following year and became the assistant director at the Groupe de Recherche Choreographique de l'Opéra de Paris from 1980 to 1983. Dove then became a freelance choreographer, working for companies such as the Dutch National Ballet, the Basal Ballet, American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, and the London Festival Ballet. Dove's choreography is famous for its speed and force as well as its daring eroticism. Some of his more famous works are Night Shade (1982), Bad Blood (1984), Vespers (1986), and Episodes (1987). His final project was Red Angels, which was premiered by the New York City Ballet. Though not biographical, the novel, 'Seed', by Mustafa Mutabaruka (Akashic Books, N.Y.C., 2002), was reportedly inspired by Mutabaruka's admiration of the choreographer. Indeed, the novel's hero is a dancer named Ulysses Dove. Dove died June 11 1996 at the age of 49. He died from AIDS in St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan.
