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Milton Myers
Born: March 24, 1951
Occupation: dancer, choreographer
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Milton Myers became interested in dance while he was a math major at the University of Missouri and organized Black Exodus, an all-black company of modern dancers. In 1973 he moved to New York and auditioned for Alvin Ailey. Although he did not join Alvin Ailey, he met Ailey's assistant, Joyce Trisler. Myers was in New London, Connecticut, studying choreography with the American Dance Festival when Trisler formed her own dance troupe in 1974 and invited Myers to be a member. Myers joined the troupe as a dancer, and also served as Trisler's assistant choreographer from 1975 through 1980. In 1977 Myers joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as a dancer while still assisting Trisler. During that time he began making dances for both companies, creating "Echoes in Blue" (1975) for Ailey and assisting Trisler in developing a new choreography for Igor Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" (1974) and Paul Hindemith's "Four Temperaments" (1976). When Trisler died in 1980, Myers left Ailey to take over the helm of the Trisler Danscompany. He choreographed such dances as "Timesteps" (1981), a four-part work to the music of Stravinsky and Duke Ellington, and "Movin'" (1983), a dance set to the music of the alternative rock group Talking Heads. In 1991 Myers left the Trisler Danscompany to become the resident choreographer of Philadanco, a Philadelphia-based dance group. He has developed numerous pieces for the company, including "Ebony Concerto" (1991), a ballet to a Stravinsky jazz score of the same name, and "Love 'n' Pain" (1992), a dance for six women set to the songs of Aretha Franklin.

-- Constance Valis Hill

Caruso, Joyce. "Myers in First Position." OTHER STAGES (September 25, 1980): 6.
Hardy, Camille. "Joyce Trisler Dance Company." DANCE MAGAZINE (September 1986): 98.

Source Citation: "Milton Myers." ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN CULTURE AND HISTORY. 5 vols. Macmillan, 1996. Reprinted by permission of Gale Group.