Troy Powell  Troy Powell (born January 27, 1969 in Brooklyn) also known as Troy O'Neil Powell is an American dancer, choreographer, educator, and director. He is a former principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and is currently the artistic director of AAADT's second company, Ailey 2. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Powell met Alvin Ailey at the age of nine when Ailey came to his school to teach a masterclass. Unknown to Powell at the time, the class was actually an audition for a scholarship to attend the first children's program at The Ailey School. Though he lacked formal dance training, Powell was handpicked by Ailey to join the program. During his time at school, Ailey served as a mentor and father figure to Powell. In 1987 he graduated from LaGuardia High School of The Performing Arts with a concentration in dance. The following year he was invited by Sylvia Waters to join Ailey 2, which was then known as the AIvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble. As a member of AAADT's second company, Powell danced in a wide range of ballets by Ailey and other commissioned choreographers. During his time with Ailey 2, Powell was singled out for his dancing by Jennifer Dunning who wrote in her review for the New York Times that "he performs as if filled with the dance, with an infectious though private look of delight that has a Nijinsky-like radiance to it." Powell was invited to join the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1991 by Judith Jamison, who had assumed artistic directorship of the company following Ailey's death in 1989. During his tenure with the AAADT, Powell toured across the globe performing principal roles in Ailey's "Blue's Suite," "For 'Bird'-With Love," "Masekela Language," "The River," "Night Creature," "Phases," and the "Sinner Man" trio in "Revelations," Ulysses Dove's "Episodes," Hans van Manen's "Polish Pieces," George Faison's "Suite Otis," Talley Beatty's "Stack-Up," Earl Mosely's "Days Past, Not Forgotten," Billy Wilson's "The Winter in Lisbon," Donald Byrd's "Dance at The Gym," and in Jawole Willa Jo Zollar's male casting of "Shelter." After presenting his choreography for "Passages" at the 1996 Ailey Gala, Powell was commissioned to create a ballet for the main company.