André W Tyson is a former Principal Dancer and Company Teacher with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Mr. Tyson's affiliation with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Foundation began as a scholarship student in 1980 and continued through 1994. Mr. Tyson became a member of the Foundation’s two junior companies in 1980 (Ailey III) and 1982 (Ailey II) and performed with the main company from 1985-1994.

Mr. Tyson will begin another exciting chapter in his teaching career as a new member of the Dance Department at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in the fall of 2008. Prior to this he was an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Peck School of the Arts Department of Dance. He joined the UWM PSOA dance faculty in 1998 after an illustrious career with the Alvin Ailey Company and numerous years of intensive teaching and performing nationally and internationally. Throughout his career he has studied with a range of distinguished Master Teachers. This ongoing quest for excellence is evidence of commitment to his personal growth as an artist and a belief that such commitment is reflected in the devotion and instruction he provides his students. Creative expression as manifested in the expansion of physical and artistic boundaries reflect Mr. Tyson’s proactive approach to his career development and concomitantly enrich his ability to create, instruct and inspire.