PBS character Xavier Riddle celebrates legendary dancer Alvin Ailey at the Whitney

Sunday will be Funday at the Whitney Museum of American Art, with a real-life version of a popular PBS Kids character joining a celebration of the late legendary dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey.

Xavier Riddle, the main character from “Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum,” will be part of a day of Ailey-inspired activities to drum up excitement for the Whitney’s “Edges of Ailey” show, which the museum calls “the first large-scale museum exhibition to celebrate” the famed choreographer.

The exhibit is part visual art, part live performance and part archival materials.

A real-life Xavier Riddle, the PBS Kids character, mimics the pointed finger of an Alvin Ailey sculpture outside the Whitney Museum.
Kids will be able to take photos with a real-life Xavier Riddle on Sunday at the Whitney Museum. Courtesy of Whitney Museum of American Art

Activities on Sunday, which are free through the museum’s “Free Second Sundays” initiative, will include West African dance classes, live music by Jazz at Lincoln Center and a chance to snap pics with Xavier Riddle.

“Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum” is based on a popular book, in which the title character and his friends learn about historical figures, including Ailey.

The Whitney will screen the Xavier Riddle Ailey episode and have the artist on site to teach kids and adults how to draw Ailey or any person they care about.

The Whitney Museum of American Art is seen in Manhattan, New York City.
The Alvin Ailey exhibition is open at the Whitney through Feb. 9. ZUMAPRESS.com

“Edges of Ailey” opened on Sept. 25 and consists of an 18,000-square-foot immersive exhibition with more than 80 artists on the fifth floor, and performances in the third-floor theater. It runs through Feb. 9.

Though free this Sunday, tickets are required. They can be reserved in advance at whitney.org/admission.

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