Robert Battle (born August 28, 1972 in Jacksonville, Florida, USA)[1] is a dancer, choreographer, and the former Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

[5] Battle was named one of the Masters of African American Choreography by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2005.

When receiving the position Battle says, "I hope to be worthy of this tremendous responsibility that I've been given, and to honor it in the only way Alvin Ailey would have accepted: by keeping it now, alive and moving forward".

As Jamison was in an interview she says, "that Battle's choreography has the ability to draw audiences into his work, and it reminds her of Alvin".

[8] In 2015, Battle created his first work for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Awakening.