2010 Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Program Information

Wednesday, March 24 at 7:3opm: Uptown, Dancing Spirit, Revelations

Thursday, March 25 at 7:30pm: Best of 20 Years, Revelations

Friday, March 26 at 7:30pm: Love Stories, Among Us, Revelations

Saturday, March 27 at 2pm: Uptown, Dancing Spirit, Revelations

Saturday, March 27 at 8pm: Best of 20 Years, Revelations

Sunday, March 28 at 3pm: Uptown, Dancing Spirit, Revelations

About the Programs

Among Us (Private Spaces, Public Places)
Characters from all walks of life come together in Judith Jamison’s new collection of vignettes examining the joys and complications of human relationships. Original jazz compositions by the musical iconoclast Eric Lewis and costumes by the award-winning designer Paul Tazewell are inspired by a series of Jamison’s own drawings that depict these characters’ ordinary and sometimes extraordinary lives.

Best of 20 Years
Over the last twenty years, Judith Jamison has commissioned or revived nearly 100 works, providing unparalleled opportunities for choreographers both renowned and newly discovered. This season, a “Best Of 20 Years” program features highlights from popular ballets she has brought to or revived in the Ailey repertory, representing a wide range of styles and voices that have contributed to the Ailey canon. The program includes selections from: Talley Beatty's The Stack-Up (1982); Ronald K. Brown's Grace (1999); Lar Lubovitch's North Star (1987); Alonzo King's Following the Subtle Current Upstream (2000), Jawole Willa Jo Zollar's Shelter (1992); Ulysses Dove's Bad Blood (1984); Donald McKayle's Rainbow Round My Shoulder (1959); Garth Fagan's Jukebox for Alvin (1993); Redha's Lettres d’Amour (1998); Hans van Manen's Polish Pieces (1996); Billy Wilson's The Winter in Lisbon (1992) and Donald Byrd's Dance at the Gym (1991)

Dancing Spirit
Ronald K. Brown pays tribute to Judith Jamison’s profound influence with a new work that echoes the title of Jamison’s autobiography. Set to music by Duke Ellington, Wynton Marsalis and War, Brown’s evocative choreography uses movement from Cuba, Brazil and the United States to conjure dancing spirits who embody Jamison’s elegance, vision, dignity and generosity.

Love Stories
Love Stories, Judith Jamison's dynamic collaboration with hip-hop pioneer Rennie Harris and modern dance maverick Robert Battle, was inspired by Sankofa, the Akan word which means "go back" (Sanko) and "take" (fa).

Revelations
Alvin Ailey said that one of America’s richest treasures was the cultural heritage of the African-American - ”sometimes sorrowful, sometimes jubilant, but always hopeful.” This enduring classic is a tribute to that heritage and to Ailey’s genius. Using African-American traditional spirituals, this suite fervently explores the places of deepest grief and holiest joy in the soul.

Uptown
Take a vibrant tour through the Harlem Renaissance era in all its boisterous, swinging glory. In this new ballet by the magnificent 18-year Company veteran Matthew Rushing, legends like Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Josephine Baker and their contemporaries come alive to the music of Fats Waller, Nat “King” Cole and more.  "A glittering love letter to the Harlem Renaissance." - The New York Times

Programming subject to change.