Beginning December 1st and ending January 2nd, the Alvin Ailey Dance Company will be returning to New York City and performing at City Center Mainstage. For those of you unfamiliar with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, it is a dance company that began in 1958 from a performance at the 92nd Street Y, a place we are all familiar with by now. It was founded by…you guessed it… dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey.
Since then, the company has performed for an estimated 23 million people. They have traveled to 48 states, and performed in 71 different countries.
In 1969, the company established a dance school and in 1974, they established a program for younger professional dancers called Ailey II. The company has become quite famous over the years, and has earned a reputation as “one of the most acclaimed international ambassadors of American culture, promoting the uniqueness of the African-American cultural experience and the preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance heritage.” The artistic director of the dance company today is now Judith Jamison.
This holiday season, the Alvin Ailey dance company is going to be performing 9 premieres and new productions of works by Alvin Ailey, Robert Battle, Camille A. Brown, Geoffrey Holder, Christopher Huggins and Judith Jamison. In addition, for one week, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis will join Ailey for a live music collaboration. Throughout the season, the dancers will be performing Revelations, one of Alvin Ailey’s original choreographed pieces. If anyone is interesting in learning more, here is the Alvin Ailey site and here is the site to purchase tickets.
Below, is clips from the different parts of a performance of Revelations.
Wonderfully expressive company. Good stuff.