For the 55 years Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre (AAADT) has been returning to the Auditorium to share its unique contributions to the arts community, audiences have consistently been captivated by its unerring commitment to dance excellence. Spanning that half century plus, AAADT has showcased the timeless resonance of works created by its founder, Alvin Ailey, and those of choreographers around the globe whose vision of what dance is and can be act to expand the dance company’s creative boundaries. This year, celebrating its 65th anniversary season, the company divided its five-day Auditorium visit into three programs, AUDIENCE FAVORITES, AILEY CLASSICS and ALL-NEW AILEY. For a company that always dances at peak, performances of works that comprise both their favorite and classic repertoire were doubtless magnificent. Many Ailey devotees wait the entire year just to see and feel Revelations’ cleansing power and spirit wash over them. But true titans, including in art, remain ever curious and are always looking for new horizons to explore. All-NEW AILEY reveals a storied dance company bursting into the new millennium with the vigor of Hercules and the creative imagination of a savant. As the program of new works would prove, there’s no substitute for splendid dance acumen and uniquely gifted choreography.
Created by Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish, Me, Myself and You, the first piece performed Friday night, provided the initial hint at how singularly distinctive the ALL-NEW AILEY program would become. A romantic duet, it probes into a woman’s recollections of a past love affair. At first dancing alone as if in a dream, she’s soon joined by the apparition of her lover. Although they dance together with consummate tenderness, a shadow of doubt hangs like a pall over their union. A poignant, elegant and moving piece, there’s an intelligence and awareness that acknowledges the personal strength derived from honoring one’s own inner voice. Set to Duke Ellington’s In a Sentimental Mood, and accented by Dante Baylor’s sumptuous costumes, it cloaks melancholy reflection in subtle luxury. Not only an Ailey alum, but also the first Filipina principal dancer for the company, Roxas-Dobrish combines the beauty of classic form and daring physical dexterity into her choreography to tell an old story in a way that feels contemporary and irresistibly fresh.
Solo, newly produced in 2023 but originally choreographed in 1997 by Hans van Manen, couldn’t be further afield from Roxas-Dobrish’s reflective ode to love. Slightly rakish, witty and wonderfully conceived, it’s the kind of triumph that starts small before unveiling the totality of its splendor. The Dutch choreographer never viewed himself as a story teller of any sort. His dances are about the feelings, emotions and desires they stimulate. He can also be quite sly in what he asks of dancers. As critic Sanjoy Roy observed, van Manen’s technical foundation may rest in classical ballet, but he alters it by adding other elements like modern dance and even gymnastics to create his own signature dance language. A knockout that calls on three male dancers to display daunting virtuosity in a teasingly comic format, Solo allows each one of them to exhibit the extravagance of his own individual prowess. It finally brings the three out together to “compete” under the playful strains of a Bach violin concerto. Like an unexpected ray of sunshine, it’s the kind of work that lightens the heart and make it rejoice in the endless sources of life’s pleasures.
When Judith Jamison, AAADT’s legendary former dancer and now Artistic Director Emerita, invited Alonzo King to choreograph a work to “have the dancers move differently”, she may have known that a masterpiece was about to conceived. That was more than two decades ago and Following the Subtle Current Upstream has gone on to astound dancers as well as critics and audiences. Originally developed in 2000 and newly produced last year, it remains breathtaking in scope and effect. Using the question of “how do we return to joy?”, King employs dance to show both the difficulty and rewards of battling hardship to achieve personal fulfillment. Moving from the cerebral and abstract to the seminal and intuitive, Following the Subtle Current Upstream overflows with visual marvel as it satisfies Jamison’s overriding desire for what she wanted dancers to do. Through King’s stunningly original choreography, they’re given agency to do two things at once. Deliver the precision and grace emblematic of master dancers and fully express their own autonomy. The transition from stoic inhibition to expressive abandon became a journey the audience could recognize and relish. Seeing it portrayed so brilliantly seemed to leave the performance hall awestruck with surprise; causing it to respond with thunderous standing applause at an end that felt like a joyous finale.
But there was yet one more example of how comfortably AAADT sits at the forefront of contemporary dance. A spirited tribute to her grandfather on the cusp of his 100th birthday, Amy Hall Garner’s CENTURY wraps itself in the celebration of life and personal fortitude. Before a shimmering golden curtain and moving to sounds echoing the era of big bands and swing, dancers covered the stage in explosive dance revelry. Unbridled vitality drenching flawlessly synchronized dance made it the kind of barn burner that guarantees delight. At the piece’s midpoint, a single dancer representing Hall’s grandfather performed a solo encapsulating the breadth of feelings and depth of understanding that mark a fully lived life. Overflowing with sass and spirit, CENTURY’s a reflection of a man and of an ideal well worth emulating.
Covering widely divergent dance styles and concepts, ALL-NEW AILEY masters them all with trademark confidence and skill. It also shed new light on the depth richness of its dance talent pool. Star turns, often in multiples, blazed in each of the works included in the program. With assets like that, and endless versatility, could invincibility be next?
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
AUDIENCE FAVORITES, AILEY CLASSICS and ALL-NEW AILEY
April 17 – 21, 2024
Auditorium Theatre
50 Ida B. Well Drive
Chicago, IL 60605
