Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Announces New York City Center Holiday Season

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to the New York City Center stage for its annual, five-week holiday engagement, December 4 – January 5, celebrating Legacy in Motion.

Featuring the world premieres of Sacred Songs by Interim Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, Finding Free by Hope Boykin, Many Angels by Lar Lubovitch, and Al-Andalus Blues by Jamar Roberts, the season also includes the 25th anniversary staging of Ronald K. Brown's rapturous blockbuster Grace and a new production of Elisa Monte's mesmerizing Treading. Live music will be presented at select performances of Finding Free, Sacred Songs, and the soul-stirring Alvin Ailey masterpiece Revelations.

Interim Artistic Director Matthew Rushing said, “This season we celebrate the lineage and legacy of Mr. Ailey, highlighting his acclaimed works as well as new ballets by choreographers for whom he paved the way. As I look at the repertory for our season, I am reminded that dance is both a reflection of our past and a guide to our future. We are excited to welcome audiences this holiday season to be inspired by AILEY's extraordinary artistry and rich story, as it continues to be written.”

Performances kick off with a one-night-only Opening Night Gala honoring legendary dance educator Jody Gottfried Arnhold. The special program will showcase the 25th anniversary production of Ronald K. Brown's spellbinding Grace with a special live music performance by Tony and GRAMMY Award-winning artist Leslie Odom, Jr., supported by an ensemble of talented musicians, including distinguished artists Damien Sneed and Dr. Edward W. Hardy. Set to Duke Ellington's classic "Come Sunday," Peven Everett's hit "Gabriel," and the irresistible pulse of Fela Kuti's Afro-Pop, Grace depicts individuals on a journey to the promised land, expanding from a single angel-like figure in white to the fireball intensity of 12 powerful dancers. Here, the secular and sacred meet in a tour-de-force connecting African and American dance. The evening will conclude with Mr. Ailey's indelible Revelations, accompanied by a live choir.

Sacred Songs, the world premiere by Interim Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, features music used in the original 1960 premiere of Alvin Ailey's seminal Revelations but later omitted when the piece was edited into the current version that has captivated audiences for decades. Drawing inspiration from the roots of Mr. Ailey's most venerated and consummate creation, this stirring new work will resurrect and reimagine those spirituals—with the collaboration of musical director Du'Bois A'Keen—as an offering to our present need for lamentation, faith, and joy. Live music schedule to be announced.

Former Ailey dancer Jamar Roberts presents Al-Andalus Blues, with music from Roberta Flack and Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain setting the tone for a world premiere commissioned by New York City Center. The abstract ensemble piece journeys back in time to the golden age of Al-Andalus, evoking the northern African Moors who flourished in the south of present-day Spain prior to the Christian Reconquista.

Former Company member Hope Boykin returns to explore personal freedoms in the world premiere Finding Free, in collaboration with pianist Matthew Whitaker who is composing an original score.  This insightful work uses Boykin's movement-language and Whitaker's jazz and gospel influenced music to examine the challenges and restrictions throughout life's peaks and valleys that propel the journey forward. Live music schedule to be announced with Matthew Whitaker performing onstage.

Many Angels, the first world premiere for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater by Lar Lubovitch, features the choreographer's renowned lush choreography and musicality set to Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5. A choreographer for 60 years, Lubovitch has frequently been asked: "Why do you make dances?” For Lubovitch, “Something may exist in the world simply for the sake of itself. For example, a dance.” Many Angels is inspired by a question posed by 13th century theologian St. Thomas Aquinas, “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?,” illustrating that some questions have no logical response but are understood as a question of faith. It is not really about angels. (Well, maybe a little).      

In addition to Grace, another favorite returning to the Ailey stage is Elisa Monte's Treading, a sculptural, mesmerizing duet featuring fluid, intricate movements that combine with Steve Reich's evocative music to create an aura of mystery and sensuality.

The engagement also includes All New, All Ailey and Ailey Classic programs, as well as Family Matinee performances each Saturday at 2pm, followed by a Q&A session with Ailey's revered dancers. The season finale on January 5 is a special program celebrating Alvin Ailey on his birthday.

Detailed performance calendar to be announced at a later date.

Joining Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater this season are Leonardo Brito, Jesse Obremski, Kali Marie Oliver, and Dandara Veiga. All the new Company members have a strong Ailey background, as Ailey II alumni (Brito, Oliver), students from The Ailey School (Brito, Obremski, Oliver, Veiga), or as a graduate of The Ailey/Fordham BFA Program (Oliver). Jessica Amber Pinkett, a former member of Ailey II and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, also has returned to the Company.

AILEY welcomes Maria Bauman as this year's Ailey Artist in Residence, in the second year of the program that invests in and partners with choreographers who reflect Alvin Ailey's cultural inquiry, participatory values, and worldview rich with vast curiosity. As Artist in Residence, Ms. Bauman is collaborating with multiple aspects of the organization, in advance of next year's residency by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar.

During the 2024-25 Season, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will return to Paris, France for performances at Palais des Congrès de Paris, October 18–26. The Company's extensive annual national tour will reach nearly 20 cities from January through May 2025.

In addition to Ailey's New York City Center season, major fall programming includes Edges of Ailey—opening at the Whitney Museum (99 Gansevoort St, New York, NY 10014) on September 25—the first large-scale museum exhibition to celebrate the life, creativity, influence, and enduring legacy of Alvin Ailey. Through a multimedia display on the museum's fifth floor, paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, film, rehearsal footage, and archival materials situate Mr. Ailey within a broad social, creative, and cultural context. These artworks and ephemera highlight the artists who influenced and collaborated with Mr. Ailey, the spaces and scenes he frequented, and the dynamic themes he explored within his dances. An ambitious series of live performances will showcase excerpts of Mr. Ailey's works by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Ailey II along with workshops, classes, and panel discussions. Edges of Ailey brings together art, history, live performance, music, and new commissions by choreographers influenced by Mr. Ailey to capture the full range of his passions, curiosities, obsessions, and creative output.

Edges of Ailey is organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in collaboration with the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation. The exhibition is curated by Adrienne Edwards, Engell Speyer, Family Senior Curator and Associate Director of Curatorial Programs, with Joshua Lubin-Levy, Curatorial Research Associate, and CJ Salapare, Curatorial Assistant. Timed tickets for the in-gallery exhibition Edges of Ailey, on view September 25, 2024–February 9, 2025, are available for purchase at whitney.org/tickets. Performance tickets for Edges of Ailey, include same-day access to the exhibition and will be available on whitney.org starting in September. Theater space is limited. 

The compelling story of the life, work, and legacy of Alvin Ailey is also the subject of Portrait of Ailey, a new eight-part documentary series created by Ailey II Artistic Director Emerita Sylvia Waters. Portrait of Ailey uses rare historical film and still images as well as contemporary footage to create a sweeping narrative of Mr. Ailey as a performer, choreographer, celebrity, teacher, social activist, arts advocate, and the creator of an enduring institution. Portrait of Ailey's first four chapters (Alvin Ailey's Texas Roots; Alvin Ailey's California Inspirations; Alvin Ailey, The Choreographer; Alvin Ailey, Worldwide Expansion) are currently available, with additional episodes rolling out in September.

Tickets to Ailey's New York City Center season start at $42 (fees included) and go on sale September 10 at noon at the New York City Center box office, through Customer Care at 212-581-1212, or at www.alvinailey.org or www.nycitycenter.org.

Ailey's season announcement comes as five of NYC's most celebrated dance companies—Ballet Hispánico, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem—again join forces for Lincoln Center's BAAND Together Dance Festival (July 30 – August 3, 2024).