Alvin Ailey Dance Theater to End National Tour In Newark in May

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will return to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on Mother's Day Weekend, Friday-Sunday, May 9-11, 2025, as the final stop on its coast-to-coast 2025 United States tour in a season celebrating the life and legacy of Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison (1943-2024). Led by Interim Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, the passionate spirit and extraordinary technique of Ailey's dancers will be showcased in three exciting performances featuring world premieres, new productions, repertory favorites, and Ailey classics. Other NJPAC activities include Ailey Day-a free community day of dance classes (May 3), a Schooltime Performance for young students (May 9), a special panel discussion paying homage to Judith Jamison (May 9) and this summer, AileyCamp Newark returns July - August, providing students ages 11-14 a life-changing experience through dance and the arts and culminates with a final performance (August 6).

Ailey's 32 dancers include two New Jersey natives: Montclair's Chalvar Monteiro and Newark's Christopher Taylor; and three AileyCamp alumni: Solomon Dumas, De'Anthony Vaughan and Taylor, who attended the inaugural AileyCamp Newark in 2011.

This year's exciting world premieres include: Sacred Songs by Matthew Rushing, former AILEY dancers Jamar Roberts's Al-Andalus Blues and Hope Boykin's Finding Free, and Many Angels-the first premiere for the Company by Lar Lubovitch. Sacred Songs features music used in the original 1960 premiere of Alvin Ailey's seminal Revelations but later omitted, resurrecting and reimaging those spirituals-with the collaboration of creative associate and musical director Du'Bois A'Keen-as an offering to our present need for lamentation, faith, and joy. To coincide with the tour, A'Keen has released a Sacred Songs Suite album featuring his brilliant team of musicians in a live recording of the soundtrack, along with some bonus songs. The spirituals, influenced by the sounds of jazz, West African drums, gospel, hip hop, and calypso, are available to purchase as an album or individually and on all streaming platforms for free.

Al-Andalus Blues is an abstract ensemble piece that 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. Finding Free is an insightful collaboration with pianist Matthew Whitaker's original score, examining the challenges and restrictions throughout life's peaks and valleys. Many Angelsfeatures Lubovitch's renowned lush choreography and musicality set to Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5, meditating on the question by 13th century theologian St. Thomas Aquinas "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?"

Additional productions include a special 25th anniversary production of Ronald K. Brown's spellbinding Grace. 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. 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.

Newark audiences will be inspired by the power of Alvin Ailey's must-see American masterpiece Revelations, acclaimed around the world for sending hearts soaring and lifting audiences to their feet with its perfect blend of reverent grace and spiritual elation. Since its debut in 1960, Revelations has been moving audiences with its powerful storytelling and soul-stirring music, evoking timeless themes of determination, hope, and transcendence. An intimate reflection of Mr. Ailey's childhood memories of growing up in the South and attending services at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Texas, Revelations pays homage to the rich cultural heritage of the African American community and explores the emotional spectrum of the human condition.

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 available for free on PBS LearningMedia. 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. All eight chapters are currently available online, including a spotlight on Mr. Ailey's muse, Judith Jamison (The Whole Dancerchapter).

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