BWW Dance Review: ALVIN AILEY 2016 SEASON at Lincoln Center

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is the epitome of grace and fiercely rhythmic fluidity that's grounded in the blood, sweat and tears of the African-American experience.

While I've seen the troupe perform during their winter residency at City Center several times, this was my first time watching them in motion at Lincoln Center, David H. Koch Theater-during a limited, two-week engagement through June 19, 2016. The regal landmark space was the perfect setting for the balmy Saturday afternoon matinee I attended, where the company performed the world premiere of Deep, Mauro Bigonzetti's newest work for the Ailey company, and the company premiere of Paul Taylor's Piazzolla Caldera.

An acclaimed Italian choreographer, Bigonzetti's Deep was a thought-provoking dance broken into several parts and set to the haunting music of twin sisters Ibeyi, who sing in English and Yoruba. The French-Cuban siblings, Naomi and Lisa-Kinde Diaz, are the daughters of the late Cuban percussionist Miguel "Anga" Diaz of Buena Vista Social Club fame. And with female dancers dressed in sheer midriff tops and black boy shorts, this was a decidedly sexy summertime Ailey number.

Originally created in 1997, Taylor's piece is a modern dance take on tango. Divided into four distinct sections, the piece is set in a smoky tango club and anchored by sultry music composed by Astor Piazzolla and Jerry Peterburshksy. Two male dancers in a drunkenly acrobatic routine and a female dancer desperately seeking companionship in a sea of passionately intertwined couples were standouts.

Rounding out the afternoon was Mr. Ailey's signature Revelations, which had more room to breathe in the world's leading performing arts center. The Negro spiritual soundtrack also resounded beautifully throughout the grand space. That the three-part ballet ("Pilgrim of Sorrow," "Take Me To the Water," and "Move, Members, Move") from 1960 is always moving and relevant in both its jubilance and pain is a testament to Ailey's brilliant storytelling rooted in the Southern Black church experience. Highlights included the opening "I Been 'Buked," featuring the Company artfully demonstrating Ailey's outstretched arm movements; "Sinner Man," featuring the dynamic runs and leaps of Solomon Dumas, Sean Aaron Carmon and Renaldo Maurice; and the rousing closing number "Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham", which the dancers affectionately call "the yellow scene."

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