Review: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Presents Contemporary Works

On Wednesday evening, December 21, 2016, I was fortunate to be present as the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater performed three pieces created in the 21st century by three choreographers, two European, Johan Inger and Mauro Bigonzetti, and one home grown, a veteran dancer of the Ailey company, Hope Boykin. Each piece is a world unto itself, different from the other two.

1. on the program was Inger's Walking Mad, to the music of Ravel and Arvo Part. Ravel's Bolero was used by Maurice Bejart in his iconic ballet, Bolero. It is brave to take such a well-known piece of music with choreographic memories attached to it and recreate it for another choreography. It was an unusual choice, too, to stop and start Bolero and to mix in the music of Part. Somehow, it did work very well. In 2003, I happened to have seen this work when it was performed by the Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm, Sweden, during Inger's tenure as Artistic Director of this company. This work, danced by the Cullberg Ballet, a group of excellent dancers/interesting individuals, did not impress me, at that time, as it did as performed by the Ailey company. The Ailey dancers presented it with their own particular flair, a sense for the dramatic and plenty of personality. There is a movable wall, which they move over, around, and through via musical choreography. The wall can be viewed as a symbol of the barriers people construct in their relationships. Among the many sections of note was a marvelous section danced by Sarah Daley and several of the men, who passed her around. The nine dancers, three female and six male, were listed as a group (as in all the pieces presented at that performance). I was disappointed that the solos, pas de deuxs, and other sections did not list the dancers.

r-Evolution, Dream, Boykin's contribution, was inspired by Martin Luther King's sermons and speeches. The music of Ali Jackson and narration (recorded) of historic and original writings by Tony Award winner Leslie Odam, Jr. accompanied the dancers. After the opening, one man dancing in a spotlight, other dancers presented themselves in groups. One group was wearing black, followed by a group wearing white, followed by a group in pea green, and lastly, followed by a group in magenta. The green and magenta were particularly exciting together, although the choreography was less so. The colors seemed to denote humanity and people's treatment of each other.

The piece de resistance of the evening was Italian choreographer, Bigonzetti's Deep, created for this company last season (earlier this year). Deep was set to music by rising global music stars Ibeyl, which lent a soulful atmosphere to the creation. The lighting, by Carlo Cerri begins dark, opening on three women, led by Danica Paulos, growing brighter as they were eventually joined by three men, then replaced on the stage by another group of dancers. The lighting led the way and the movements inspired passion. There were surprises, laughs, and serious moments, taking the audience through a gamut of emotions. The angular arm movements performed by groups as they danced behind a lead couple or trio created rhythms and framed the leads while making an impression as a single entity. These groups doing contemporary choreography as the soloists performed left a strong impression, more and more as the piece came to its conclusion, with Paulos being lifted by the other dancers. We left the theater feeling uplifted.

The marvelous Ailey dancers were great to see dancing newer works. They will be performing varied programs of both older and newer pieces through December 31, 2016.

Photo credit: Paul Kolnik.

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