Ailey II Will Perform at Wave Hill Next Week

A public garden and cultural center in the Bronx overlooking the Hudson River, Wave Hill is pleased to be able to offer performances by Ailey II, the second company of the world-renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, on the first day of summer, Tuesday, June 21.

Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country's finest dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today's most outstanding emerging choreographers. The company will perform Freedom Series on Wave Hill's Great Lawn, overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades, at 5PM and 7:30PM.

Choreographed by Ailey II Artistic Director Francesca Harper, Freedom Series travels through a landscape of memories, creating a series of vignettes that embody and imagine a hybrid world where memory strives to influence the future. Depicted through this futuristic lens, and developed in collaboration with the Ailey II dancers, Harper's work examines identity and community. With costumes by designer Elias Gurrola, lighting design by Abby May and a score featuring a blend of acoustic and electronic sounds by a dozen different artists, Freedom Series takes unexpected twists and turns that bridge tender moments to its intrinsic ferocity.

"Wave Hill is so thrilled to be partnering with Ailey II on this presentation," commented Wave Hill's Director of Arts, Gabriel de Guzman. "Connecting the audience with our natural surroundings, this interactive dance performance provides an embodied experience of the landscape in a way that can only happen here. This intersection of art, community and nature is at the core of Wave Hill's unique programming, and Ailey II has been an ideal collaborator."

"We are delighted to collaborate with Gabriel de Guzman and the team at Wave Hill," said Ailey II Artistic Director Francesca Harper. "When I first witnessed the space, its beauty emulated a dreamscape and reminded me of the power in manifesting our dreams. I have created a transformative, interactive experience for the audience through which they are guided and inspired by the dancers of Ailey II to move and transport their minds and bodies to new personal heights."

Francesca Harper, choreographer and Artistic Director of Ailey II, began her professional dance career with Dance Theater of Harlem. She was a member of William Forsythe's Ballett Frankfurt from 1991-1999, where

she became a principal dancer in 1994. She has performed on Broadway in productions that include Fosse, All Shook Up, The Color Purple, Sweet Charity and Sophisticated Ladies, and was nominated for Best Actress in a Musical by Broadway.com for her role as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill. In 2014, she debuted her critically acclaimed one-woman show, The Look of Feeling, as a writer, actor, dancer and vocalist. Ms. Harper has choreographed works for companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, Dance Theater of Harlem, Hubbard Street II and Tanz Graz, as well as The Francesca Harper Project, which she founded in 2005.

The Ailey II sold-out performances open a summer season of performing arts at Wave Hill, including our long-beloved Sunset Wednesdays series (July 13-August 3) and a Citywide Dance Party (August 6). These five events celebrate the Festival of New York (festivalofny.com). On August 11, Wave Hill presents Isaac Pool's Horizon Lies, a site-specific performance in the Aquatic Garden, which will be part of a special evening of programming.

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