The Kennedy Center presents Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, 2/6

Famed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater marks its annual Kennedy Center engagement, February 6-11, with seven magnetic performances on the Opera House stage. Led by Artistic Director Robert Battle, the company's performances include two D.C. debuts, three new productions, and a total of 10 works by a range of diverse choreographers. Alvin Ailey's American masterpiece Revelations will be performed as the finale for all seven programs.

Washington, D.C. Premieres

Of the works being performed, Washington, D.C. premieres include Members Don't Get Weary by Jamar Roberts and Victoria by Gustavo Ramírez Sansano. Members Don't Get Weary is longtime Ailey member and "Bessie" Award winner Jamar Roberts's first choreographic work on the company. A work for 10 dancers, it is set to the powerful music of the legendary American jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane and uses the dancing body to inspire the audience to help them transcend their own personal blues. Renowned Spanish choreographer Gustavo Ramírez Sansano's Victoria is set to award-winning composer Michael Gordon's adaptation of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony and features his signature whimsy theatricality and physicality.

New Productions of A Work

New productions include The Golden Section by Twyla Tharp, Stack-Up by Talley Beatty, and Shelter by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. Originally presented as the grand finale of the Broadway production The Catherine Wheel in 1981, Tony Award-winner Twyla Tharp's The Golden Section became a stand-alone work two years later, celebrated for its pure-dance expression of blissful joy. First performed by the company in 2006, this restaged work is set to a new wave rock score by David Byrne and pushes the limits of human physicality in Tharp's daring, driving choreography with breathtaking leaps and finely honed partnering. Inspired by Los Angeles's urban landscape and the lives of its disparate inhabitants, Talley Beatty's Stack-Up depicts the emotional "traffic" in a community that is stacked on top of each other. Set against the background of vibrant 1970s beats (Earth, Wind and Fire, Grover Washington Jr., Fearless Four, and Alphonze Mouzon) and a graffiti landscape, patrons in a crowded disco dance with attitude, sass, and fierce despair. Jawole Willa Jo Zollar's Shelter is a passionate statement about the physical and emotional deprivation of homeless people. The work is set to a score which incorporates drumming by Junior "Gabu" Wedderburn and poetry by Hattie Gossett and Laurie Carlos. Initially performed by the company in 1992, the new production includes updated spoken word by Zollar and Paloma McGregor highlighting recent hurricanes and how climate change can threaten our shelter.

Returning from last season, Robert Battle's Ella, a rarely performed homage to Ella Fitzgerald was re-staged on the company as a duet in celebration of the centennial of her birth. Set to the legendary vocalist's recording of "Air Mail Special," Ella matches the iconic singer's virtuosic scatting with lightning-fast, articulated movement in an irresistible tour-de-force. The company will also perform: Robert Battle's The Hunt, Mass, and In/Side. Set to a wildly percussive soundtrack by Les Tambours du Bronx, The Hunt examines the relationship between modern sports and the rituals of the gladiators. Inspiration for the piece was derived from Battle's background in martial arts and is for six men. Mass features a score by John Mackey, who has collaborated on multiple occasions with Battle. Commissioned for The Juilliard School in 2004 and staged on the company this season, the movement in this work showcases Battle's signature ritualistic choreography. Set to Nina Simone's haunting rendition of the Oscar-nominated song "Wild is the Wind," In/Side provides an intimate look at a man's most private struggles. The piece, originally commissioned by Dance New Amsterdam, was created as part of its annual series "In the Company of Men," a celebration of the spirit of male dancers in New York in light of the AIDS epidemic.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will begin its annual engagement at the Kennedy Center with an Opening Night Gala Benefit on February 6, 2018. Proceeds from the Gala will support Ailey's Washington, D.C. programs, including the creation of new works, arts-in-education activities, and scholarships to talented young dance students from the D.C. area to attend The Ailey School in New York City. As part of the Kennedy Center's educational programming, the company will also offer a mini-performance for students on February 8, 2018. Former company member and D.C. native Renee Robinson will also lead a Revelations Celebration Workshop on the Millennium Stage on February 10.

Dancers from the D.C. metropolitan area include: Ghrai DeVore & Jermaine Terry (Washington, D.C.) joined in 2010, Samantha Figgins (Washington, D.C.) joined in 2014, Daniel Harder (Bowie, MD) joined in 2010, Jacqueline Green (Baltimore, MD) joined 2011.

The company has made frequent appearances at the Kennedy Center, dating back to the Center's opening performance in 1971 when Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater participated in the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass, choreographed by Ailey.

Ticket Information

Tickets start at $49. Tickets can be purchased at the Kennedy Center box office or by calling Instant Charge at (202) 467-4600. Patrons living outside the Washington metropolitan area may dial toll-free at (800) 444-1324. For all other ticket-related customer service inquiries, call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540.

Performance Schedule

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Robert Battle, Artistic Director
Masazumi Chaya, Associate Artistic Director

(D.C.) - D.C. Premiere of a New Work from Ailey's 2017-2018 Season

(NP) - A New Production of the Work

Tuesday, February 6, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.

Members Don't Get Weary by Jamar Roberts (D.C.)

The Golden Section by Twyla Tharp (NP)
Revelations by Alvin Ailey

Wednesday, February 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Stack-Up by Talley Beatty (NP)
Victoria by Gustavo Ramírez Sansano (D.C.)

Ella by Robert Battle
Revelations

Thursday, February 8 at 7:30 p.m.
Mass by Robert Battle
Ella
Shelter by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (NP)
The Hunt by Robert Battle
Revelations

Friday, February 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Members Don't Get Weary

The Golden Section

In/Side by Robert Battle
Revelations

Saturday, February 10 at 1:30 p.m.
Mass
Ella
Shelter
The Hunt
Revelations

Saturday, February 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Members Don't Get Weary

The Golden Section

In/Side
Revelations

Sunday, February 11 at 1:30 p.m.
Stack-Up
Victoria

Ella
Revelations

About Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, recognized by U.S. Congressional resolution as a vital American "Cultural Ambassador to the World," grew from a now?fabled March 1958 performance in New York that forever changed the perception of American dance. Founded by Alvin Ailey, a recent posthumous recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom - the nation's highest civilian honor, and guided by Judith Jamison beginning in 1989, the Company is now led by Robert Battle, whom Judith Jamison chose to succeed her on July 1, 2011. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has performed for an estimated 25 million people in 71 countries on 6 continents, promoting the uniqueness of the African?American cultural experience and the preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance tradition. In addition to being the Principal Dance Company of New York City Center, where its performances have become a year?end tradition, the Ailey company performs annually at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami?Dade County in Miami, The Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, CA and at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark (where it is the Principal Resident Affiliate). The Company also appears frequently in other major theaters throughout the United States and the world during extensive annual tours. The Ailey organization also includes Ailey II (1974), a second performing company of emerging young dancers and innovative choreographers; The Ailey School (1969), one of the most extensive dance training programs in the world, Ailey Arts in Education & Community Programs, which brings dance into the classrooms, communities and lives of people of all ages, and The Ailey Extension (2005), a program offering dance and fitness classes to the general public, which began with the opening of Ailey's permanent home-the largest building dedicated to dance in New York City, the dance capital of the world-named The Joan Weill Center for Dance, at 55th Street at 9th Avenue in New York City. For more information, visit www.alvinailey.org.

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