Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (2022-23)

In A Sentimental Mood 
Jamar Roberts, 2022
Music: Duke Ellington and Rafiq Bhatia

DUET 
Paul Taylor, 1964
Music: Haydn

Are You in Your Feelings?
Kyle Abraham, 2022
Music: Various artists

Revelations
Alvin Ailey, 1960
Music: Various artists

There will be a brief pause before "DUET" and two intermissions: following "DUET" and "Are You in Your Feelings?"

About the Program

In A Sentimental Mood
Set to a score by Duke Ellington and reimagined jazz standards, an intimate scene from the domestic life of a couple becomes an exploration of love and desire in Jamar Roberts’ 2022 work. Roberts, the company’s Resident Choreographer and a towering presence as a former company dancer, created the setting, choreography, and costumes for this theatrical work. The rectangle of light he defines creates an intimate space (a living room? a jazz club?) where the characters’ drama plays out.

DUET
Paul Taylor’s 1964 DUET received its Ailey company premiere in 2022.  Scored to “Seven Last Words of Christ,” by Franz Josef Haydn, is a testament to the simplicity and clarity of his craft. Brief and beautifully shaped, it portrays a love, perhaps not new, but rather tried and true.

Are You in Your Feelings?
Kyle Abraham’s Are You in Your Feelings? is a celebration of Black culture, Black music, and the youthful spirit that perseveres in us all. The work premiered in 2022 and was a critical and audience favorite right away. Set to a “mixtape” of soul, hip-hop, and R&B, it explores the connections among music, communication, and personal memory, with couples and ensembles coming together, breaking up, or finding ways to love themselves. Abraham says of the soundtrack, “a lot of these songs are the songs that I play when I’m at my lowest and at my highest. I wanted to find a way to thank those artists for their music and thank our culture for their contributions to this world in which we live.”

Revelations
The company’s signature work, Revelations concludes each of the performances in this year’s Ailey engagement.

Choreographed when Alvin Ailey was only 29 years old, Revelations is an intimate reflection inspired by childhood memories of attending services at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Texas, and by the work of writers James Baldwin and Langston Hughes. Set to a suite of traditional spirituals, Revelations explores the emotional spectrum of the human condition, from the deepest of grief to the holiest joy. A classic tribute to the resolve and determination of Black Americans, the ballet has been seen by more people around the world than any other modern work.

Roy’s Joys 
Twyla Tharp, 1997
Music: Roy Eldridge

Survivors
Alvin Ailey and Mary Barnett, 1986
Restaged 2022
Music: Max Roach & Peter Phillips

Revelations
Alvin Ailey, 1960
Music: Various artists

This performance has two 15-minute intermissions that will follow the first two works.

About the Program

Roy's Joys
Twyla Tharp’s silky, sultry 1997 work embodies the cool spontaneity of a 1940s and 50s jazz soundtrack by Roy Eldridge. Mixing vernacular dance with ballet and modern technique, this work for exudes an easy, carefree energy that shows Tharp at her rollicking best.

Survivors
Alvin Ailey and co-choreographer Mary Barnett’s impassioned tribute to the profound courage and terrible anguish of Nelson and Winnie Mandela is, more broadly, a portrait of people transformed by injustice. Max Roach’s richly varied drumming and Abbey Lincoln’s harrowing, emotional vocals set the tone for this powerful work that lifts up those who resist oppression in any form.

The work debuted in 1986, and former Ailey Associate Artistic Director Masazumi Chaya, who was a company dancer at the time of the ballet’s premiere, restaged it for the 2022/23 season. 

Revelations
The company’s signature work, Revelations concludes each of the performances in this year’s Ailey engagement.

Choreographed when Alvin Ailey was only 29 years old, Revelations is an intimate reflection inspired by childhood memories of attending services at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Texas, and by the work of writers James Baldwin and Langston Hughes. Set to a suite of traditional spirituals, Revelations explores the emotional spectrum of the human condition, from the deepest of grief to the holiest joy. A classic tribute to the resolve and determination of Black Americans, the ballet has been seen by more people around the world than any other modern work.

Night Creature
Alvin Ailey, 1974
Music: Duke Ellington

For Four
Robert Battle, 2021
Music: Wynton Marsalis

Unfold
Robert Battle, 2005
Restaged 2021
Music recorded by Leontyne Price
("Depuis le jour" from Act III of Louise by Gustave Charpentier)

Revelations
Alvin Ailey, 1960
Music: Various artists

This performance contains two 15-minute intermissions, to follow Night Creature and Unfold, and a brief pause to follow For Four.

About the Program

Night Creature
A bubbly champagne cocktail of a dance, Night Creature perfectly fuses Alvin Ailey’s buoyant choreography and Duke Ellington’s sparkling music in a definitive homage to The Duke’s jazz that remains one of Mr. Ailey’s most popular works.  Ellington said “night creatures, unlike stars, do not come OUT at night­– they come ON, each thinking that, before the night is out, he or she will be the star.” The large ensemble work is full of stars - strutting, leaping, and slinking using modern dance, classical ballet, and jazz.

For Four
Take four amazing Ailey dancers and add in Wynton Marsalis’ delicious jazz score – written in 4/4 time – and you’ll understand why Robert Battle cheekily titled this exuberant short work For Four. Capturing the pent-up energy of a world cooped up during the COVID-19 pandemic, Battle’s 2021 ballet expresses the drive to perform and the electricity of dancers coming together to create.

Unfold
Battle’s brief, unconventional pas de deux was created on the Ailey company in 2005, before he became artistic director. Dramatizing the intensity and uncertainty of new love – the feeling of time standing still – Battle uses soprano Leontyne Price’s recording of an aria by Charpentier to set a dramatic and passionate mood. The choreography alternates between flowing and staccato movements, and conjures a feeling of weightlessness.

Revelations
The company’s signature work, Revelations concludes each of the performances in this year’s Ailey engagement. 

Choreographed when Alvin Ailey was only 29 years old, Revelations is an intimate reflection inspired by childhood memories of attending services at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Texas, and by the work of writers James Baldwin and Langston Hughes. Set to a suite of traditional spirituals, Revelations explores the emotional spectrum of the human condition, from the deepest of grief to the holiest joy. A classic tribute to the resolve and determination of Black Americans, the ballet has been seen by more people around the world than any other modern work.