Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater‘Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison once said: “Through dance, we are as close to God as possible until He calls us home.” On November 9, 2024, Jamison was “called home”, and the company and the entire dance world were deeply involved. in mourning. She is an incredible dancer and Ellie’s muse. He selected her as his successor artistic director, a position she held for 21 years. The company’s New York City Center 2024 season, which ends Jan. 5, is dedicated to honoring Jamison’s life and legacy and evoking the feeling she spoke of: that dance brings us as close as possible to the ultimate unknown.
New York City Center’s 2024 season includes many of Ailey’s classic and critically acclaimed works, as well as multiple world premieres and new works. A show last week featured two premieres – Hope Boykin’s Find free and Lar Lubovich many angels—and Ronald K. Brown’s 25th Anniversary Performance grace.
Find free
Boykin, a former Ailey Dance Company member and sought-after choreographer, has teamed up with composer and pianist Matthew Whitaker to create a piece about “the highs and lows of life” and personal freedom. New works.
The production, which begins with Whittaker’s original score, fills the auditorium before the lights go down, setting the mood with otherworldly sounds. Then the curtain rose, and eleven dancers stood tall in the dim light. They looked both black and futuristic in their long tan sleeveless coats with high collars and striped belts designed by Boykin and Jon Taylor. One dancer begins a slow twirl and is gradually joined by others. The dancers are calm and detached, completely out of sync, until they come together again and stare out at the audience. But they weren’t looking at us. They look beyond us.
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It’s here, in these moments of coming together, that Boykin’s choreography is most impressive, as the ensemble dances her fluid staccato contemporary moves in tight unison, moving together like a snakelike robot . It’s Ashley Kaylynn Green’s solo that is the piece’s most resonant in its message. Greene stood in the center with ropes tied around her limbs extending to the four corners of the stage. She struggled, pulled and kicked, then fell and became entangled. Finally, she broke free of the ropes, collected them and carried them off the stage. The action is simple, but it’s a scene I’ll never forget.
Whitaker’s gospel-inspired jazz never ceases to amaze me, and the costumes (a see-through dress under a stiff coat) are stunning under Al Crawford’s eerie lighting. However, some parts felt disjointed, and I often found myself wondering what the people on stage wanted, where they were going, and what exactly they were looking at. I can’t quite understand the narrative arc. Find free Not entirely abstract, nor just an atmospheric exercise. Boykin is also a writer and filmmaker—there’s always a story there, but I’m not sure what that story is. I look forward to seeing this work again in the future as it finds its footing and settles in.
many angels
many angels It is the first work created for the dance company by world-renowned choreographer Lar Lubovich. The music is set to Gustav Mahler’s Adagietto. Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor Inspired by an impossible question posed by 13th-century theologian St. Thomas Aquinas: “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?”
The curtain rises against a backdrop of clouds, with light from the sky filtering through (designed by Lubovich), eliciting “oohs” and “aahs” from the audience. A carefully arranged pile of bodies in the center of the stage began to gently tumble, arms reaching upwards, before dividing into five dancers clad in light, transparent material (designed by Harriet Jung and Reid Bartelme), perfect for absorbing Clifton Taylor’s soft lighting. They use their curved arms and pointed feet to spin and glide around each other. They arched each other, lifted each other, and were lifted. It’s full of Michelangelo-esque moments.
It’s all cute – the music, the movements, the shapes – but cuteness can become monotonous, and just when it might, Yannick Lebrun lifts Jacqueline Harris onto his shoulders , her face lifted, her chest opened to the sky, everything stopped. The other dancers stepped back in awe, and now we all simultaneously realized—she It’s an angel! We have found the answer to Aquinas’ question, which is one. But then the dance resumes and they become ethereal again, almost floating away. So maybe there’s not just one answer, but many.
grace
The show concludes with Brown’s 25th anniversary piece gracecreated for the company in 1999.
While the troupe had the opportunity to showcase their impressive range through Boykin’s contemporary movement language and Lubovich’s balletic modern techniques, they seemed most relaxed. Brown’s blend of modern dance and West African idioms feels like home to the performers, while the upbeat music (a variety of songs including Duke Ellington’s “Come Sunday,” Roy Davis’ “Gabriel” and Fela Kuti’s afro-pop beats) are also much needed.
From the moment Constance Stamatio walked onto the bright blue stage and began her solo (a low, undulating benediction), we knew we were in for a spiritual experience. The party began when ten other dancers joined her in flowing red and white costumes (designed by Omotayo Wunmi Olaiya).
grace The closest thing to what Jamison calls “God” is something the audience can feel. The dancers danced their hearts out and ended up covered in sweat. Here, dance serves as an offering, as a celebration of life and death and everything in between.
During the well-deserved standing ovation, I thought, “What? cannot Do they do this? But after I left, I kept thinking about those women: the angels Allie had gathered that night—Green, Harris, Stamatio—and Jamison shone brightly in them.
