Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s artistry is reaching new heights from the top of the landmark Woolworth building in a breathtaking film that is a love letter to New York City as we rise, renew, and recover together, still dancing.
Ailey joined forces with the newly transformed Woolworth Tower Residences to celebrate the resilience of New York in a thrilling reimagining of Alvin Ailey’s Pas de Duke that will premiere during the free Ailey Forward virtual holiday season December 2-31.
Don’t miss the December 5th premiere of this remarkable update of Pas de Duke, created for dance legends Judith Jamison and Mikhail Baryshnikov, as part of an Ailey & Ellington program paying tribute to the genius of American composer Duke Ellington.
A visually striking location for the celebration of America’s two great art forms – modern dance and jazz music – The Woolworth Building is an architectural gem that was officially inaugurated on April 24, 1913, when President Woodrow Wilson flipped a switch in the White House to illuminate what was then the world’s tallest structure.
Ailey’s virtual engagement will further a cherished legacy of uplifting and uniting audiences across the globe from December 2 – December 31, featuring world premieres of Testament, a tribute to Alvin Ailey’s Revelations follows a community of people turning pain into power and lament into hope by Associate Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, in partnership with Company member and Assistant to the Rehearsal Director Clifton Brown and former Company member Yusha-Marie Sorzano, and Jamar Roberts’s A Jam Session for Troubling Times, marking the centennial of jazz revolutionary Charlie “Bird” Parker.
A variety of other unique offerings extend throughout the holidays, including Family Programs for Revelations and Ailey & Ellington; a celebration of acclaimed dancers Glenn Allen Sims and Linda Celeste Sims with a farewell tribute performance; and Artistic Director Robert Battle moderating a series of BattleTalk conversations with Ailey artists and special guests like Wynton Marsalis, Toshi Reagon, Bryan Stevenson, and Rev. Dr. Eboni Marshall Turman. All events will be free to enjoy on the website or on YouTube and Facebook, with no registration required: www.alvinailey.org/performances-tickets/virtual-winter-season
Season features include:
• A celebration of the 60th anniversary of Alvin Ailey’s Revelations including “RevelationsReimagined” during our Opening Night Virtual Benefit on December 2.
• Family-friendly programs, including one focused on Revelations where you’ll learn choreography from Alvin Ailey’s beloved masterpiece, and another where Robert Battle and Wynton Marsalis explore Mr. Ailey’s collaboration with Duke Ellington, plus performance highlights from Ailey’s ballets with Ellington music.
• Talks with Artistic Director Robert Battle and special guests.
• A farewell performance honoring longtime Company members Glenn Allen Sims and Linda Celeste Sims, featuring a newly-filmed excerpt from Billy Wilson’s The Winter in Lisbon.
• The world premiere of A Jam Session for Troubling Times by Company member and Resident Choreographer Jamar Roberts. Set to the music of jazz saxophonist and composer Charlie “Bird” Parker, this work uses the energy, nuance, and virtuosity of the ‘bebop’ sound as a vehicle to lift our spirits and demonstrate that we are stronger than our circumstances.
• The world premiere of Testament by Associate Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, Company member and Assistant to the Rehearsal Director Clifton Brown, and former Company member Yusha-Marie Sorzano. Weaving together deep personal experiences and an original score by composer Damien Sneed, Testament is a tribute to Alvin Ailey’s Revelations that follows a community of people turning pain into power and lament into hope.
• “Decades of Revelations”, with excerpts captured over the last 60 years on film and video. Many of these highlights have been unseen by the public for decades.
Photo by Andrew Eccles/Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
VIVIANE FAVER
Journalist
vfaver@gmail.com