The documentary film A Hymn for Alvin Ailey goes behind the scenes of Judith Jamison’s Hymn and gives you a look at Alvin Ailey’s life from the perspective of those who knew him best. Continue reading
No comments
Tag: modern dance
6/18/20 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Donald Byrd’s Greenwood- Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Greenwood, Donald Byrd‘s fifth Ailey commission draws on the Company’s theatrical roots and legacy of addressing social injustice. The work’s title references a 1921 tragedy that happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma’s segregated Greenwood District. At the time, it was one of the country’s most affluent African American communities, known as Black Wall Street.
Continue reading
6/7/20 O&A NYC LOCKDOWN CONCERT: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Chroma, Grace, Takademe, Revelations (2015)
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs a full live evening of dance. In this 2015 Lincoln Center at Home rebroadcast. the works presented include: Chroma by Wayne McGregor ‘Grace,’ Artistic Director Robert Battle’s ‘Takademe’ and the company’s signature work Revelations choreographed by company founder Alvin Ailey.
5/28/20 O&A NYC DANCE: Robert Battle’s The Hunt
The Ailey company first premiered The Hunt, one of Robert Battle’s most popular works, in 2010. Fueled by a thundering percussion soundtrack, the piece explores the relationship between modern sports and the rites of the gladiators. Continue reading
1/9/21 O&A NYC SUNDAY AFTERNOON JAZZ CONCERT: Alvin Ailey’s For ‘Bird’ – With Love (1984)- Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
A tribute to the great jazz musician Charlie “Bird” Parker, For ‘Bird’ – With Love brings the audience back to the relaxed atmosphere of an after-hours jam session at a local jazz club. Continue reading
4/17/20 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Judith Jamison- Josephslegende (The Legend of Joseph)
Josephslegende (The Legend of Joseph), Op. 63, is a ballet in one act for the Ballets Russes based on the story of Potiphar’s Wife, with a libretto by Hofmannsthal and Kessler and music by Richard Strauss. Composed in 1912–14, it premiered at the Paris Opera on 14 May 1914. Continue reading
11/20/21 O&A NYC SATURDAY MORNING CONCERT: Louis Johnson’s Forces of Rhythm (Excerpts) Dance Theatre Of Harlem
Louis Johnson’s ballet, Forces of Rhythm choreographed in 1971, became a signature piece for the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Company. Johnson blended ballet, jazz, modern and West African dance creating a unique movement collage, which distinguished the company’s versatility. Forces of Rhythm took place alongside the works of George Balanchine, Arthur Mitchell, Geoffrey Holder, and other choreographers for the fledging ballet company. Continue reading
10/30/21 O&A NYC SATURDAY MORNING CONCERT: Appalachian Spring
Appalachian Spring premiered on October 30th, 1944, at the Library of Congress, Coolidge Auditorium in Washington DC, with Martha Graham dancing the lead role. Created during the darkest days of War World II Graham wanted to create inspiring art that came out of the American experience. Graham spoke of the work, “To be great art… it must belong to the country in which it flourishes, not be a pale copy of some art form perfected by another culture and another people”. Continue reading
3/22/20 O&A NYC GOSPEL SUNDAY: Alvin Ailey’s Cry With Yolanda Adams and Jacqueline Green (Black Girls Rock 2018)
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater dancer and Baltimore School for the Arts alumna Jacqueline Green ’07 performs Ailey’s iconic solo Cry (1972). Continue reading
11/7/21 O&A NYC MORE GOSPEL SUNDAY: Mourner’s Bench- Talley Beatty Choreographer
Talley Beatty choreographed and performed Mourner’s Bench in 1947. It represents the anguish and loss for former slaves, now free men, killed during the Reconstruction Era at the beginning of the rise of the Klu Klux Klan. Beatty explained to me, “People were murdered by the Klan and at daybreak their relatives would find their bodies in the fields still covered in the morning dew.”
