Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) returns to BAM June 4-9 with two programs: Program A, “Contemporary Visions,” features work by modern dance choreographers Alonzo King, Jamar Roberts, and Hans van Manen; while Program B, titled “All Ailey,” features work by Alvin Ailey. Roberts’ “Ode” (2019; new production 2023) offers a meditation on the beauty and fragility of life in a time of growing gun violence and features a score by the jazz pianist Don Pullen. Dutch-born van Manen divides his “Solo” (1997; new production 2023) among three dancers filled with virtuosity and corresponding wit. And King’s abstract “Following the Subtle Current Upstream” (2000; new production 2023), steeped in meaningful solos and different groupings, is matched to an eclectic score by Zakir Hussain, Miguel Frasconi, and Miriam Makeba. Roberts and King responded to questions about their works exclusively for the AmNews.
AmNews: Was anything different about remounting these works?
Roberts: The cast of female dancers changed over time. Some were in the original cast, and some of the new cast members had never performed my work. So, the biggest difference was the feeling of having to reintroduce myself and my work.
King: It takes time to build a group into the idea of one united goal, and the ways that finally emerge are always different and great dancing takes time. What remains the same is the required genius, courage, selflessness, and creative play that must arise for ballets to be born and live. Trust and safety have to be established so that risk taking can occur. One or two dancers may be on fire in the beginning which assists in building a communal conflagration. And this is exactly the point of all the work; to uncover the illumination that dispels darkness.
AmNews: As your second work for AAADT in 2019 while you were a member of the company and the first resident choreographer, Ode garnered critical acclaim. Now, six years later as a freelance choreographer and a former company member, how do you look at the work?
Roberts: To see Ode on stage again makes me feel extremely proud. I think it’s one of the best works that I’ve created thus far. I remember feeling very apprehensive that I wasn’t going to “meet the mark” because the subject was so heavy, and I wasn’t sure if I had the skill to bring to life what I felt in my heart. But seeing it again so many years later I find the piece to be quite masterful, mainly for its simplicity, complexity, poignancy, and that it was made in service to others. Ode does the thing that great art is supposed to do.
AmNews: Following… has had a glowing and “ageless” career since the request in 2001 from Judith Jamison (AAADT’s artistic director emerita), to “have the dancers move differently.” Do you think you succeeded?
King: Judith Jamison and I met at a convention where we were both speaking. We were sitting across from each other and had what felt like an auspicious connection. I had tremendous admiration for her stage presence, the way she moved was an embodied miracle that continues to inspire me to this day. She asked me to create a work on Ailey without ever having seen my choreography. When we began Following… it was a new way of moving for everyone. The chosen members of the company were totally committed and incredible dancers. It was important to me at the time that the work have longevity, and I am happy that it maintains its freshness today and works as a growing ground for young artists.
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AmNews: Have either of you chatted with the dancers about the BAM debut of these works?
Roberts: No, but they have performed the work many times on tour leading up to the BAM performances. What we have spoken about is what it’s been like for them to tour a piece like this across the country, and what it has meant to them. Their responses were sincere, total commitment to the work, and to each other. I got the sense that amidst the grind of being on the road, and having to constantly make sure they are well taken care of, Ode was a space of great care as well, and I am immensely grateful to each one of them.
King: I did not but would have liked to as there is warmness between us, but often the machinery of product and deadline can be brutal, so time is always a luxury. What I do know is that the ballet masters and the dancers themselves have the highest standards and are committed to radiance whenever they perform.
AmNews: Ode opens Program A, and you described it as a poetic tribute to the victims of gun violence in America. What were you thinking this time around?
Roberts: I was thinking a lot about loss. About Sanda Bland, Philando Castille, Eric Garner, the Parkland School shooting, and how incessant it all felt at the time. And I knew that the grief of their families was undoubtedly so much greater than my own. Creating Ode was the least that I could do.
AmNews: Following… closes Program A and centers on joy. In making Following… you’ve said, “All of our choices, poor or wise, are based on the achievement of that one goal…joy.” What drives the joy in Following…?
King: Paramahansa Yogananda, the author of Autobiography of a Yogi, reminds us that there is no complete fulfillment in this world from external things. It is impossible for matter to satisfy spirit. One thing that all the world holds in common is that we want to avoid pain and suffering and find some kind of ever new joy that never goes stale. Joy is our true nature. To rediscover that joy is why we are here on planet earth. The trials and difficult lessons in this exacting world school aren’t meant to destroy us, but to aid us by being the next steps in our unfoldment. Life on planet earth is the penultimate game of hide and seek to reclaim our divinity. It is why all of us are born; to get back to God, which is the only true fulfillment.
AmNews: I’m picturing a crowd of Brooklyn-ites surrounding both of you with questions. What answers do you hope they will get after seeing your work?
Roberts: Whether it be through watching Ode, or any other work that dares to reflect back to us, to our common humanity, my wish is always for audiences to be moved and to feel the power of dance beyond mere entertainment.
King: I would like them to see that we are all immortals, and to reflect that we are made in the image of God. That liberty and the pursuit of freedom did not begin with America’s founding fathers but is the primordial aim of all creation. Program B – “All Ailey,” includes Memoria (1979), A Song For You (1972), Cry (1971) and the iconic Revelations (1960) by Alvin Ailey. For more info, visit www.bam.org. Follow Alvin Ailey online at:
https://www.facebook.com/AlvinAileyAmericanDanceTheater/; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg9o2fgvhIPlow5gi0sc-1w; and https://www.instagram.com/alvinailey/.