Alvin Ailey celebrates ‘Legacy in Motion’ Dec. 4 – Jan. 5

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The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) returns to the New York City Center for its annual five-week holiday engagement, Dec. 4–January 5. This season’s production, titled “Legacy in Motion,” celebrates the beloved Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison, who transitioned a few weeks ago, and reflects the spirit of the Alvin Ailey legacy with a mix of familiar masterpieces and exciting new works.

The season’s new works include world premieres of Ailey Interim Artistic Director Matthew Rushing’s “Sacred Songs,” Hope Boykin’s “Finding Free,” Lar Lubovitch’s “Many Angels,” and Jamar Roberts’s “Al-Andalus Blues.”

“Sacred Songs” is set to a reimagined mashup of music from the 1960 premiere of Ailey’s seminal “Revelations,” which was later omitted as it evolved into its current universally celebrated version. Inspired by the roots of that creation, Rushing resurrects and reimagines those spirituals with the collaboration of musical director Du’Bois A’Keen, as an offering to the present need for lamentation, faith, and joy. Live music accompanies performances on Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 22 at 2 p.m.

Former company member Boykin’s “Finding Free” explores personal freedoms in the world premiere of an insightful work that merges her movement-language with pianist Matthew Whitaker’s jazz- and gospel-influenced music to examine the challenges and restrictions that propel us forward throughout life’s peaks and valleys.

Lubovitch’s “Many Angels,” his first world premiere for AAADT, showcases his choreography and musicality, set to Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. A choreographer for 60 years, Lubovitch has frequently been asked “Why do you make dances?” For Lubovitch, “Something may exist in the world simply for the sake of itself. For example, a dance.”

“Many Angels,” he said, “is inspired by a question posed by 13th-century theologian St. Thomas Aquinas: ‘How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?,’ illustrating that some questions have no logical response but are understood as a question of faith. It is not really about angels. (Well, maybe a little).”

Also on the program is the 25th anniversary production of Ronald K. Brown’s “Grace,” which depicts individuals on a journey to the promised land, expanding from a single angel-like figure in white to the fireball intensity of 12 powerful dancers. Here, the secular and sacred meet in a tour-de-force connecting African and American dance.

Another favorite returning to the Ailey stage is Elisa Monte’s “Treading,” a sculptural, mesmerizing duet featuring fluid, intricate movements that combine with Steve Reich’s evocative music to create an aura of mystery and sensuality

Roberts, another former Ailey dancer, presents “Al-Andalus Blues,” inspired by Miles Davis’s “Sketches of Spain” and Roberta Flack’s haunting “Angelitos Negros.” It is “an abstract ensemble piece that journeys back in time to the golden age of Al-Andalus, evoking the northern African Moors who flourished in the south of present-day Spain prior to the Christian Reconquista,” Roberts said.

Rushing said recently that “this season, we celebrate the lineage and legacy of Mr. Ailey, highlighting his acclaimed works, as well as new ballets by choreographers for whom he paved the way.” He added that “dance is both a reflection of our past and a guide to our future.”

The Amsterdam News caught up with Roberts, who joined AAADT in 2002 and who has enjoyed a flourishing career since his first full-length work for the company, “Members Don’t Get Weary,” premiered at NY City Center in December 2016 to critical acclaim. Speaking of his love and gratitude for Jamison’s friendship and guidance, and the warm familial ties that bind the Ailey artists to one another and the organization, Roberts said, “Judi was like a fairy godmother. I’ve really taken everything that she’s said and everything that she’s done for me to heart to become what some think of as the prototypical Ailey dancer. I think she always tried to tell us all the stories of the great times that she had with Mr. Ailey and all of the wonderful ballets he created for her. I took that type of oral tradition very seriously and I am so grateful to her, every single day. In fact, when you say ‘the AAADT,’ it’s more than just the organization — it’s the people — it’s Judi, Chaya, Matthew, Sylvia, everybody. It’s all those people who made that place feel like home.”

The season kicks off with a one-night-only Opening Night Gala honoring dance educator Jody Gottfried Arnhold and showcasing the 25th anniversary of “Grace.” It will include a performance by Tony- and GRAMMY Award-winning artist Leslie Odom, Jr. with composer, visual artist, and GRAMMY Award-winning vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant in a program hosted by Honorary Chairs Gayle King, co-host of “CBS Mornings” and editor-at-large of Oprah Daily, and Phylicia Rashad, two-time Tony Award-winning actress.

The engagement also includes All New, All Ailey, and Ailey Classic programs, as well as Family Matinee performances each Saturday at 2 p.m., followed by Q&A sessions with Ailey’s dancers.

The Ailey Classics program highlights a selection of repertory spanning the breadth of Ailey’s catalog, including excerpts from “Memoria,” “Night Creature (sections 2 and 3), “Pas de Duke” (first song), “Masekela Langage” (Morolo), “Opus McShann” (“Gee Baby” and “Doo Wah”), “Love Songs (A Song for You),” “For ‘Bird’ — With Love (“Bird Lives” and “A Night in Tunisia”),” and “Hidden Rites (of Love).” The season finale on Jan. 5 is a special program celebrating Alvin Ailey on his birthday.

Joining AAADT this season are Leonardo Brito, Jesse Obremski, Kali Marie Oliver, and Dandara Veiga. All of the new company members have strong Ailey backgrounds as Ailey II alumni (Brito, Oliver), students from the Ailey School (Brito, Obremski, Oliver, Veiga), or graduates of the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program (Oliver). Jessica Amber Pinkett, a former member of Ailey II and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, also has returned to the company. Maria Bauman is this year’s Ailey Artist in Residence, in the second year of the program that invests in and partners with choreographers who reflect Ailey’s cultural inquiry, participatory values, and worldview of curiosity.

The new AAADT season promises to be a celebration of a rich legacy even as it looks to the future.

For more info and or tickets, visit www.ailey.org/performances.