Alvin Ailey Continues its 50th Anniversary Celebration

Lizzie Miller | Jun 09, 2009 | 0

Linda Celeste Sims of AAABT

Tonight I had the pleasure of seeing AAABT for the very first time, along with fellow Ailey virgin, Dancer publisher Joe Cote. The program at BAM consisted of choreography spanning 3 decades of Ailey's 50 year history. Throughout the program, titled 'Best of Ailey', the show itself got better as it went back in time.

The first piece, entitled 'Hymn' (1993), is in part a tribute to Ailey, in part a tribute to the company itelf, and to the black experience. While its hard not to be impressed by the altheletic Ailey dancers and their world-famous control, I found myself distracted by the recorded soliloquies of different dancers talking about Alvin Ailey over music. Maybe its just me, but I equate putting monologues in dance with writing words on paintings: its just too literal for my taste (and rather grating to listen to). That being said, the dancing was suburb, including the divine Mrs. Linda Celeste Sims, pictured above. The choreography is also such that it tells a non-literal story and builds tension by flooding the stage with dancers in military unison and then emptying again to a soloist or duet, and is far more engaging to me without the talking. Thoughts?

The second piece entitled 'Suite Otis' (1971) is a tribute to the late, great motown singer Otis Redding, whos soulfull crooning is an excellent match to the expressive and passionate Ailey dancers. This piece was just plain fun.

The final piece is the classic 'Revelations' (1960) choreographed by Ailey himself. While I had seen clips of parts of 'Revelations' before, sitting in the audience with people who clearly knew the piece well and applauded at every drawn out extension is a whole other experience. What is most amazing to me is how relevant the piece still feels even after nearly 50 years. Pieces like 'Take me to the Water' and 'Wade in the Water' seem almost like responses to Hurricaine Katrina, as their themes are fairly timeless in the realm of American History.

If you live in the NYC area and have never seen Ailey (or if you have and your a mega fan), now is a great time to do so as the BAM opera house is beautiful space, and AAAPT is performing there thru June 14th. You can get tickets here.

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Ballet, Modern, Enthusiast (all tags)