For more than three decades, taking in a performance by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater meant not only experienceing some of the best of the art form, but also seeing the work of one dancer: Renee Robinson. Now, she is taking her final bows.
As a girl, Washington native Renee Robinson, one of the most storied members of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for over three decades, remembers traveling all over the city.
A conversation with Judith Jamison, director emerita of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and winner of the 2013 APAP Award of Merit, is not like taking a walk through American dance history. It is the walk through American dance History.
With great fanfare, Renee Robinson, a radiant dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, celebrated her final season with the company in December. It seemed that she was the toast of New York - there were farewell concerts, tributes and a prestigious Dance Magazine award.
Even if you haven't been to an Alvin Ailey performance, chances are you've seen Alicia Graf Mack: Her photos, with one leg reaaching skyward, is plastered on posters all over the city.
Variety is the spice of Ailey. As artistic director Robert Battle winds up his second season, he continues to broaden the repertory - making for programming where the choroegraphy is (almost) as good as the dancing.
Last Saturday, I saw a stunning Alvin Ailey evening of pieces like "Streams," "The Evolution Of A Secured Feminine," and "Urban Folk Dance." The night ended with "Minus 16," a jagged, exciting ensemble piece, performed in business suits and hats, with choreography by Ohad Naharin.
If you haven't seen a performance by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in a while, you might forget just how accomplished the company's dancers are. You know they can do anything, but the cisible evidence can leave you reeling.
The members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater aren't interchangeable, but some rise to the top faster than others. The elegant Jacqueline Green is everywhere this season, dancing lead roles in Kyle Abraham's "Another Night" and Jiri Kylian's "Petite Mort" as well as - and even she can hardly believe this - carrying the umbrella in the "Wade in the Water" section of Alvin Ailey's 1960 masterpiece "Revelations."
A shaman casts a spell in "From Before," the legendary dance by choroegapher Garth Fagan, which Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has revived this season at NY City Center.