Ailey’s holiday season engagement sizzles

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s 2022 holiday season engagement continues with the debut of an all-new program featuring season premieres and new productions, and three Ailey & Jazz performances featuring live music played by some of the most promising young instrumentalists in the jazz scene today.

Audiences were in for a treat on Friday, Dec. 16, when Ailey & Jazz showcases four ballets featuring live music by the rising stars of the Future of Jazz Orchestra, curated by Jazz at Lincoln Center. 

Made up of 15 outstanding jazz players ranging in age from 15-25, the talented musicians partnered with Ailey’s extraordinary dancers for three special performances over the weekend. 

Ailey & Jazz includes three of the 14 ballets Alvin Ailey created that celebrate the musical genius of Duke Ellington – Night Creature, Reflections in D, and Pas de Duke – along with Robert Battle’s exuberant For Four set to Wynton Marsalis’s delicious jazz score. 

One of Ailey’s most popular works, Night Creature is the perfect fusion of Ailey’s buoyant choreography and Ellington’s sparkling music. 

“Reflections in D is a strong yet serene solo which highlights the grace, artistry, and power of the male dancer,” Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater said. 

A modern dance translation of a classical pas de deux, it said Pas de Duke was created in 1976 honoring two of the most renowned dancers in the world, Judith Jamison and Mikhail Baryshnikov. 

“Robert Battle’s For Four takes four amazing dancers and adds Marsalis’ jazz score – written in 4/4 time – to capture the pent-up energy of a world cooped up during the pandemic,” Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater said.  

The theater’s electrifying engagement at New York City Center continues through Christmas Eve, making for a fun seasonal group outing and a fantastic holiday gift for loved ones. 

Each ticketholder can also receive a special gift from Ailey Extension’s “real classes for real people”, when they take advantage of the “Ticket to Dance” promotion by submitting their performance ticket for a free dance or fitness class of their choice before Feb. 28, 2023. 

Ailey Extension offers more than 40 classes a week online and in-studio at The Joan Weill Center for Dance – New York’s largest building dedicated to dance – in a wide variety of techniques including hip-hop, ballet, West African, Zumba®, Broadway Jazz, and Horton – the modern dance technique seen in many of Alvin Ailey’s works, including Revelations.

For more information, visit alvinailey.org.