‘Legacy in Motion’

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT), New York City Center’s principal dance company and America’s cultural ambassador to the world, returns to the New York City Center stage for its annual, five-week holiday engagement.

AAADT said on Monday that the Dec. 4 – Jan. 5 engagement celebrates “Legacy in Motion.”

Featuring the world premieres of Sacred Songs by Interim Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, Finding Free by Hope Boykin, Many Angels by Lar Lubovitch, and Al-Andalus Blues by Jamar Roberts, the season also includes the 25th anniversary staging of Ronald K. Brown’s rapturous blockbuster Grace and a new production of Elisa Monte’s mesmerizing Treading.

AAADT said live music will be presented at select performances of Finding Free, Sacred Songs, and Alvin Ailey’s soul-stirring masterpiece Revelations.

“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,” Rushing said. “As I look at the repertory for our season, I am reminded that dance is both a reflection of our past and a guide to our future.

“We are excited to welcome audiences this holiday season to be inspired by Ailey’s extraordinary artistry and rich story, as it continues to be written,” he added.

AAADT said performances kick off with a one-night-only Opening Night Gala honoring legendary dance educator Jody Gottfried Arnhold.

The special program will showcase the 25th anniversary production of Ronald K. Brown’s spellbinding Grace with a special live music performance by Tony® and GRAMMY® Award-winning artist Leslie Odom, Jr.

Set to Duke Ellington’s classic “Come Sunday,” Peven Everett’s hit “Gabriel,” and the irresistible pulse of Fela Kuti’s Afro-Pop, Grace 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.

AAADT said the evening will conclude with Ailey’s indelible Revelations, accompanied by a live choir.

Sacred Songs, the world premiere by Rushing, features music used in the original 1960 premiere of Alvin Ailey’s seminal Revelations but later omitted when the piece was edited into the current version that has captivated audiences for decades.

“Drawing inspiration from the roots of Ailey’s most venerated and consummate creation, this stirring new work will resurrect and reimagine those spirituals—with the collaboration of musical director Du’Bois A’Keen—as an offering to our present need for lamentation, faith, and joy,” AAADT said.

It said live music accompanies performances on Dec. 20 at 7pm and Dec. 22 at 2pm.

Former Ailey dancer Jamar Roberts presents Al-Andalus Blues, with music from Roberta Flack and Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain setting the tone for a world premiere commissioned by New York City Center.

AAADT said the abstract ensemble piece 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.

Former company member Hope Boykin returns to explore personal freedoms in the world premiere Finding Free, in collaboration with pianist Matthew Whitaker who is composing an original score.

AAADT said this insightful work uses Boykin’s movement-language and Whitaker’s jazz and gospel influenced music to examine the challenges and restrictions throughout life’s peaks and valleys that propel the journey forward. Matthew Whitaker will perform live onstage on Dec. 13 at 7:30pm and December 14 at 7:30pm.

Many Angels, the first world premiere for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater by Lar Lubovitch, features the choreographer’s renowned lush choreography and musicality set to Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.

A choreographer for 60 years, AAADT said 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.”

Amy Hall Garner rehearsing CENTURY with AAADT’s Hannah Richardson. Photo by Danica Paulos

AAADT said Many Angels 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).

In addition to Grace, 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.

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

The beloved Ailey Classics program highlights a selection of repertory spanning the breadth of Ailey’s rich catalog, including excerpts of Memoria, Night Creature (sections 2&3), Pas de Duke (1st song), Masekela Langage (Morolo), Opus McShann (Gee Baby), Opus McShann (Doo Wah), Love Songs (A Song for You), For ‘Bird’ – With Love (A Night in Tunisia), Hidden Rites (Of Love), For ‘Bird’ – With Love (Bird Lives).

The season finale on Jan. 5 is a special program celebrating Alvin Ailey on his birthday.

Joining Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater this season are Leonardo Brito, Jesse Obremski, Kali Marie Oliver, and Dandara Veiga.

AAADT said all the new company members have strong Ailey backgrounds, as Ailey II alumni (Brito, Oliver), students from The Ailey School (Brito, Obremski, Oliver, Veiga), or as a graduate of The Ailey/Fordham BFA Program (Oliver). Jessica Amber Pinkett, a former member of Ailey II and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, also has returned to the Company.

AAADT said welcomes Maria Bauman as this year’s Ailey Artist in Residence in the second year of the program that invests in and partners with choreographers who reflect Alvin Ailey’s cultural inquiry, participatory values, and worldview rich with vast curiosity.

As Artist in Residence, AADT said Bauman is collaborating with multiple aspects of the organization in advance of next year’s residency by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar.

During the 2024-25 Season, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will return to Paris, France for performances at Palais des Congrès de Paris, Oct. 18–26.

The company’s extensive annual national tour will reach coast-to-coast from January through May 2025. A tour schedule is below (subject to change).

In addition to Ailey’s New York City Center season, major fall programming includes Edges of Ailey—opening at the Whitney Museum (99 Gansevoort St., New York, NY 10014) on Sept. 25 — the first large-scale museum exhibition to celebrate the life, creativity, influence, and enduring legacy of Alvin Ailey.