Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater reimagines Revelations at Wave Hill for sixtieth anniversary of company masterpiece (photo by Nicole Tintle)
ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER: CELEBRATING SIX DECADES OF REVELATIONS
December 2-31, free, donations encouraged
www.alvinailey.org
It’s not the holidays without our annual visit to City Center to take in a few performances of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s monthlong winter residency. But with the pandemic lockdown, the venue is closed, so the season, dubbed “Ailey Forward,” is going virtual. From December 2 to 31, AAADT will present nine livestreamed programs, each of which will be available for one week following its debut, centered on a celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of Revelations. Admission is free, although donations are encouraged to help support the company.
“Despite adversity, Ailey’s holiday tradition will move forward this December with virtual performances sharing characteristic warmth, spirit, and artistry,” artistic director Robert Battle said in a statement. “Offered as a source of inspiration and unity, Ailey’s groundbreaking season will share special programs celebrating six decades of Revelations, reinvent classic works by our beloved founder, and honor Glenn Allen Sims and Linda Celeste Sims, whose long and illustrious career exemplifies why the Ailey dancers are so applauded.”
The season includes world premieres by Jamar Roberts and the trio of Matthew Rushing, Clifton Brown, and Yusha-Marie Sorzano; newly filmed excerpts from classics; talks with Wynton Marsalis, Toshi Reagon, and others; thematic evenings on the topics of spirit and social justice; and a tribute to two of the company’s most beloved dancers, Glenn Allen Sims and Linda Celeste Sims, who have been together since the late 1990s and got married in 2001. Below is the complete schedule.
Wednesday, December 2, through December 9
Opening Night Virtual Benefit: “Revelations Reimagined,” with excerpts filmed at Wave Hill in the Bronx, followed by a dance party, free with RSVP, 7:30
Saturday, December 5, through December 12
Family Program: Ailey & Ellington / BattleTalk with Wynton Marsalis, featuring Ailey’s Night Creature (performed by Ailey Extension in the streets, with commentary by teacher Sarita Allen, whom Ailey gave the lead role), Reflections in D (new solo by Vernard Gilmore), and Pas de Duke, filmed at the Woolworth Tower Residences in the Woolworth Building, followed by a discussion with Wynton Marsalis and Robert Battle, 2:00
Monday, December 7, through December 14
Dancing Spirit, with Hope Boykin performing the “This Little Light of Mine” excerpt from Matthew Rushing’s 2014 Odetta, two Alvin Ailey students performing a new duet by student performance group rehearsal director Freddie Moore set to Toshi Reagon’s “The Sun Will Never Go Down,” followed by a discussion with Battle, Reverend Dr. Eboni Marshall Turman, and Reagon, 7:30
Wednesday, December 9, through December 16
Celebrating Glenn Allen Sims & Linda Celeste Sims, with premiere of new recording of central duet from Billy Wilson’s 1992 The Winter in Lisbon, excerpts of the married couple performing in Night Creature and Polish Pieces and “Fix Me, Jesus” from Revelations, Linda in a solo from Ailey’s 1979 Memoria, Glenn in the finale of Ailey’s 1972 Love Songs, and a discussion with Linda, Glenn, and Ronald K. Brown, 7:30
Friday, December 11, through December 18
Dancing for Social Justice / BattleTalk with Kyle Abraham, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar & Bryan Stevenson, featuring excerpts from Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s 1998 Shelter and Kyle Abraham’s 2016 Untitled America, followed by a discussion with Battle, Abraham, Zollar, and Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson, 7:30
Jacqueline Green and Yannick Lebrun perform Alvin Ailey’s Pas De Duke atop the Woolworth Building for winter season (photo courtesy of Ailey)
Monday, December 14, through December 21
World Premiere: A Jam Session for Troubling Times / BattleTalk with Jamar Roberts, featuring world premiere of Ailey dancer and resident choreographer Jamar Roberts’s A Jam Session for Troubling Times, filmed by Emily Kikta and Peter Walker, part of the global Bird100 centennial celebration of Charlie Parker, preceded by a discussion with Battle and Roberts, 7:30
Thursday, December 17, through December 24
World Premiere: Testament, a contemporary response to Revelations, by associate artistic director Matthew Rushing, company member and assistant to the rehearsal director Clifton Brown, and former company member Yusha-Marie Sorzano, featuring cinematography by Preston Miller and an original score by Damien Sneed, filmed at Wave Hill, followed by a discussion with Rushing, Brown, and Sorzano, 7:30
Saturday, December 19, through December 26
Family Program: Revelations, featuring a workshop of “Wade in the Water” and “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham” from Revelations and a company performance of the work, with a focus on the word unique, 2:00
Wednesday, December 23, through December 31
Decades of Revelations, featuring highlights from sixty years of performances of Revelations, 7:30