New York City Center Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Review

Your heart quickens when you watch Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform its most classic work—Revelations. Most of their December City Center performances— about 3/4— end with this finale. Even if you’ve only seen this work one time before, the dancer walking in Judith Jamison’s dance shoes, wearing a sweeping white dress, arching her back as she crosses the stage under a matching umbrella, pops electrically from your memory banks. Then, after what becomes the first round of bows, we are treated to an encore of fans flashing with the spiritual energy of a Hallelujah-permeated Sunday morning at church.

Exhilarating! If there is one flaw in the performance, it is that we don’t get to see and applaud the spirited and superb Gospel Choir that provides live accompaniment. Having seen this work many times but always with canned sound, this reviewer craved a look-see.

A Month at City Center Lets Alvin Ailey Mix It Up

For devotees of Alvin Ailey the evening’s mix of works was notable.

Making her entrance in a billowing parachute-like blue silk skirt aloft several dancers underneath, Coral Dolphin IS a goddess. She is the driver of the action in this story ballet adaptation of a Caribbean folk tale, titled Jazz Island. Like any story ballet we see for the first time, we follow the broad outlines of this dance created by Maija Garcia, if perhaps missing a detail here or there. You too might find it especially easy to follow whenever dancers Samantha Figgins or Leonardo Brito take the spotlight. Figgins is the protective grandmother trying to find a best suitor for her granddaughter Bashiba (Jessica Amber Pinkett) who wants none of it, and Brito is a cartoon come to life of an evil villain, the master of the dead, wreaking havoc for all in his path.

Next—Following the Subtle Current Upstream choreographed by Alonzo King ventures far afield into the Bhagavad Gita. Rich with wide arm and leg sweeps, fluid splits, and fleeting pas de deux pairings that especially captivate, King’s work is as varied as its score ranging from Indian Classical (Zakir Hussain) to electronic sounds (Miguel Frasconi) to the inimitable and compelling songstress Miriam Makeba. Punctuating these shifting moods, costume designer Robert Rossenwasser puts an upturned tutu here and a simple black leotard there, especially a standout when Yannick Lebrun seems to morph his body into one Hindi letter after another.

If you too are well-steeped in the sad story of Donny Hathaway’s too-short life, hearing his voice accompaniment to the Ailey-choreographed A Song For You is heart piercing. Here, dancer Renaldo Maurice gives the song its due in his solo performance and as just the salad chaser needed before the joy explosion that is Revelations.

The crowd for Alvin Ailey Dance Theater included tourists and many who seem like Alvin Ailey frequent flyers. It is no wonder that they fill the City Center hall for an entire month.