New beginnings often contain built-in excitement, but there was an extra note of promise in the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's program Tuesday night at the Kennedy Center Opera House.
William C. Rhoden discusses dance as an athletic endeavor with Alicia graf Mack, a dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
One of Robert Battle's first dance memories involves moving to the song That's Entertainment. Little did he know how prophetic that title was.
Sizzling physicality and technical prowess have always been attractive hallmarks of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, but when the New York-based company returns Thursday to the Sony Centre you may be surprised by what's changed since its last visit in 2008.
Dance seems to have always been a part of Judith Jamison's road in life. Growing up, she trained early in dance and music and attended the Philadelphia Dance Academy. In 1964, she started performing with the American Ballet Theatre.
When Alicia Graf Mack left Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 2008, it seemed that her dancing career was finished - among other things, she suffers from an autoimmune disorder classified as reactive arthritis, which, at the time, led to swelling and pain in her joints.
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's second program in the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Theatre featured classics from the company's repertoire. The program began with "Streams," a work choreographed in 1970 by Ailey and restaged by associate artistic director Masazumi Chaya.
Both City Center and its chief tenant, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, show new faces this season. Many New Yorkers live in tiny spaces, giving us a special appreciation for the grand lobbies and vaulted ceilings of the city's great theaters.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has signed its first multi-year agreement with City Center, according to officials of the two companies who were scheduled to announce that arrangement on Tuesday.
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has performed at New York City Center since 1971, but the arrangement has not been formalized until now: Both parties will announce Tuesday that the troupe will become the venue's Principal Dance Company and will continue to perform its five-week winter season at City Center for the next 10 years.