Fjord - Hymn to an Uncommon Man
OG Anunoby’s fingertip putback of Jalen Brunson’s Hail Mary three-pointer. Jordan Staal’s diving sniper goal. It’s playoff season, a time of year dominated by unbelievable, high-stakes athleticism across several sports (see also the French Open, the FIFA World Cup). It can be a hard time, consequently, for regular dance programming. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s quick summer season at the Brooklyn Academy of Music could compete with any sport finals in terms of physical prowess, but the stakes only felt high in one of the three pieces on offer. Luckily, that work was powerful enough to carry the load. That impactful dance was Judith Jamison’s “Hymn,” revived for the first time in 15 years. Generally, when ballets take extended naps in the repertory vault, there is a reason. Not in this case. Though “Hymn” certainly reflects its 1993 birth date—it is very much “Revelations” filtered through an early ’90s night club—it also feels timeless. Early reviewers said as much. In 1993, Clive Barnes wrote in the NY Post that “Hymn…emerges as the most thrilling piece of dance theatre I have seen all year…Beautifully performed, with power, reverence and love.” And in 1996, Jennifer Dunning wrote in the New York Times that “Hymn” was “an eloquent evocation of Ailey that is on its way to being another classic.”
