photo: paul kolnik
We’re spoiled rotten! Springtime at the Los Angeles Music Center brings an annual visit of our resident dance company, no less than Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. “Gorgeous,” “stellar” and body-beautiful” does not begin to describe the dancers of this historically important dance company, a beacon of Black excellence and pride. (Parenthetically, AAADT has always been a mixed-race dance company.)
This year, the company presents two different programs. Go shopping here, and good luck making your decision!
- Program A includes the L.A. premieres of Sacred Songs (2024), choreographed by Los Angeles native Matthew Rushing; Many Angels (2024), choreographed by Lar Lubovitch; and a restaging of Treading (1979), choreographed by Elisa Monte; Revelations (1960) choreographed by Alvin Ailey.
- Program B includes a new production of Ailey favorites: Grace (1999), choreographed by Ronald K. Brown; Ailey Excerpts, choreographed by Alvin Ailey, comprised of excerpts from Pas De Duke (1976), Masekela Langage (1969), Opus McShann (1988), Love Songs (1972) and For ‘Bird’ – With Love (1984); Cry (1971); Revelations (1960) choreographed by Alvin Ailey.
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photo: paul kolnik
In May 2023, The Music Center, represented by CEO Rachel Moore, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater jointly announced the company’s commitment to perform in an exclusive Southern California residency for four consecutive years at The Music Center’s iconic Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, beginning with the 2023–2024 season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center. The multi-year residency is the first of its kind in The Music Center’s 61-year history.
“This season we celebrate the lineage and legacy of Alvin Ailey (1931-1989) and Judith Jamison (1943-2024), who paved the way for the extraordinary artistry of today’s choreographers and dancers,” said Interim Artistic Director Matthew Rushing. “As I return to my hometown with the Company for inspiring performances, I reflect on my unexpected journey since seeing Ailey for the first time as a student in Los Angeles – the same city where a young Alvin Ailey discovered the life-changing power of dance.”
I like both programs, to tell the truth. The jazz content of program “B” attracts me, with scores by Duke Ellington, Hugh Masakela, and Charlie Parker. But neither would we miss a world premiere by Lar Lubovitch set to the music of Mahler and Matthew Rushing’s work, which in photos has a quintessential Ailey look, and is staged to music Ailey used in his original “Revelations” before it was trimmed to its current length.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater | Los Angeles Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion | Apr 2 – 6
