I think I first saw Ronald K. Brown’s Grace twenty years ago when it was brand new and performed by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company. Last week I saw it again, when it opened the 2019 SummerScape Festival at Bard College, this time performed by the choreographer’s own group: Ronald K. Brown/Evidence: A Dance Company. The work itself hasn’t changed much, but the context has. This year’s … [Read more...]
Serious Subjects, Powerful Dancing
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Lincoln Center season (6/8-19) What’s going on here? I exit onto the Lincoln Center Plaza after watching “21st Century Voices” one of the five programs that make up the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s season at the former New York State Theater. Although I’ve seen plenty of spiritual aspiration and yearning toward the light, I haven’t noticed many … [Read more...]
Moving Toward the Light
Ronald K.Brown celebrates at the Joyce Theater the 30th anniversary of his Evidence: A Dance Company. Sometimes I think of choreographer Ronald K. Brown, the artistic director of Evidence: A Dance Company, as akin to a spiritually inspired basket maker, weaving beautiful strands of dancing together with time-honed skill. These strands mesh in patterns formed by eight passionate, spirited … [Read more...]
Getting Down With Ailey
Imagine a night at City Center watching the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater when the spectators cheer at the curtain calls and applaud certain stunning dancers or sections of a dance, but don’t whoop and holler in the middle of a serious (even reverent) passage. Imagine an evening in which electric high jumps, long balances, and legs kicking the sky are worked into the choreographic fabric and … [Read more...]