Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – AILEY returns to BAM with a spirituality-fueled bill, including a world premiere by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar

• By drediman
• June 6, 2025
• No Comments

This week, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has returned to the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House. For this relatively short late spring engagement (performances conclude this Sunday), the beloved dance company has assembled a program comprised of some of its most acclaimed and reliable crowd-pleasers, in addition to a world premiere. Taken together, the bill is of a whole, the overarching theme being transcendence through spirituality. Throughout, the dancing was on an exceptionally high level, with the current crop of dancers — currently, an ideal balance between exciting new talent and experienced veterans — doing well to exude the company’s trademark aesthetic, a thrilling combination of attitude, athleticism, and humanity.

The evening commenced with the world premiere — The Holy Blues by choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (Ailey’s incoming 2025 Artist in Residence, after having led Urban Bush Women for four decades), who created the piece in collaboration with Ailey company members Samantha Figgins and Chalvar Monteiro. Set to a collection of Black spirituals, the piece is an intoxicating depiction of a people in desperate search for salvation, which was initially manifested through sharply contrasting, hyperactive movements. But as the work unfolded, the choreography became more fluid (and the dancers increasingly scantily clad) — as if in correspondence to their attainment of spiritual fulfillment — culminating in a gorgeously organic concluding segment that was subsumed in unified tranquility. The Holy Blues is the kind of dance theater piece that Ailey excels in, and the first night cast imbued the piece with a palpable sense of community, all the while maintaining a keen sense of individualism; it was evident that each person onstage was on their own journey, as well.

The next two pieces were transcendence incarnate, starting with Elisa Monte’s Treading, a rigorous pas de deux that showcases strength and serene contemplation. Although created in 1979, there’s still something strikingly modern about the work (in part due to Steve Reich’s hypnotic score). The evening continued with Ronald K. Brown’s masterpiece Grace, an irresistibly rhythmic dance that boldly proclaims Black joy and identity. When I first saw the 25th anniversary production of this journey to the Promised Land at City Center in December, I was floored by its beauty and brashness, and I continue to be. Alvin Ailey’s Revelations is no stranger to transcendence through spirituality. In fact, the legendary episodic dance practically wrote the book on it. Happily, last night’s performance was danced with intent and a real sense of spirituality. Unsurprisingly, the opening night BAM audience responded with enthusiastic ovations.

RECOMMENDED

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER
Dance
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Approximately 2 hours (with one intermission)
Through June 8