Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Performs Company Premiere of Strange Humors with New Artistic Director Robert Battle, Jan. 30 - Feb. 1
JANUARY 8, 2013
…[exemplifies] the remarkable variety of American dance…thrives on eclecticism – New York Times
Tickets now on sale!
Artistic director Robert Battle makes his Philadelphia debut leading “Culture Ambassador to the World” Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in the Merriam Theater on Wednesday-Friday, January 30-February 1, times vary. Program highlights vary according to performance night including the company premiere of Robert Battle’s Strange Humors and Takademe, Philly native hip hop choreographer Rennie Harris’ Home; Choreographers Paul Taylor’s Arden Court; Garth Fagan’s From Before; Ronald K. Brown’s Grace, and Alvin Ailey’s timeless classic, Revelations.
Program highlights on Wed., Jan. 30 and Friday, Feb. 1 include: Paul Taylor’s Arden Court, a piece significant to Battle that stirred him to describe Taylor as a choreographer who “…has the language of a great poet in his dances.” The program continues with Battle’s Takademe, the Indian Kathak dance inspired piece with percussive, high-flying dance elements, which Battle first choreographed the in his tiny Queens, N.Y. living room while still a member of the Parsons Dance Company. Home, a bold hip-hop piece puts the spotlight on Philly native choreographer Rennie Harris; inspired by the stories of people living with and affected by HIV, Home first premiered on December 1, 2011, World Aids Day, a poignant memory for the Ailey organization as it is the same date founder Alvin Ailey died from the disease in 1989. The program closes with Ailey’s signature masterpiece, Revelations, which pays homage to and reflects the cultural heritage of the African-American experience.
The program for Thursday, Jan. 31 showcases choreographer Ronald K. Brown’s Grace, a spellbinding piece depicting individuals on a journey to the promised land that The New York Times describes as, “astounding, something to be sensed as well as seen.” Jamaican-born choreographer Garth Fagan (Tony Award winner for The Lion King) echoes his West Indian tradition in From Before, with a rhythmic, uplifting score composed by Trinidadian Grammy winner Ralph McDonald. In this ensemble work, undulating torsos move independently of gyrating hips, juxtaposed against fiery solos. Robert Battle’s company premiere of Strange Humors, showcases an eccentric, jocular display of two dancers performing to a fiery score by Composer John Mackey that includes elements of African hand drumming and Middle Eastern folk music. The performance closes with Ailey’s widely-popular and beloved cultural treasure, Revelations.
Tickets for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater are $39 to $75 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-790-5883.
Choreographer Robert Battle succeeded Judith Jamison as Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater after her departure on July 1, 2011. In announcing her selection, Ms. Jamison said that “choosing Robert Battle is the giant leap I want to take to ensure that this company stays vibrant in the future.” The Julliard alum has already had a long association with the Ailey organization, as a choreographer and an artist-in-residence. The fast-rising choreographer has created 11 ballets for the Ailey organization since 1999. His journey to the top of the modern dance world began in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami, Florida. Battle showed artistic talent early and studied dance at a high school arts magnet program before moving on to Miami’s New World School of the Arts, under the direction of Daniel Lewis and Gerri Houlihan, and finally to the dance program at The Juilliard School, under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy, where he met his mentor, Carolyn Adams.
Battle danced with the Parsons Dance Company from 1994 to 2001, and also set his choreography on that company starting in 1998. He then founded his own Battleworks Dance Company, which made its premiere in 2002 in Düsseldorf, Germany as the U.S. representative to the World Dance Alliance's Global Assembly. Battleworks subsequently performed extensively at venues including The Joyce Theater, Dance Theater Workshop, American Dance Festival, and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Battle was honored as one of the “Masters of African-American Choreography” by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2005, and he received the prestigious Statue Award from the Princess Grace Foundation-USA in 2007. He is a sought-after keynote speaker and has addressed a number of high profile organizations including the United Nations Leaders Programme and the UNICEF Senior Leadership Development Programme.
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has earned a reputation as one of the most acclaimed international ambassadors of American modern dance traditions. The company, founded by Alvin Ailey in New York in 1958, has gone on to perform for an estimated 21 million people in 48 states, and 71 countries on six continents, including two historic residences in South Africa. In addition to presenting important works from the past and newly commissioned works by emerging choreographers, the company continues to perform several of Ailey’s 79 ballets, including Revelations, Night Creature and Cry. In all, the company has performed more than 200 works by over 70 choreographers, including Ulysses Dove, Karole Armitage, Uri Sands, and most recently, Twyla Tharp. The Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, the umbrella organization that supports the company, also incorporates the company’s official school, which trains 3,000 students a year from 21 countries; a long-established junior troupe, Ailey II; and dance camps in seven American cities.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, January 31, 2013, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, February 1, 2013, 8 p.m.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Merriam Theater
Robert Battle, Artistic Director
Masazumi Chaya, Associate Artistic Director
Program for Wed, Jan 30 & Fri, Feb 1
PAUL TAYLOR: Arden Court
ROBERT BATTLE: Takademe
RENNIE HARRIS: Home
ALVIN AILEY: Revelations
Program for Thu, Jan 31
RONALD K. BROWN: Grace
GARTH FAGAN: From Before
ROBERT BATTLE: Strange Humors (Company Premiere)
ALVIN AILEY: Revelations
Kimmel Center, Inc., a charitable, not-for-profit organization, owns, manages, supports and maintains The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which includes Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, Innovation Studio and the Merck Arts Education Center. Kimmel Center, Inc. also manages the Academy of Music, owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, and the University of the Arts Merriam Theater. Kimmel Center, Inc.’s mission is to operate a world class performing arts center that engages and serves a broad audience which includes providing arts in education, community outreach and a rich diversity of programming. For additional information, visit kimmelcenter.org.
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