Timely and timeless

For Four by Robert Battle

Take four amazing Ailey dancers and add in Wynton Marsalis’ delicious jazz score – written in 4/4 time – and you’ll understand why Robert Battle cheekily titled this exuberant short work For Four. Capturing the pent-up energy of a world cooped up during the pandemic, Battle expresses the drive to perform and the electricity of dancers coming together to create.

Unfold by Robert Battle

Artistic Director Robert Battle’s sensuous, swirling duet evokes the tenderness and ecstasy in Gustave Charpentier’s aria. With its fluid grace, this gem exemplifies the choreographer’s skill for nuanced gesture and vivid imagery.

Are You in Your Feelings? by Kyle Abraham

Acclaimed choreographer Kyle Abraham’s newest work is a celebration of Black culture, Black music, and the youthful spirit that perseveres in us all. Scored to a “mixtape” of soul, hip-hop, and R&B, it highlights the bridge between music, communication, and personal memory.

Revelations by Alvin Ailey

Using African American spirituals, song-sermons, gospel songs and holy blues, Alvin Ailey’s Revelations fervently explores the places of deepest grief and holiest joy in the soul. Ailey described the memories that inspired Revelations as “blood memories” because they were so strong, he felt they were part of him as much as the blood that ran through his veins.

More than just a popular dance work, it has become a cultural treasure, beloved by generations of fans. Seeing Revelations for the first time or the hundredth can be a transcendent experience, with audiences cheering, singing along and dancing in their seats from the opening notes of the plaintive “I Been ’Buked” to the rousing “Wade in the Water” and the triumphant finale, “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham.” It is no surprise that it is the most widely seen modern dance work in the world.

See the full Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Programme

Kindly supported by Blavatnik Family Foundation.