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The Ailey School
(Ailey School Website)
School of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
www.alvinailey.org
Presents:
January Explosion 2010
Featuring Students of The Ailey School
At
The Ailey Citigroup Theater
Denise Jefferson, Director
Alvin Ailey – Founder
Judith Jamison – Artistic Director
Christopher Zunner, Public Relations Director
Emily Hawkins, Public Relations Associate
Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
January 12, 2010
(See Other Ailey Reviews and Photos)
(See a Book about an Ailey School Dancer)
Program:
Strings Concerto
Choreography by Pedro Ruiz, Music by Vivaldi.
Twilight of Colors
Choreography by Carlos Dos Santos, Music by Paul Lansky
A Statement About Being…
Choreography by Christian von Howard,
Music by Yannis Kyriakides, Andy Moor, Julia Wolfe
Linked (excerpt)
Choreography by Takehiro Ueyama, Music by Pat Methany
Transitions In Time
Choreography by Milton Myers, Music by John Adams
Dreamtime (excerpt)
Choreography by Elisa Monte, Assoc. Artistic Dir., Tiffany Rea,
Music by David van Tiegnem
sHoRt cUtS tAkE lOnGeR
Choreography by Abdur-Rahim Jackson, Music by Fuerzabruta & Rodrigo Y. Gabriela
Fearless Mine (dedicated to Denise Jefferson)
Choreography by Francesca Harper,
Music by Ryuichi Sakamoto & Johann Sebastian Bach
The Ailey School’s student performers were filled with boundless energy, athletic power, and impassioned joy, as they sped through tonight’s Opening Night program of eight works, mostly choreographed to electrically charged scores. The Ailey Citigroup Theater was filled with relatives, friends, and the Dance Community, and the program’s casual mood added to generous accolades as each piece concluded. Composers ranged from Vivaldi to Fuerzabruta, and each work was performed by an ensemble of dancers with a dream. These youthful dancers must have strenuously rehearsed, as timing and synchronization were tight.
The first work, Strings Concerto, danced to Vivaldi, was inspired, elegant, and quite set apart from the more propulsive pieces that followed. Pedro Ruiz, known to this writer for his exemplary Latin-infused choreography, created a classically-infused piece for fourteen Ailey School dancers, wearing long chiffon costumes. There were gorgeous lines, up-stretched arms, integrated, repetitive phrases, and buoyant, flowing musicality. Music and motion blended with sweeping imagery, and, at the curtain, hands were still animated. Twilight of Colors, with an ensemble of ten, was less cohesive, but sparkling and electronic. Carlos Dos Santos used intriguing gestures, bright unitards, and a very contemporary score. In A Statement About Being…, Christian von Howard used shimmery gray costumes, a dynamic, compelling score, and racing, aerobic movement.
Linked, by Takehiro Ueyama, was one of my favorite works (with Ruiz’), thanks to an ensemble of nine catapulting mid-air, to Pat Methany’s New Age score, in swirling, triple turns. This piece was imaginative, thoughtful, and riveting. My notes indicated “exuberant and exhilarating” impressions. Transitions In Time, by Milton Myers, set to John Adams, built momentum through fast changes in direction, with the ensemble of nine running off and on stage, their arms like windmills, all in shiny unitards. Elisa Monte’s Dreamtime, with percussive, African refrains, had ritualistic motifs, sunny costumes, and an ensemble of seven. sHoRt cUtS tAkE lOnGeR, choreographed by Ailey Company dancer, Abdur-Rahim Jackson, was another dashing-sprinting work. Fuerzabruta and Rodrigo Y. Gabriel’s score gave the audience a good jolt of energy before the second intermission. The final piece for nine, Fearless Mine, by Francesca Harper, set to Sakamoto and Bach, was eye-catchingly bright, colorful, and kaleidoscopic. Kudos to The Ailey School for tonight’s January Explosion 2010.
It should be noted that Samantha Barriento, who danced in "A Statement About Being…", was featured on January 9, 2010, in the New York Post, and Marquet K. Lee, who danced in "Fearless Mine", was featured in the January 2010 issue of DanceSpirit Magazine.
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