Ailey II Review: A Light in the Dark


As dance troupes everywhere struggle to stay afloat during the pandemic, Ailey II, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s second company, has survived other types of upheaval.

In July 2020, artistic director Troy Powell, from work Among the allegations of “inappropriate communication” with adult students in the company’s education program. Choreographer in September 2021 Francesca HarperStarting out as a student at the Ailey School, run by her mother, Denise Jefferson, she stepped in to manage the dancers.

The group of 12 took the stage again at the Ailey Citigroup Theater in Midtown for a full two-week season. On Friday, a medley bill titled “Dichotomous” – the advertised theme was “opposite elements and voices” – was overflowing with the hopeful and sometimes uncertain energy of a new beginning.

Ailey II operates as a sort of minor league, one stop on the way from advanced student to full-fledged professional. Watching the extraordinary crop of dancers, many of whom are only 22 years old, is to wonder where they’ll end up next, and hope they find work worthy of their talent, within or outside the Ailey organization.

While “Dichotomous” did feature several premieres, the surprise hit was an older track and the first on the show was Robert Battle’s grim 2001 “The Hunt.” In one of his smartest creative choices ever, Harper named Battle (the parent company’s artistic director), saying that the work, originally created for a group of men, was performed by a female cast.

In the adaptation that came out on Friday, the four dancers – Jamaris Mitchell, Hannah Alissa Richardson, Brena Thomas and Rachel Yoo – displayed exciting solidarity even as they embodied the opposing roles of hunter and prey. Communicating in a circle, they seemed to gather strength and endurance from each other’s eye contact, releasing scales and shouts that echoed the recorded percussion music of Les Tambours du Bronx. Alongside the other Battle, the work in the program – an excerpt from “Alleluia” (2002), and the slightly new “Searchlight” – “The Hunt” felt by far the most vital.

Another revelation was the short duet “Saa Magni, was choreographed by Yannick Lebrun, a longtime member of Ailey’s label, in 2019. to a transport song of the same name By Malian vocalist Oumou Sangaré, petite, broad Meagan King and her gentle partner, Christopher Taylor, let the warmth and grief of the music guide them. a sense of romantic longing

It only got heavier towards the end as King appeared on the verge of tears and threw it over Taylor’s shoulder and they were pulled into the darkness.

Closing the first act, a quote from William Forsythe’s “Enemy in Figure” (1989) served as a fine showcase for high-speed curves and other technical achievements. (Harper danced at Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt in the 1990s.) Among the nine dancers, Richardson, with his clear and calm authority, and Amar Smalls, who switch with breathtaking ease between speed and serenity, stand out both alone and as equally intense partners. they were going out.

The two most recent works that make up the second half of the show, Battle’s “Searchlight” and Harper’s “Freedom Series,” were also the least developed. Inspired by Harper’s relationship with her mother, the six-minute “Searchlight” seemed to end before it began, with a whisper of their generational connection amid much intense ensemble work.

“Freedom Series,” a set of sketches with sci-fi undertones, also strangely seemed not to have an abrupt ending. But at least here, the 11 dancers looked more determined, as if Harper had met them on wavelengths and unleashed their powers. (Richardson, Taylor, and Elijah Lancaster dazzled, especially in their solo moments.) In an eclectic musical collage, dancers joined and dispersed with glowing globes in their hands, occasionally using the stage to illuminate one another. They seemed immersed in their own world and happy to be there together, which is perhaps enough of an achievement after the last two years.

At Ailey Citigroup Theater until 3 April; alvinaley.org



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