There isn’t much that seems to pose a serious challenge to Jamar Roberts. At 6′ 4″, with the uncanny ability to shape energy to its most attractive or powerful or luscious impact, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater dancer has given unforgettable performances of Alvin Ailey’s lyrical Night Creature, Robert Battle’s tortured tour-de-force In/Side, and […]

The new Ailey repertoire is going to knock your socks off. In a recent rehearsal of Aszure Barton’s new piece, I was blown away by the searing, pulsing vitality of it. The company is also taking on Wayne McGregor’s hyperactive, strangely clinical, kinetically powerful Chroma. Plus there’s Bill T. Jones’ hard-driving, exhilarating D-Man in the […]

Ailey’s petite force     In Jirí Kylián’s Petite Mort, with Jermaine Terry. Paul Kolnik, Courtesy AAADT.    In rehearsal for Ronald K. Brown’s Grace, Alvin Ailey’s Belen Pereyra cuts an unassuming figure in a black T-shirt and sweatpants. But the petite 25-year-old has an outsize presence, thanks to her crisp yet freewheeling style. In the […]

Ailey Goes to Lincoln Center To follow up its record-breaking season last winter at City Center, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater makes its first visit to Lincoln Center since 2000. A world premiere by Ronald K. Brown; Garth Fagan’s quirky, Caribbean-flavored From Before; and Brown’s uplifting Grace will fill the stage of the David H. […]

Turning It Upside Down If Doug Elkins’ new story dances are even a fraction as funny as his Fräulein Maria, then we’re in for a treat this month. He is mounting two tales: Scott, Queen of Marys (a fitting title, since Elkins turns everything including gender on its head), and Mo(or)town Redux, a re-imagining of […]