Wishing Away Summer and Fall — to Get to Ailey's December Season

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater just announced programming for its annual December season at New York City Center, and we couldn’t be more psyched. Artistic director Robert Battle is taking the company into exciting territory.

Yes, the season will include Alvin Ailey’s The River and Pas de Duke (both with new production elements), and of course, his signature Revelations. But there’s more. Contemporary ballet choreographer Aszure Barton is creating a world premiere for the company. There will be a reprisal of Ronald K. Brown’s latest work for Ailey, Four Corners, which made a quick debut last month. Bill T. Jones’ D-Man in the Waters is on the bill, new to Ailey’s rep. And perhaps most excitingly, AADT will perform Wayne McGregor’s Chroma—becoming the first New York City company to tackle the electric work, created for The Royal Ballet in 2006. (It’s also the first time AAADT will be performing any of McGregor’s choreography.)

And if you thought that was it, guess again. Ailey is quickly becoming a highly diverse repertory companies, presenting a cornucopia of modern choreographers’ works. The season also includes Paul Taylor’s Arden Court, Jirí Kylián’s Petite Mort, Garth Fagan’s From Before, Kyle Abraham’s Another Night, Rennie Harris’ Home, and Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16.

Get ready for a whirlwind five weeks. Tickets go on sale in September. www.alvinailey.org.

Photo of Ailey’s Yannick Lebrun and
Jacqueline Green
(“On the Rise” May 2013) in Kylián’s Petite Mort. Photo by Paul Kolnik, Courtesy AAADT.