I had the opportunity to attend last nights performance (Program C) and agree with most of Natalia's review, finding Mr. Mill's choreography quite complex with nice partnering and live music. Following that was Dance Theater of Harlem, which was returning to the stage after a long hiatus. The piece of choreography, by comparison, appeared to be more like a competition dance piece with lots of crowd-pleasing tricks, movements that were unconnected, and a poor audio recording. I listened to the discussion after the performance by the artistic director, Virginia Johnson, articulate the difference between her vision for the company and that of the Alvin Ailey company and (having seen AA perform many times) thought that she must not be seeing what I saw. The dancers were competent, though how much so was difficult to discern from the piece. I hope that they choose better in the future, it would be sad to see the company fail again.
