Alvin Ailey in Tel Aviv

[Petra]

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater toured to Israel for the first time in over 10 years.

The program I saw was an all Ailey evening - Night Creature, Cry, The River and as always Revelations. It was a very full and varied program.

The dancers are amazing, great technique across the board. They are also incredibly committed, not an easy task when performing all these war horses day after day on tour.

Night Creature was least favorite of the evening for me. It's kind of a 70s take on the Harlem Renaissance of the 20s. Fun but IMHO dated.

Cry was danced by Jacquelin Harris, and was a feat of technique, stamina and emotion. Ailey dedicated the dance to all Black women - and especially to mothers, and I couldn't help wondering whether George Floyd's mother had seen this dance.

I would love to see The River again. It's long and beautiful and was quite hard for me to properly assess after one viewing. Falls, the section for 4 men, stood out.

What can I say about Revelations? The specific of music, dance, costumes, props and lighting is an artistic masterpiece that is also a meditation on our shared humanity. In this moment, it is a powerful political statement too. 

Hard to pick favorite sections, but Sinner Man is breathtaking. The very first section I Been 'Buked seems to have been a big influence on the music video for Beyoncé's song Apeshit [the one filmed in the Louvre]. 

An evening that left me with tears in my eyes and a reminder that the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice.

[Helene]

That's an iconic program!

[ABT Fan]

3 hours ago, Helene said:

That's an iconic program!

It sure is! What always amazes me, is how the company continues to perform Revelations every year, year after year, yet from what I’ve seen and heard the performances never grow old or stale. And, the audience never grows tired of it! That is a rare thing to say about any ballet (but we know that Revelations is no ordinary piece).