Celebrate the Holiday Season with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City

Watching the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater makes me proud to be a Black woman. This ballet company is graced by dancers of color who can tackle any technique or dance style. But whether the choreography is rooted in jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop or ballet, they do it the Ailey way, which means they move with so much culturally rooted soulfulness and swag that I find myself marveling at their languid form and fierce footwork. In my lifetime, I've seen the Ailey company perform at least a dozen times and each time I picked a performance that included Mr. Ailey's beloved "Revelations." I will never grow tired of witnessing this jubilant homage to the Black Southern Baptist church. By the end I'm always standing, singing and clapping along with the rest of the audience's Amen chorus. Yes, rock a my soul in the bosom of Abraham!

Like most theatrical events and performing arts programs, this is Ailey's comeback season after going dark in 2020 due to the pandemic. And as stunning as "Revelations" was on the recent matinee performance I attended, I was equally mesmerized by another work. "Shelter," choreographed by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar of Urban Bush Women, premiered in 1988 and was first performed by the Ailey company in 1992. The piece -- grounded in dizzying African dance movement and performed purposefully, intensely and entrancingly by six dynamic female dancers -- offers a meditation on the emotional and physical deprivation of homelessness which is still shamefully relevant today.

Updated to reflect the signs of the climate changing times with a haunting drum-driven score and urgent poetry by Hattie Gassett and Laurie Carlos, this dramatic work demystifies the trickle down theory and prophesies that the poverty of some may inevitably lead to the downfall of us all. Many of us are living paycheck to paycheck and could easily find ourselves with "good will dried up" and "at the intersection of reduced resources and reverberating rage."

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is Black excellence personified. Don't miss your chance to witness the company in action at New York City Center through December 19, 2021. Proof of vaccination is required. Then catch them on a 20+ city national tour, January 25 - May 8, 2022.

Photo credit: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Jawole Willa Jo Zollar's Shelter. Photo by Paul Kolnik.

Comments

Conway Discount Clothing Chain Closing in New York City

(Tracy E. Hopkins) It's the end of a budget shopping era. Conway discount stores are closing in New York City . As of this weekend, a sign on the sole Herald Square location (34th Street btwn 7th and 8th Ave) says the store will close in "7 Days." Before I relocated to the Big Apple, I was introduced to the discount chain while on a bus trip from Baltimore. I recall the first time I saw Conway's signature pink bags carried by hurried shoppers in midtown. And Miss Foster, the trip organizer and a bargain hunter from way back, took me to the store for the first time. Conway store in the Fulton Mall./Tracy E. Hopkins When I moved here in 1994, my love affair with Conway continued. I furnished my first apartment with discount knick-knacks and home goods from the store. And much to my chagrin, in hindsight, I curated most of my wardrobe for my first full-time job from the long-shuttered 42nd Street and Third Avenue store. One regretful ensemble: Lime green and

Memorial Day Summer Swimsuits in the Amazon.com Swim Shop!

Memorial Day weekend is right around the corner. Do you have your new summer swimsuit yet? If not, Everything She Wants recommends checking out Amazon.com's Amazon Swim Shop . Me at the Amazon Swim Shop preview. The online shop is stocked year-round with trendy and timeless swimsuit styles, cover ups and swim accessories from your favorite brands. While I'm usually partial to the figure-flattering tankini, at a press preview for the Amazon Swim Shop, I noticed that the often unforgiving one-piece suit has made a compelling comeback. Thanks to a generous gift card from Amazon I took a chance and ordered a Calvin Klein one-piece in a pretty nude/coral "Sand" color, along with several bohemian tunics. Now here's your turn. One lucky reader will receive a promo code for $100 to spend at the Amazon Swim Shop (qualifying items must be sold and shipped directly by Amazon and not a third-party seller). Here's how you can win ( you must comp

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Graces Brooklyn Academy of Music, June 4-9, 2024

Dance is expression. Dance is spiritual. Dance is activism. Dance is life. I feel most alive when I am listening to music and dancing. As a spectator and fan, some of my fondest moments of watching dance performances have been witnessing the dignity and grace of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Every time I see the Ailey company, I am inspired, moved, and grounded in the beauty and complexity of the African American experience. Photo by Paul Kolnik For me, the highlight is always "Revelations," Mr. Ailey's three-part ode to his upbringing in the Black Baptist church. The three sections -- "Pilgrim of Sorrow"; "Take Me to the Water"; and "Move, Members, Move" -- tell the story of African American faith and persistence from slavery to freedom. Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of taking an outdoor Community Workshop in downtown Brooklyn, where we learned some of the choreography for "Revelations." I beamed from ear to ear

Everything She Wants

Search This Blog