Attending a performance of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is always a highlight of my arts and culture calendar. An engagement with this awe-inspiring and genre-bending dance company is even better when they perform close to home at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Ailey’s long-standing relationship with BAM began in 1969 when the trailblazing choreographer established The Ailey School in Brooklyn and presented his company’s first BAM performances. The company remains a vital force in New York City—and across the globe.
You can catch the company's rhythmic and riveting repertoire June 5-8 at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Avenue). The following works will be performed:
Holy Blues (World Premiere)
From renowned choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (formerly of Urban Bush Women and AILEY's 2025/26 Artist in Residence) in collaboration with the Company’s long-time dancers Samantha Figgins and Chalvar Monteiro, The Holy Blues takes its title from remarks in Alvin Ailey’s journal in which he wrote, “My roots are also in the Gospel church, the Gospel churches of the south where I grew up…holy blues—paeans to joy, anthems to the human spirit.” This genre encompasses gospel music and the blues, the sacred and the secular. Both walk with us in times of trouble and strife, serving as passages to the divine.
The Holy Blues is inspired by the ring shout and “the door of no return”, which function as both metaphors and an account of the lived experience of past generations. Dionne Brand states in her book A Map to the Door of No Return: Notes to Belonging, “This door is not mere physicality. It is a spiritual location. It is also perhaps a psychic destination. Since leaving was never voluntary, return was, and still may be, an intention, however deeply buried. There is as it says no way in; no return.”
Treading
When Elisa Monte's sculptural, mesmerizing duet was first performed at New York City Center in 1981, The New York Times declared, "Treading gives lovers of fine dancing much to marvel at." The couple in Monte's ballet come together in fluid, intricate movements that combine with Steve Reich's evocative music to create an aura of mystery and sensuality.
Grace
Ronald K. Brown’s spellbinding Grace is a fervent tour-de-force depicting individuals on a journey to the promised land. Described by The New York Times as “astounding, something to be sensed as well as seen” and "the return of a truly remarkable work," this spiritually charged work is a rapturous blend of modern dance and West African idioms. As in many of Brown’s works, the movement alternates fluidly between extremes, with eruptions of power coupled with lightness. A serene solo for an angel-like figure in white gives way to fireball intensity as 12 dancers resembling contemporary warriors execute Brown’s whirling, pounding choreography—arms and legs slicing the air and fingers pointing to the sky.
Brown’s varied music choices closely reflect the heart of the work, with the spiritual grounding of Duke Ellington’s “Come Sunday,” the contemporary yet timeless house music vibe of Peven Everett's “Gabriel,” and the West African and African American traditions of Fela Kuti’s Afropop beats.
Revelations
Performed to negro spirituals, song-sermons, gospel songs, and holy blues, Alvin Ailey’s Revelations fervently explores the places of deepest grief and holiest joy in the soul.
More than just a popular dance work, it has become a cultural treasure, beloved by generations of fans. Seeing Revelations for the first time or the hundredth can be a transcendent experience, with audiences cheering, singing along, and dancing in their seats from the opening notes of the plaintive “I Been ’Buked” to the rousing “Wade in the Water” and the triumphant finale, “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham.”
Mr. Ailey said that one of America’s richest treasures was the African American cultural heritage—“sometimes sorrowful, sometimes jubilant, but always hopeful.” This enduring classic is a tribute to that tradition, born out of the choreographer’s “blood memories” of his childhood in rural Texas and the Baptist Church. Since its premiere in 1960, the ballet has been performed continuously around the globe, transcending barriers of faith and nationality, and appealing to universal emotions, making it the most widely seen modern dance work in the world.
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