Troupe Moves in Time to Voice of Alvin Ailey
By Steven Brown, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.
Apr. 5–Only in body is Alvin Ailey gone. His name lives on within that of his troupe, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. But that’s only the beginning of it, as the company exultantly showed Tuesday at the Belk Theater.
The late Ailey’s recorded voice emerged during "Love Stories," a collaboration by the company’s current leader, Judith Jamison, and two young colleagues. Ailey said he always wanted to hold up a mirror to society. "Love Stories" followed his example.
Just as Ailey’s classic "Revelations," which closed the program, arose from his memories of growing up in rural Texas, "Love Stories" — with music based on Stevie Wonder songs — was rooted in the modern world that spawned today’s dancers. After a muscle-stretching dance-studio scene for a lone man, "Love Stories" swept the 11 dancers into hip-hop, sidewalk dance-offs and the flashiness of the theater.
The virtuosity and communication that have made the company famous were at work from the start. And one of the most vivid moments, a solo for a woman who packed all her energy into a quivering vibration of her torso, started with pure Ailey: She entered suspended on a man’s stretched-forward arms, a move harking back to the "Fix Me" duo "Revelations."
Maybe it’s a stretch, but there seemed to be echoes of the same duo in David Parsons’ "Shining Star," based on music by Earth, Wind & Fire. The man in "Fix Me" enables his partner to take wing like a bird; in the duo at the heart of "Shining Star," the man lifts her into the sky and holds her there. The spirit of love was the same. All along, the 10 dancers reveled in Parsons’ sexiness and jubilation.
The troupe made all the emotion of "Revelations" hit home, from the weighed-down start to the vaulting finish. Yet Hans von Manen’s "Solo" — really for three men — had an electricity of its own. Propelled by Bach solo-violin-music, its flights included having a man virtually dance on pointe. It was no gag: The men carried off its leaps and pinwheel turns as if they didn’t even need a floor to land on. Breathtaking. REVIEW
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The group features its founder’s works tonight.
WHEN: 8 p.m. today.
WHERE: Belk Theater, Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, 130 N. Tryon St.
TICKETS: $25-$55.
DETAILS: (704) 372-1000; www.blumenthalcenter.org .
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.
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