THE HANGOVER REPORT – At BAM, ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER’s “Brooklyn Bonds” program coolly, elegantly triumphs

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre performs Kyle Abraham’s “Are You in Your Feelings?” at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (photo by Paul Kolnik).

Last night, I attended the opening night of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s weeklong run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House. In celebration of the company’s belated return to BAM, the evening — fittingly entitled “Brooklyn Bonds” — featured the works of a trio of renowned choreographers with strong connections with the sprawling borough.

Featuring a relatively young company of talented dancers, the performances throughout were up to Ailey’s high standards — playful, dynamic, and bold. The program opened with Ronald K. Brown’s Dancing Spirit. First performed in 2009, the spirited piece — an ideal opener — was created to commemorate the great Judith Jamison, the company’s influential former and longtime artistic director. The program continued with the Twyla Tharp’s crowd-pleasing if somewhat predictable 1997 Roy’s Joys. Happily, the company’s performance of it emphatically put an Ailey stamp on Tharp as opposed to the other way around.

Perhaps best of all was Kyle Abraham’s Are You in Your Feelings?, which concluded the evening on a triumphant note. Joyful in tone, the work — a soulful ode to Black culture — is a welcome contrast to some of the choreographer’s moodier recent output (e.g., Love Letter (On Shuffle for New York City Ballet, also choreographed in 2022) and one of the very best “mixtape” pieces the in-demand choreographer has produced. Additionally, Abraham’s silken aesthetic fit the Ailey dancers — who are encouraged to personalize their performances without the cloying excesses of many a Tharp piece — like a glove.

Overall, the Revelation-less bill (fear you not, the program plays in repertory with an all-Ailey evenjng, which includes the classic) was a refreshing departure for the company, emphasizing an elegant, coolly understated demeanor over eye-catching athletics and theatrics.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER
Dance
Brookly Academy of Music
Approximately 2 hours (with two intermissions)
Through June 11

Categories: Dance

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