Alvin Ailey Awesome In NY | Here’s Where They’re Going Next!

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater had its annual New York City tour from December 4, 2013 to January 5, 2014.

The company performed at the City Center in Manhattan.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is world renowned for highlighting the African-American experience through modern dance.

This tour highlights classic pieces, like Revelations, where the dancers move to African-American spirituals. Another classic is Blues Suite, where the piece is choreographed to the blues.

Since the company performed in NY for a whole month, they created a link to select the performance. The link was called Ask Robert Battle, the Artistic Director, and would provide recommendations based on a users previous experience.

The theater goer would indicate if they’ve never seen Alvin Ailey, go rarely, or if they go frequently.

Once the information was entered, certain performances were recommended.

What the computer chose for me was a night of Ailey’s classic works. This included Revelations, and Ailey Classics, a medley of early works, like “Cry” and “Love Songs”. All of these pieces were choreographed by Alvin Ailey, the founder.

The great thing about The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is how they make classic music always feel relevant. From Donnie Hathaway to Nina Simone, blues and soul music reign supreme in this performance.

I may not always listen to jazz, blues or spirituals, but the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater shows how good stories and music are always in style.

The company continues their North American tour from February 4 through May 11.

Performances are scheduled for Washington DC (Feb 4 – 9), Atlanta (Feb 13 – 16), Clearwater (Feb 18), Miami (Feb 20 – 23), West Palm Beach(Feb 24), Jacksonville (Feb 25), Chicago (Feb 28 – Mar 9), Danville (Mar 11), Bloomington (Mar 12), Houston (Mar 14 – 15), Des Moines (Mar 18), Cedar Rapids (Mar 19), Las Vegas (Mar 22 -23), Costa Mesa (Mar 27 – 30), Berkeley (Apr 1 – 6), Victoria BC (Apr 8 – 9), Seattle (Apr 11 – 13), Chapel Hill (Apr 22 – 23), St. Louis (Apr 25 – 26), Springfield (Apr 27), Utica (Apr 29), Boston (May 1 – 4) and Newark (May 10 -11).

Tickets are available at www.alvinailey.org.

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