BWW Reviews: BLACK SWAN Empowers at The Ailey Citigroup Theater

American Dance Theater is one of the most ingenious innovations of New York and African-American arts. Through a glass façade, downstairs from the larger-than-life iconic photograph of Alvin Ailey, choreographer Iquail Shaheed opened his arms to a warm audience at Ailey Citigroup Theater on the evening of Valentine's Day.

Brimming with emotion, Shaheed expressed the inner personal challenges he overcame to present Black Swan by Dance Iquail. With his heart full of a dramatic love for the legacy of Alvin Ailey, and the future of dance as a catalyst for social change, he introduced a surprise.

A youth dance group from New Jersey opened onstage with a special verve, captivating the audience applause as the brightest of faces beamed, their bodies shaking and twisting to an upbeat pulse.

Then, gravity sunk in. The voice of Nina Simone spelled sheer power over the soundscape. Dancers Khalia Campbell, Coral Dolphin, Adama Ideozu, Alicia Lendgren, Amy Lattimore, Ari Mayzick, and Allison McDonald vitalized one of the most diversely expressive dance performances on the stage today, arguably ever.

What is more is the absolute relevancy. As Nina Simone deemed, her voice sailing fast through the potent acoustical reverberations of the hall, the artist reflected the times.

No work of American dance has so honestly and directly reflected the times than Black Swan. Iqual Shaheed choreographed the harsh complexities of racism today, while celebrating the history and presence of the black ballerina.

Interracial relations were explored through the visionary strength of dance to grapple at the core of social strife. Vignettes moved from Black Lives Matter spoken word, as dancers crossed paths with gender-dissolving sexual liberation.

Many scenes were hard to watch, simply because they were painfully true. One solo piece moved in response to a screen flashing the worst of racial slurs. Later, a dancer applied white-skin cream, all the more tragic for her impeccable beauty. Yet all were eclipsed by the emergence of a dancer in the nude, falling into death.

Above the ritualized, African-inspired calls to move, and become anew, Nina Simone spoke of the repatriation of the African-American people to come into their own, with respect for the unparalleled brilliance of African heritage in perpetuity.

American society is the very ground where untold stories of heart wrenching despair are told from the ongoing African diaspora.

Yet, on such streets as Alvin Ailey Place, in the final movement of Black Swan, when the entire stage abounded with the movement of so many ebullient dancers, Dance Iquail showed how all people remember, share common ground and heal.

Photo Credit: Rachel Neville

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