Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Announces Highlights Of 2022 New York City Center Season

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New York City Center's Principal Dance Company and America's cultural ambassador to the world, announces highlights of its always-anticipated annual season at New York City Center. Returning to its "home" theater for four weeks from November 30 - December 24, 2022, the Ailey company will present a world premiere by Kyle Abraham, the company premiere of Twyla Tharp's Roy's Joys, and a new production of Alvin Ailey's Survivors.

Programs will also feature the Company's City Center premieres of Paul Taylor's DUET and Jamar Roberts' In a Sentimental Mood. Beginning with a one-night-only Opening Night Gala special program on November 30, the season showcases over a half dozen classic works by founder Alvin Ailey, including the always-inspiring must-see masterpiece Revelations.

Artistic Director Robert Battle said, "The repertory I have chosen for this season puts audiences back in touch with some of the richest, deepest works Alvin Ailey ever choreographed, shows off the brilliance of our dancers in pieces by great contemporaries of Mr. Ailey, Twyla Tharp and Paul Taylor, and introduces everyone to amazing new works by Kyle Abraham and Jamar Roberts that find reservoirs of love and resilience in our complicated lives and times. This is going to be a season overflowing with the joy of connections-eclectic, surprising, moving connections-between eras, between dancemakers, and between people."

In his third commission for the Ailey company, acclaimed choreographer Kyle Abraham creates a work that celebrates Black culture, Black music, and the youthful spirit that perseveres in us all. Scored to a "mixtape" of soul, hip-hop and R&B, the work explores the connections among music, communication, and personal memory. Continuing to expand its renowned repertory, the company will offer its premiere of Twyla Tharp's silky and sultry Roy's Joys (1997), embodying the spontaneity of a 1940s and 50s jazz soundtrack by Roy Eldridge. Mixing vernacular dance with ballet and modern technique, Roy's Joys exudes an easy, carefree energy that shows Tharp at her rollicking best.

A new production of Alvin Ailey's Survivors (1986) revives this impassioned tribute to the profound courage and terrible anguish of Nelson and Winnie Mandela, and more broadly presents a portrait of people transformed by injustice. Max Roach's richly varied drumming and Abbey Lincoln's vocals set the emotional tone for this powerful work that lifts up those who resist oppression in any form. Following critically acclaimed premieres earlier this year, the Company will present Paul Taylor's 1964 DUET, set to the music of Franz Josef Haydn and portraying a love, perhaps not new, but rather tried and true; and Jamar Roberts' In a Sentimental Mood, an intimate scene from the domestic life of a couple that becomes an exploration of love and desire. The work is set to an original composition by Duke Ellington and four jazz standards given an avant-garde twist by composer Rafiq Bhatia. Along with Alvin Ailey's classic Cry, Memoria, and Revelations, the performances will also feature a number of the founder's works set to the music of the great Duke Ellington, including Night Creature, Reflections in D, Pas de Duke, and The River.

During the 2022-23 season, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will welcome four new dancers, three of whom trained in the Ailey organization. Alisha Rena Peek (Upper Marlboro, MD) and Deidre Rogan (Fort Myers, FL) are both graduates of the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program and former members of Ailey II, while Hannah Alissa Richardson (Toronto, Ontario Canada) is a former member of Ailey II and a graduate of The Ailey School Certificate Program. Xavier Mack (Washington, D.C.) previously performed for five years with Dallas Black Dance Theatre.

The announcement of the season highlights comes as Ailey prepares to kick off Ailey Moves NYC! a summer celebration with free outdoor events throughout all five New York boroughs, Saturday, July 23 - August 1, 2022. Embracing people everywhere in the city that is Ailey's home, Ailey Moves NYC! offers performances, dance classes, Revelations workshops, and screenings of Jamila Wignot's acclaimed 2021 documentary Ailey, with events featuring Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, Ailey Extension-which provides dance and fitness classes for all experience levels-and Ailey Arts In Education.

For details and information, visit alvinailey.org/ailey-moves-nyc. Full New York City Center program details will be announced before tickets go on sale October 11. For further information about season schedule and to purchase tickets, starting at $29, please visit www.alvinailey.org/nycc.

The 2022 Winter Season is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Ailey Moves NYC! is supported, in part, by Con Edison's Arts Al Fresco Series and the Rockefeller Foundation. For more general information, visit www.alvinailey.org.