For four performances only, Obie award-winning actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith will join the acclaimed dancers of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater on-stage for a new production of Hymn, the unique collaborative work choreographed by Judith Jamison with libretto written by Anna Deavere Smith; celebrating Alvin Ailey. In 1993, Deavere Smith gathered personal vignettes from Ailey dancers for Hymn, she'll read their stories as a new generation of dancers performs-- marking the first time in 15 years Deavere Smith and the Ailey dancers have shared the same stage. Deavere Smith paused performances of her critically acclaimed one woman show "Let Me Down Easy" to perform with Ailey on the special occasion of Judith Jamison's 20th year as artistic director.
Hymn is a unique collaboration between two extraordinary talents from the world of dance and theater--Judith Jamison and Anna Deavere Smith. Ms. Jamison conceived Hymn, a dance that would be a dialogue among herself, the dancers and Alvin Ailey, who had died four years earlier. "I believe in spirit," repeats a line from the text of Hymn. "And then I believe a manifestation of spirit is dance."
Ms. Jamison's tribute to Alvin Ailey is a choreographic tapestry featuring the entire Company while Smith as actress/raconteuse has gathered personal vignettes of the dancers and interspersed them throughout the work, creating a picture-biography of Mr. Ailey's loving legacy. In 1999, A Hymn for Alvin Ailey became a television special as part of PBS' "Great Performances: Dance in America" and received an Emmy award for Ms. Jamison's choreography.Photo credit: Walter McBride
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