Review: Ailey II Doesn't Need the Classics to Feel Like Ailey

A night of new works that feel quintessentially Ailey reveals just how dedicated this company remains to its founding ethos. Ailey II doesn't rely on nostalgia or peddle classics to new audiences. Instead, it embraces what the company can be. The audience feels it, going still when they feel seen and sharing enthusiasm for work that resonates. Under Artistic Director Francesca Harper, now in her fifth season, the company has returned to The Joyce Theater (March 17–22) with four world premieres that showcase dancers whose versatility and technical command make them ideal vessels for ambitious new choreography.

Rena Butler's In Session offers a collective coming-of-age portrait, the tension between conformity and rebellion shaping maturation. Set in what feels like the coolest school ever created, the work uplifts youth culture in a way that mimics an endless scroll through TikTok. It blends, and bends, classic Ailey movement with just enough pop and lock, hip-hop, ball, and street styles. The acrobatics feel earned rather than gratuitous and, while running closer to the 30 minute mark, the piece never loses its drive.

My'Kal Stromile's Third Person Point of View explores a three-person relationship ebbing and flowing through its intimacies, asking whether two is fine but three's a crowd. Portraying non-monogamy as potentially lopsided is compelling, especially choreographically, though the theme can feel limited at times in its assumption that exclusion is inevitable. The dancers complicate that reading. They appear too seamless, too intimate as they weave in and out of each other's arms, to suggest distance is really the point. Stylized blackouts help the story evolve, revealing many iterations of this threesome and its ways of negotiating love and care.

Renée I. McDonald's Likes vs Life takes on familiar territory: social media's contribution to anxiety, depression, and the pressure to perform perfection. Three dancers wrestle with these forces alongside the competing needs to connect and escape. The piece showcases strong technical control, and is more dynamic than the other works. It achieves genuine emotional complexity despite the well-trodden subject matter. The dancers commit fully, lending the piece a haunting quality. Jordyn White is a standout here, bringing both precision and raw vulnerability to every phrase.

Former Ailey II company member Chalvar Monteiro's Berry Dreamin' closes the evening by centering the soul-stirring music of Chuck Berry. The staging is clever: a backyard that could be anyone's backyard, populated by a group that could be any family or friend set exploring their lives together. This is the most recognizably Ailey piece of the program, with classical lines and stylized ensemble work defining its movement vocabulary. The body becomes a conduit for something unspoken. There are moments when this tips into familiar territory, echoes of something seen before, though done well enough that repetition doesn't diminish the craft. Xavier Logan captures every moment he's on stage, commanding attention with a presence that anchors the work's nostalgic warmth.

Ailey II is, at its core, versatile, technically sound, and full of energy, with no tricks or stunts designed to amaze. Every moment is thoughtful and intricate. The costuming and lighting elevate this from a concert into a performance, and that refinement defines Ailey II's work: young artists able to carry new choreography and the presence to make it land.

Tickets start at $17