VIDEO: TAKADEME by Robert Battle: Reimagined

Did you know Robert Battle choreographed 'Takademe' in a tiny NYC apartment 19 years ago? Watch Ailey's Yannick Lebrun perform it in a tiny NYC apartment.

For more works by Mr. Battle see the ALL BATTLE program at New York City Center Dec 21, 23 eve, or 27: alvinailey.org/citycenter

Robert Battle's bravura work mixes humor and high-flying movement in a savvy deconstruction of Indian Kathak dance rhythms. Clear shapes and propulsive jumps mimic the vocalized syllables of Sheila Chandra's syncopated score.

For Battle, the work represents his modest beginnings as a dance-maker and reminds him of how far he's come. He created Takademe while still a dancer with the Parsons Dance Company, in a living room in Queens, New York. "Most dances have a lot to do with restrictions and problem-solving," he explains. "And one of the problems was that we didn't have a lot of space, so the dance stays very stationary. But then when we finally got studio space... the movement travels on a long diagonal. Freedom. I'm always reminded of that as a metaphor for where I am now with Ailey, where there is a remarkable amount of space."

It's unlikely that the young choreographer in that Queens apartment could have imagined the distinguished company he'd find himself in when critics embraced his work.