InPerson – COOPER GENERAL NEWS

The upcoming season of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City Center will celebrate Robert Battle’s tenth anniversary as artistic director, the company announced on Wednesday. After the difficulties of the past 17 months, Battle is more open to the opportunity than it otherwise would have been.

“Being part of the problem-solving that took place and getting us through this way has, in a way, made me feel a bit better at those 10 years,” he said in an interview. “There’s something going through that makes me think, ‘Hey, if I go through this, I’ll definitely take the good and I’ll do it.'”

During his tenure with Ailey, Battle founded the New Directions Choreography Lab, an initiative to support aspiring and medium-sized dance professionals, and named Jamar Roberts as the company’s first resident choreographer. “When I started creating, I was fortunate to have David Parsons to speak for me,” said Battle. “I’ve always wanted to pay for that.”

His support has paid off. Roberts has created several critically acclaimed dances since taking office in 2019, including “Members Don’t Get Weary” and “Ode”. his farewell performance on December 9th was announced along with the season’s slate.

Two dances that debuted online will be performed live for the first time as part of the three-week City Center engagement. Battles “For Four”, a piece for four dancers to a jazz score by Wynton Marsalis, will make its full stage debut on December 3rd with Roberts’ “Holding Space”.

New productions of older works will also be on view throughout the season: Ailey’s “Pas de Duke,” which Jacqueline Green and Yannick Lebrun performed for a dance video in the Woolworth Building in 2020; “The River,” Ailey’s 1970 collaboration with Duke Ellington; an Ailey solo, “Reflections in D”; and “Unfold,” a recent work by Battle.

Looking ahead, Battle said he would like to focus more on preserving and sharing works by underrated choreographers: “The idea of being an archive for historical works really interests me, really promoting it.”

Ticket sales begin on October 12th. More information is available at alvinailey.org.

The Martha Graham Dance Company will debut new works by Andrea Miller and Hofesh Shechter in their upcoming season in New York, the troupe announced on Thursday. Miller’s first will be performed at the Joyce Theater this fall. Shechters Tanz will be premiered in April 2022 as part of the first City Center Dance Festival.

A third new piece, inspired by Graham’s mostly lost “Canticle for Innocent Comedians,” premieres in March 2022 at the Soraya Performing Arts Center in Northridge, California, and performed at the City Center Festival.

While the company made brief appearances this spring – they did a short program at the Guggenheim in April and on a mixed bill at the Kaatsbaan in May – the season opener at the Joyce from October 26th to 31st will be their full live performances. “I believe the exhilaration of being in the physical presence of our audience – experiencing this deeply personal and emotional connection with heightened appreciation – will be the unmistakable highlight of this season,” said Janet Eilber, the group’s artistic director, in a statement.

Miller’s dance, still untitled, is performed by eight dancers and set to music by the composer Will Epstein, with whom she previously worked. Shechter’s work, currently called “Convergence,” will use all of the company’s dancers; Daniil Simkin, soloist of the American Ballet Theater and the Staatsballett Berlin, will be present at selected performances.

Sonya Tayeh directs the new version of “Canticle for Innocent Comedians” from 1952. She will create the prelude, the finale, the transitions and “Sun”, one of the eight nature-related vignettes. Micaela Taylor, Yin Yue, Juliano Nunes, Kristina and Sadé Alleyne, and Jenn Freeman will do five more. The remaining sections were created by Robert Cohan, a member of the original cast who died in January; and Graham, whose choreography for “Moon” has been preserved. The piece is set to music by jazz pianist Jason Moran.

The Graham season will also feature a repertoire from its founder and inspiration, from “Appalachian Spring,” one of her best-known works, to “Acts of Light,” which has not been shown in New York since 2007.

The company tours between the two stops in Manhattan: in the USA as well as in France, Germany and Turkey. After the City Center Festival, it’s off to Greece in April and China in May.

More information is available at marthagraham.org.