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Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
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Sims, Brown
Photo by Andrew Eccles
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By Don Kolman
Modern-dance at its best is currently in residence at Segerstom Hall of the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre is a rhapsody of explosive movement. This company of energetic, enthusiastic dancers performs at a feverish rate from the beginning of the evening to the end. The choreography of the evening's four individual pieces presented was at times joyful, at times soulful, even at times mournful, but, at all times, interesting and exciting.
Judith Jamison, the Artistic Director, is to be commended. She has maintained and developed this company as a vital growing part of the world of modern-dance. Miss Jamison has not allowed the company to become simply a museum repository of the works of Alvin Ailey. She has continuously sought new material from up and coming young chorographers from around the world. The Ailey is alive and well.
The evening opened with "Serving Nia," a piece choreographed by Ronald K. Brown for the company in 2001. Brown’s ballet is set to an Afro-jazz mix of music that brings together Branford Marsalis, Roy Brooks, and M’ Bemba Vangoura, with Dizzy Gillespie’s “Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac” thrown in as well. Nine dancers gather at the start in a circle that is soon broken up as solo after solo ensues, each demanding the audience’s attention. Each of the nine danseurs performed with grace, vigor, and boundless energy.
"Cry" was choreographed by Alvin Ailey in 1971 to music by Alice Coltrane, Laura Nyro, and Chuck Griffin. This piece was choreographed specifically for Judith Jamison and is a modern-dance classic. It is difficult to see this work without unfairly comparing whoever is dancing it to Miss Jamison. In her performance Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell, though, was truly lovely. She danced the role with both vigor and sensitivity, using her extremely supple back to great advantage.
Lynne Taylor-Corbett choreographed "Prayers from the Edge" for the company in 2002 and set it to pop music by Peter Gabriel. This piece has a definite warring-tribal, Romeo and Juliet feel. We are quickly introduced to the two opposing clans by their readily identifiable colored costumes-- olive for one and red for the other. The basic theme of the piece appears to be “can’t we all get along?” Lighting by Michael Korsch was wonderful and brought various movements of the dance into brilliant focus. Linda Celeste-Sims as the Juliette and Clifton Brown as her Romeo were brilliant. Their paired dancing was magnificent, exhibiting talent which was both robust and vivid. Additionally, and possibly even more importantly, Miss Sims and Mr. Brown were able to convey a feeling of considerable pathos. This was a wonderful piece of choreography made even better by a wonderful company.
The evening concluded on an especially high note with the presentation of "Revelations," another Alvin Ailey classic choreographed by Mr. Ailey in 1960 to music identified simply as traditional. This work exhibits all the joy and exuberance of an old fashioned gospel meeting. The costumes by Ves Harper with those for “Rocka My Soul", redesigned by Barbara Forbes, were right on target. The dresses, hats and fans for the women and the pants and shirts with suspenders for the men could not have been more suitable. The glorious music and wonderful dancing of this number had the audience on its feet and clapping along.
If you are looking for a special evening filled with vitality and invention, then this outing by The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a MUST.
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre will appear at Segrestrom Hall of the Orange County Performing Arts Center through Sunday, February 16. Tickets can be purchased at: the Center Box Office, Ticketmaster: (714) 740-7878, www.ocpac.org, and Group Sales: (714) 755-0236
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