RETURNING TO AILEY'S ROOTS DANCE TROUPE TO PREMIERE NEW WORKS IN L.A.Byline: Vicki Smith Paluch Correspondent To celebrate Black History Month, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a modern dance company based in New York, New York. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey. It is made up of 30 dancers as well as artistic director Judith Jamison and associate artistic director Masazumi Chaya. will bring its energetic and spirit-filled dance to Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, - partly because Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. has special meaning for the company. Los Angeles is where, as a teenager, Alvin Ailey Noun 1. Alvin Ailey - United States choreographer noted for his use of African elements (born in 1931) Ailey fell in love with modern dance when he was a student of the legendary Lester Horton Lester Horton (January 23, 1906 - November 2, 1953) was an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Lester Horton was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. Choosing to work in California (three thousand miles away from the center of modern dance - New York City), Horton . He later danced with Horton's company and remained with it after his mentor's death in 1953. Ailey then moved to New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , where he gave his first concert in 1958 and started the American Dance Theater The German Tanztheater ("dance theatre") grew out of German expressionist dance. Its most influential performers are Pina Bausch and Susanne Linke. . The company returns to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center (which is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the United States). The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. on Wednesday for a five-day engagement promising to be filled with reminiscences, love stories and explosive dancing. The Ailey dance company taps the uniquely African-American perspective in a humanistic and spiritual way, transforming the black experience into universal stories in its amazingly diverse repertoire. The Los Angeles engagement includes the West Coast premieres of works by Judith Jamison and Ronald K. Brown, as well as repertory pieces including ``Love Stories,'' choreographed by Jamison, Robert Battle and Rennie Harris; and ``Shining Star'' and ``Caught,'' both choreographed by David Parsons. The season also features ``Solo,'' by Hans van Manen Hans van Manen (Nieuwer-Amstel, Netherlands, 11 July 1932) is a Dutch ballet dancer, choreographer and photographer. He is a son of a German housemaid. He studied under Sonia Gaskell, Françoise Adret and Nora Kiss. Hans van Manen wrote many ballets. ; ``Vespers vespers (vĕs`pərz) [Lat.,=evening], in the Christian Church, principal evening office. In the Roman rite, vespers have consisted since the 6th cent. of a few prayers, five psalms, a lesson, the Magnificat, and an antiphon. ,'' by Ulysses Dove; and ``Night Creature'' and ``Revelations,'' both choreographed by Alvin Ailey. ``Revelations'' will be presented at all performances. When Ailey began creating dances, he used his ``blood memories'' of his early childhood in Texas - the blues, spirituals and gospel as inspiration, resulting in his 1960 masterpiece, ``Revelations,'' which he created when he was 29. ``Dancing it makes you feel like you've met him,'' dancer Dwana Adiaha Smallwood said of ``Revelations.'' ``It's a piece of history, and when you're dancing it, you're making history.'' In her latest work, artistic director Judith Jamison explores moments of personal history in ``Reminiscin'.'' The ballet for 11 dancers is set in a diner that recalls Edward Hopper's painting ``Nighthawks This article is about the painting by Edward Hopper. For other uses, see Nighthawks (disambiguation). Nighthawks (1942) is a painting by Edward Hopper that portrays people sitting in a downtown diner late at night. .'' As people enter the diner, the music on the jukebox sparks memories of love, loss, romance and joy. The music of Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Roberta Flack, Regina Carter and Diana Krall inspires the vignettes. ``It's like in the movies when people break into song. We break into dance,'' said Smallwood, who joined the company in 1995. Jamison started her career as a remarkable dancer and dramatic presence on stage. She became Ailey's muse and, after his death in 1989, his flame-bearer and the company's artistic director. As a choreographer, she keeps his legacy alive by preserving his works, and continuing his dedication to commissioning works by emerging choreographers, such as Brown. In ``Ife/My Heart,'' Brown fuses modern and African dance to explore social, spiritual and cultural themes. The ballet explores how three families - black, Cuban and Southern - express and communicate love. In the piece, Brown uses music that ranges from gospel and West African music to club music. ``When he was giving us images to work with, he kept telling us that one of the strongest things is love, especially in these times of war and gang violence. The challenge is to serve love,'' recalled dancer Matthew Rushing, a Los Angeles native who joined the company in 1992. ``Love Stories,'' set to the music of Stevie Wonder, honors the past, celebrates the present and reaches into the future. The choreographers - Jamison, Harris and Battle - pay tribute to Ailey and his belief that ``the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people.'' The dancing goes from a modern dance class to a rehearsal to ``how we dance at home,'' introduced by a recording of Alvin Ailey's voice. Jamison uses the social dances of the swing era to unite her section with Harris' hip-hop and Battle's fist-raising march to conquer the future. Rushing, 32, set his sights on joining the Ailey company after he saw ``Revelations'' when he was a student at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA or Arts High) is a public high school that operates on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles. Though it shares facilities with the university, the two schools' activities tend to be separate. . ``I find my identity in Ailey's dances. But his choreography conveys humanity and the spirit. It doesn't have any color,'' Rushing said. ``That's the draw of Ailey. It goes past all racial barriers.'' ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Feb. 25, 2 p.m. Feb. 25 and 26. Tickets: $25 to $95. Call (213) 365-3500 or go to www.ticketmaster.com. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's ballet ``Reminiscin' '' is set in a diner recalling Edward Hopper's ``Nighthawks.'' |
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