Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (2016)

Exodus (2015) choreographed by Rennie Harris
Awakening (2015) by Robert Battle
Cry (1971) by Alvin Ailey soloist Jacqueline Green
Revelations (1960) by Alvin Ailey

I really enjoyed watching Alvin Ailey. I don't know too much about dance, but I do appreciate it. I've always seen the posters all over the subway of the very fit dancers contorting their bodies in impossible positions. Finally, I got an opportunity to see them in Baltimore at the historic Lyric Opera House, thanks to Hopart. I didn't realize they took so many intermissions for dance performances, but they understandably have to catch their breath. We were there for about two and a half hours, but almost an hour of that time was spent in intermission. But I loved every minute of dance.

The first dance, Exodus was modern African-inspired. The style reminded me of the performance by Ronald K. Brown I saw last year at the Kennedy Center. The second dance was more contemporary. There was a story to it that made use of bright background lights reminiscent of the lights that shine down from UFOs.

Cry gave me chills. A gorgeous solo number, Jacqueline Green danced with grace and elegance and strength. And then there's Revelations, the signature suite by Alvin Ailey. The music is set to spirituals and blues music and goes through a history of the African American experience through slavery and freedom. It is extraordinarily powerful and moving to watch. There were a few non-black dancers in this one. I guess you can't discriminate, but it is kind of weird for a non-African American dancer to convey the African American experience. 

Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE with Jason Moran and the Bandwagon (2015)

I had no idea what to expect going into this performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.  I won a free ticket (and meal) from school.  I think the best way to describe it is modern African-jazz fusion dance.  The show opened with a jazz set by Jason Moran and the Bandwagon. Jason Moran is the artistic director for jazz at the Kennedy Center.  He led his trio at the piano, accompanied by a bass guitar and a drum.  Moran sits in a chair instead of a bench and smoothly plays jazz rhythms and gorgeous melodies.  The bass player was very good but he was actually difficult to hear over the drums.  The drums were overpowering at times.  The drummer is excellent and really hammered away his solo, but his rhythms drowned out the melodies from the piano.

Now, I expected the trio to play with the dance troupe, but the second act is pure EVIDENCE. EVIDENCE dance troupe does modern African-style dance. The moves are not terribly intricate, but they are highly rhythmic.  There are lots of shoulder movements, lots of knees and head movements. The African beats are super catchy.  The dancers look like they're having so much fun on the stage. They dance repeated movements in waves.  I am very glad that I got to see this performance and was exposed to this style of dance.

Finally in the third act, the jazz trio did accompany the dance company and the fusion worked beautifully.  The most unique part was a dance to a speech by Martin Luther King that was incredibly powerful to watch.  King had a cadence to his voice that is actually a well defined rhythm that can be danced to.  This was a phenomenal piece of art.