The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureTheatre

Alvin Ailey Programme C: New Moultrie, Members Don’t Get Weary, Ella and Revelations at Sadler’s Wells

Alvin Ailey Programme C: New Moultrie, Members Don’t Get Weary, Ella and Revelations at Sadler’s Wells | Theatre review
11 September 2019
Grace Walsh
Avatar
Grace Walsh
11 September 2019

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre: Programme C is a showcase of signature masterpieces intertwined with innovative works. Both a release from and a reflection of African Americans’ current socio-political landscape, this showcase expresses a complex spectrum of human emotion.

Each of the four pieces is meticulously curated by a different choreographer: Darrell Grand Moultrie, Jamar Roberts in choreographic debut, current artistic director Robert Battle and founder Alvin Ailey. While separate performances are set primarily to spirituals and gospel rock, all of the arrangements are clearly unified.

Ounce of Faith starts as a rich blessing, soon breaking into an afro-Cuban score as a playful and joyous dedication to a teacher’s faith in a pupil, and how it can truly change the course of a life. The blues music of John Coltrane simmers through Members Don’t Get Weary in a literal exploration of “feeling blue”, with slow and articulated movements clearly holding a mirror up to the feelings of a people in protest.

Ella delivers unexpected moments of comic relief, connecting the audience with each other in shared moments of laughter. The work was originally created to honour Ella Fitzgerald’s centennial in 2017, and the dancers match her iconic scatting with electric, springing movements in an incredible triumph.

Revelations, the long-established masterpiece performed in every programme, was curated by company founder Alvin Ailey. This ballet is bound tightly in connection to the earth, to fire and to water in a ritual of purification, shown effectively through diverse chorographical styles. Rooted in experiences of the American South in the early 20th century, Ailey’s work elegantly moves through expressions of incredible joy and happiness to feelings of intense suffering.

The programme’s flourish of beautiful and life-affirming performances lifted the audience to their feet at the end, with applause lasting long after the curtains were drawn. Sat in amongst the packed theatre was a woman who went to see the company’s first performance in New York in 1958 and a six-year-old girl in a tutu. Such a diverse crowd is indicative of Ailey’s renowned reputation for first-class performance: his legacy has crossed 71 countries and visibly transcended through the ages.

★★★★★

Grace Walsh
Photo: Paul Kolnik

Alvin Ailey Programme C: New Moultrie, Members Don’t Get Weary, Ella and Revelations is at Sadler’s Wells from 4th September until 14th September 2019. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.

Watch artistic director Robert Battle speak about the show here:

Related Itemsfeaturedreview

More in Theatre

Rita at Charing Cross Theatre

★★★★★
Mae Trumata
Read More

Ed Fringe 2022: Hungry

★★★★★
Ella Satin
Read More

Royal Ballet School students return to the stage for post-Covid performances

The editorial unit
Read More

“Theatre is totally unique… there’s simply nothing else quite like it”: An interview with Sir Howard Panter as the new cast of Jersey Boys opens at Trafalgar Theatre

Natallia Pearmain
Read More

Jersey Boys bring on a new cast at Trafalgar Theatre

Natallia Pearmain
Read More

All of Us at the National Theatre

★★★★★
Mersa Auda
Read More

Midsummer Mechanicals at Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

★★★★★
Alexandra Fletcher
Read More

Camden Fringe 2022: The Importance of Being Anxious at Museum of Comedy

★★★★★
James Humphrey
Read More

Camden Fringe 2022: Rome 3000 (Julius Caesar) at Canal Cafe Theatre

★★★★★
Cristiana Ferrauti
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Theatre review

Grace Walsh

Alvin Ailey Programme C: New Moultrie, Members Don’t Get Weary, Ella and Revelations

★★★★★

Dates

4th September - 14th September 2019

Price

£15-£75

Links & directions

TwitterInstagramFacebookWebsiteMap

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Nope
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Ed Fringe 2022: Hungry
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Eiffel
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Royal Ballet School students return to the stage for post-Covid performances
    Theatre
  • Tips for creating a peaceful home
    Feature of the week
  • Kasabian – The Alchemist’s Euphoria
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Rita at Charing Cross Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Ed Fringe 2022: Hungry
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “Even people who’ve been through adversity might say ‘Well, I wouldn’t change anything because I wouldn’t be who I am'”: Eva Noblezada and Flula Borg on Luck
    Cinema & Tv
  • “Film offers a way of looking at the past, the present and the future simultaneously. That’s its wonder”: Sarah Beddington on Fadia’s Tree
    Cinema & Tv
  • Kasabian – The Alchemist’s Euphoria
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Rita at Charing Cross Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “Even people who’ve been through adversity might say ‘Well, I wouldn’t change anything because I wouldn’t be who I am'”: Eva Noblezada and Flula Borg on Luck
    Cinema & Tv
  • Nope
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Five Days at Memorial
    ★★★★★
    apple
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Tim Minchin will tour Australia with his new Back album
Heartbeat of Home at Piccadilly Theatre | Theatre review