The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Show reviews
    • Interviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Cannes
      • Sundance London
      • Venice
      • London
  • Music
    • Live music
    • Album reviews
    • Interviews
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
    • Fringe
    • Vault Festival
    • Interviews
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Interviews
  • 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 the team
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Culture Theatre

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Ailey Classics at Sadler’s Wells

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Ailey Classics at Sadler’s Wells | Theatre review
11th September 2023
Ellen Wilkinson
Avatar
Ellen Wilkinson
11 September 2023

Theatre review

Ellen Wilkinson

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Ailey Classics

★★★★★

Dates

5th September - 16th September 2023

Price

From £28

There are rare performances that enrapture an audience in two ways. The first invites them entirely into the narrative, until the humanity emanating from the stage is so generous that the distinction between artist and viewer blurs hazily. The second is to transport, meticulously guiding viewers to foreign lands and unfamiliar feelings, until the stage and auditorium are hovering at the edge of a precipice, breath held and the drop below fizzing with artistic possibility. 

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, in their first visit to London since 2019, accomplish both with irresistible verve. 

The internationally renowned company gave its first performance in 1958 New York, with pioneering founder and choreographer Alvin Aliley leading young Black modern dancers to unite people of all backgrounds through the “beauty and humanity of the African-American heritage”. Today, the company strives to continue Ailey’s mission, their run at Sadlers Wells championing new choreographers alongside core works in three separate programmes: Modern Masters, 21st Century Creations and Ailey Classics. Tonight is the first performance of Ailey Classics, in which four iconic pieces are given fresh audiences. 

A swelling french horn starts Duke Ellington’s sweeping score and signifies the dive into The River. It is the most stylistically eclectic work of the evening, blending classical ballet, jazz and modern dance in a tasting menu of short choreographies, united by a water theme as a metaphor for the journey of life. Unfurling arms articulate and the dancers weave seamlessly between stately solo shapes, sensual duets and mesmeric unison passages. Highlights are the indomitable athleticism of the men’s jetés and turns in Falls, and Xavier Mack’s show-stealing Riba, in which he flirts outrageously with the audience in a joyously camp contrast to the uniform lines formed by the rest of the troupe. Every movement is simultaneously exaggerated and effortless, his swinging hips and schoolboy grin an embodiment of Ellington’s sparking score. 

Pas de Duke continues on a jazzy theme, with a skilful, sass-infused battle between Jacquelin Harris and Patrick Coker. Their matching sparkling jackets and flared trousers – Harris in black, Coker in white – ooze a sexiness that defies the gender roles of a classic pas de deux, in which the man supports the woman’s graceful lines. The audience tinkles with laughter as the curtains fall and there is a “whoop!” from backstage, the dancers relishing in the thrill of adrenaline at a midway point in the programme. 

A tone shift for Cry, which Ailey wrote as a birthday present to his mother, dedicating it to “all Black women everywhere – especially our mothers”. Constance Stamatiou’s richly expressive movement yearns and shimmers, guiding a story through vulnerability and strength, from struggle to salvation. Ailey’s use of costume shines, as Stamatiou whirls in a flamenco-esque white dress, the movement of the skirt intrinsically intertwined with her evocative gestures. 

Finally, it is Revelations. Choreographed in 1960 to a suite of traditional spirituals, the company’s signature work is performed at the end of almost every show. It is a ritual of thanks to the past and portrays a soulful journey of human perseverance that remains strikingly relevant. The performance tonight feels fresher than ever, concluding in a celebratory encore, in which a standing audience claps along to improvised solos from members of the troupe, their movements rich with influence from global dance styles: Africa, Latin-America, Western classical ballet… 

This is a performance rooted in Black artistic history, with dazzling athleticism and a burning expressive core. Everyone should see the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at least once. 

★★★★★

Ellen Wilkinson

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater are performing various programmes at Sadler’s Wells from 5th until 16th September 2023. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.

Related Itemscontemporary dancedancefeaturedlive theatremodern dancereview

More in Theatre

The House of Bernarda Alba at the National Theatre

★★★★★
Constance A
Read More

A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic

★★★★★
Sarah Bradbury
Read More

Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going to Happen at Bush Theatre

★★★★★
Jonathan Marshall
Read More

Wishmas

★★★★★
Selina Begum
Read More

Thank You for the Music at Adelphi Theatre

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

The Mongol Khan at the London Coliseum

★★★★★
Will Snell
Read More

“It honours the spirit and qualities of the film, but the stage show has its own energy and aesthetic”: Ami Okumura Jones on My Neighbour Totoro at Barbican Theatre

Cristiana Ferrauti
Read More

Flip! at Soho Theatre

★★★★★
Madison Sotos
Read More

Radio GaGa at Adelphi Theatre

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Theatre review

Ellen Wilkinson

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Ailey Classics

★★★★★

Dates

5th September - 16th September 2023

Price

From £28

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • The House of Bernarda Alba at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Eileen
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The House of Bernarda Alba at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Eileen
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Wish
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Girl
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The House of Bernarda Alba at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Wish
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going to Happen at Bush Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Girl
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
The Upcoming
  • Contact us
  • Join the team
  • Subscribe to the mailing list
  • Support us
  • Writing for The Upcoming

Copyright © 2011-2023 FL Media