Alvin Ailey Begins 60th Anniversary Tour in Canada
 |
| Revaluation - Alvin Alley 1960 signature piece |
What Goes Around, Comes Around On Toronto's Downtown Sony Theatre Stage
By
Stephen Weir
No rain, wind or Polar Vortex could stop the Alvin Ailey
American Dance Theatre group from travelling to Toronto to perform before sold audiences
last weekend at the downtown Sony Centre.
Thanks to crippling cold temperatures in New York City last Thursday
over 8,000 flights were cancelled including those booked for the 30+ members of
the Alvin Ailey troupe.
“ We
had major difficulties in leaving New York,” dancer Christopher R. Wilson told
the Caribbean Camera on Friday night after their wildly successful first of
three performances at the Sony.
“We tried to leave
New York twice on Thursday but our flights kept being cancelled because of the
cold. We made it out this afternoon (Friday)” said Wilson. “It was a real rush
to make it from the airport to our hotel, change and step onto the stage for
8pm. It wasn’t that long after we got into the building that the curtain rose.”
 |
| Christopher R. Wilso |
“A few of us
haven’t danced here before – this is my first trip to Canada – but because the
stage is a little bigger than what we are used to in New York, it wasn’t
difficult to adapt.”
The Ailey Company is loved for the depth of their athleticism
and their unmatched grace on stage. If the dancers were feeling butterflies in
Toronto, they didn’t show it as they twirled, lifted and danced for close to two
hours.
In the world of
contemporary dance, what goes around really does comes around, especially for the
Alvin Ailey dancers. Last weekend the
venerable American Company kicked off their 60 anniversary 21-city tour right
here in Toronto (the only Canadian stop).
Even though it has
been three years since they last performed here the city hasn’t forgotten them. Opening night the 3,000 seat theatre was filled
with many fans who had seen them before and already knew all the good parts before
they happened. Dance ticket holders tend to be reserved but for Alvin Ailey
cheering, stomping and clapping by the mostly Caribbean and Black Canadian
audience started just after curtain rise and only ended after an encore.
 |
| Stack-Up |
The world’s love affair dates back almost to the beginning
of the United States first all African
American dance group. It was March 30, 1958 when the late Alvin Ailey
and a few fellow dancers performed for one night only at the NYC YMCA. What was
meant as a one-off gig turned out to be the start of a new era in the arts.
Ailey became one of the ground-breaking greats in modern dance history. He is
credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American
participation in 20th-century and now 21st century contemporary
dance theatre.
On the Friday evening performance, a total of four works were performed
over two hours. Two of the four pieces -
Stacked Up and Members Don’t Get Weary showed off the body strength and agility of
the dancers. Wearing colourful costumes
and moving to a sound mix heavily imbued by the works of African American jazz
greats saw the dancers jumping and being lifted high into the air without any
signs of stress or fatigue. It was more exhausting
for the audience who ohh’d and awed at the physical power and beauty of the
dancers.
Ailey passed away in 1989 but his influence continues
to be seen on stage. At the Sony the
dancers ended the evening, as they do at all their engagements, with the soul
wrenching performance of Revaluation
– a dance Ailey created in 1960.
Using African-American spirituals, gospel songs and holy blues,
Ailey’s Revelations takes the audience to the place of
deepest grief and holiest joy in the soul – America’s slaving past.
Built into three movements the dancers perform about
the horrors of slavery but take us to a triumphant finale
to the singing and dancing of “Rocka My
Soul in the Bosom of Abraham.”
 |
| Members Don't Get Weary |
The company has performed Revaluation to
hundreds of thousands of people over the past six decades – it is considered
one of the world’s most seen contemporary dance creation. Before his death Ailey said that one of America’s richest treasures
was the African-American cultural heritage —“sometimes sorrowful, sometimes
jubilant, but always hopeful.”
Comments