Dance
company presents solid performance
By Monica Levette Clark
On-line Forty-Niner
If
you were not at the Orange County Performing
Arts Center Tuesday night, you missed a
spectacular performance by the Alvin Ailey
American Dance Theater.
In their first performance at the center’s
Segerstrom Hall, the cast of technically
brilliant and aesthetically pleasing dancers
wowed the audience with pure, soulful dancing.
“Serving Nia” opened the two-hour concert
that included not one, but two intermissions.
With a cast of nine men this dance, choreographed
by Ronald K. Brown, the performance was
exciting to watch. The choreography included
a combination of African, modern and hip-hop
dance movements that melded together effortlessly.
The music, a blend of bebop and African
drum rhythms, pumped adrenaline into the
bodies of the men, who all danced with full
force, for about ten minutes.
The men moved like rubber bands. The energy
in their movements jumping out at you with
conviction, then bouncing back again, ever
so smoothly. The solo, “Cry,” was originally
created for Judith Jamison, the company’s
artistic director back in 1971. That night
it was performed by Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell,
who joined the company in 1992.
When Alvin Ailey choreographed this dance,
he dedicated it to all black women every
where. The costume was as pure and powerful
as the choreography, pearly white.
The choreography took the audience on a
black woman’s journey through a world filled
with trials and tribulations. The dancer’s
expression in the movements evoked the peaks
and valleys of that journey.
“Revelations,” the company’s signature dance
was worth the wait, ending the concert on
a high, invigorating note full of praise
and worship. In making “Revelations,” Ailey
was inspired by the blues, spirituals and
gospel, early forms of black music.
The dance was performed in three parts:
“Pilgrim of Sorrow,” “Take Me To The Water”
and “Move, Member, Move.”
The dances of each section were fairly short,
but evoked movements that spoke of the rich
black culture that is very much a part of
America’s history.
In “Take Me To The Water,” Jeffrey Gerodias
and a female dancer performed a duet to
the gospel song, “I wanna be ready.” It
was a dance of courage and survival that
advised on walking the narrower path of
life.
Their powerful performance moved the audience
to roaring applause.
The dance company will perform at the Segerstrom
Hall through Sunday.
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