There aint much ailing the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater these days. In fact, the venerable troupe, directed by former lead dancer Judith Jamison since the founders death in 1989, is looking better than ever. The opening program of a week-long residency at Cal Performances Zellerbach Hall in
A revival of Night Creature, an excerpt from the 1974 Ailey Celebrates Ellington, looked freshly minted sexy, jazzy and more Broadway than ballet, especially in the opening section. In the words of the Duke, himself: Night creatures, unlike stars, do not come OUT at night they come ON, each thinking that before the night is out he or she will be the star. And each one of these very cool cats, led by Dwana Adisha Smallwood and Vernard J. Gilmore, could be a star. In the glitzy beginning, the stage fairly oozes with attitude. The second section is more balletic, beginning with a group dance characterized by sinuous moves that make it look as though these people dont have a bone in their bodies. The finale is something more primal; a frenetic dance of diagonal arms and legs and jutting hips, ending in a minor key.
A hard act to follow? Dont even think about it. Hans van Manens Solo, commissioned by the Ailey troupe in 1997, is an athletic, often hilarious, study in machismo or upmanship or Anything you can do, I can do better. With a lift of an eyebrow or a shrug of a shoulder, a dancer will dismiss anothers work or put down his own and its pretty funny as well as exciting to watch. Set to an intricate Bach violin piece, Solo pits three men (Clifton Brown, Glenn Allen Sims and Matthew Rushing) against each other, first in solo and then in groupings. Van Manen, who is the artistic director of the prestigious
Ronald K. Browns
More old-time religion to close the night: Revelations, what else? Aileys 1960 masterpiece has become the signature of this troupe, so much so that it ranks right up there with