Review by Jo Tomalin
ForAllEvents.com
Alvin Ailey Opening Night Dazzles!
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater presented their opening night program of four pieces including three Bay Area Premieres – and Revelations the well known Ailey favorite – on Tuesday April 7, 2026 at Zellerbach Hall, produced by Cal Performances in Berkeley. The company continues their run with four different programs until Saturday, April 8, 2026.
The program opens with Blink of an Eye, 2025, a Company premiere choreographed by Medhi Walerski, exploring the fragile boundary between presence and absence. Set to exquisite music by Johann Sebastian Bach, rapturously performed by Itzhak Perlman. Blink of an Eye is a beautiful virtuosic work for eight dancers. The approximately fifteen minute piece has everything, it is all at once muscular and sensitive, statuesque and flowing – and fleeting. Engaging trios, duos and solos intersperse with athletic motifs that melt into the inventive choreography – at times with a sense of urgency and others with a sustaining relationship to the music. A vibrant male solo of complex physicality and choreography is brief but oh so impactful! The Allemande from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, V 1004; adagio and Presto from Violin Partita No. 1 in G minor, BWV1001 are a perfect pairing for this memorable piece. Blink of an Eye is an exciting new addition to the company repertoire that I look forward to seeing again.
Song of the Anchorite, 2025 Bay Area Premiere, is a meditative solo performed by Yannick Lebrun. This piece is choreographed by Jamar Roberts as a personal act of gratitude to Alvin Ailey, set to music composed by Maurice Ravel, the Adagio assai from Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major. Yannick’s sculptural dance to beautiful, soft, melodic music with heart beat punctuations is visceral and reflective. The choreography explores the space in pensive curves,arcs of movement with outstretched arms and a surprise at the end of this short piece. A visual highlight is the dramatic large branch of a tree upstage – scenic design by Joseph Anthony Gaito.
Next, Difference Between, 2025, Bay Area Premiere choreographed by Matthew Neenan in stunning turquoise light ombre to black highlights the seven dancers as they move together as a group set to wonderfully vibrant music written and performed by Heather Christian & the Arbornauts. Sections of interesting vocalizing and plaintive song merge well with theatrical dance motifs with sounds of whispers and sudden silences. Dancers frolic with joy and changes of pace until a sinuous duo accompanied by a moody guitar merge into a glorious atmosphere of friendship. This piece is poetic, profound and uplifting!
Finally, Revelations, the most famous piece of the company, choreographed by Ailey in 1960 is set to traditional music comprising ten different dance numbers including Wade in the Water, Sinner Man, and Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham, all adapted and arranged by Howard A. Roberts. The latter is the wildly popular oft repeated coda performed during encore curtain calls! Beautiful decor and costumes by Ves Harper and costume dresses redesigned by Barbara Forbes with lighting by Nicola Cernovitch all come together to create a moving rousing performance. Outstanding rhythmic dance, theatrical flourishes and visual storytelling! Seeing Revelations is always a glorious experience when the company and audience magically become one, enjoying the outstanding visual and moving dances that resonate with everyone, no matter how many times we see this piece! Highly Recommended!
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