A Diverse Program of Choreography
Our dance series this year is sure to inspire dancers and non-dancers alike. If you have yet to attend a dance performance, this season offers you the perfect opportunity. From the rhythmic collaboration of India Jazz Suites, to the sensuality of Australia’s CiRCA, the passionate energy of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the innovative contemporary ballet of Trey McIntyre, these companies will each speak to audiences in extremely different ways.
I am particularly excited that we are presenting Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in their first season with new Artistic Director, Robert Battle. Mr. Battle’s list of highlights that will be seen in the Company’s 2011-12 season promises a wonderful performance. Alvin Ailey’s Revelations, and Streams are both included in the short list. Works by other choreographers range from American master Paul Taylor, renowned American-Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin, early Ailey dancer Joyce Trisler, Hip-Hop choreographer Rennie Harris, and of course works by Robert Battle himself. With a season made up of approximately 20 dances, we don’t yet know for sure what we will see in Portland, but it looks like we will be treated to a wide variety of choreographic works performed by the magnificent Ailey dancers.
I have seen Robert Battle’s works on multiple occasions, performed by different dancers including students of the Martha Graham School, an American Dance Festival faculty member, and Battleworks Dance Company (a company Robert Battle founded in 2001, but has since been dissolved with his transition to the Ailey Company). I am looking forward to seeing the energy the Ailey Company will bring to Battle’s choreography. My not-so-secret hope is that we will also be lucky enough to see the work by Ohad Naharin, titled Minus 16. Naharin is the choreographer and Artistic Director of Batsheva, one of many on my ever-increasing list of favorite dance companies. Naharin’s captivating choreography drew me in from the first moment I saw Batsheva back in my college days. Though I have no doubt that whatever the dances are that grace the stage of Merrill Auditorium, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will provide us an amazing night to remember.
