At Ailey s spring gala, different kinds of hope
Jamar Roberts performing his own piece, In Memory, a tribute to John Lewis. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater via The New York Times.
by Brian Seibert
(NYT NEWS SERVICE)
.- Uplift is what people expect from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. And so it is no surprise that for its spring gala this spring of all springs the company focused explicitly on themes of hope, promise and the future.
Whats pledged is delivered, with much of the roteness that comes with reliability. But the Ailey companys official hope doesnt entirely eclipse a more troubled and therefore trustworthy kind, supplied mostly by the troupes increasingly important resident choreographer, Jamar Roberts.
Bono and economist Jeffrey Sachs at the Glucksman Ireland House Daniel Patrick Moynihan lecture. By Irish America Staff
Glucksman Ireland House New York University (NYU), presented its inaugural Daniel Patrick Moynihan Lecture on October 5.
Musician and political activist U2’s Bono introduced Columbia University’s Professor Jeffrey Sachs, the author of the bestselling book The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time.
Bono, whose intensive lobbying of politicians all over the world recently helped force a promise from wealthy nations to cancel $100 billion worth of poor countries’ debt, acknowledged Sachs as his mentor. “It’s a long time since I’ve been a warm-up act, but on this occasion I am happy I am,” he told the audience. He said Sachs, whose class he attended at Harvard, “sees the faces through the spreadsheets.
Sacred by Cambria resident and scholar Kathryn Dickason is available through Amazon and Walmart online. In the 1984 Kevin Bacon film,
Footloose, Rev. Shaw Moore (John Lithgow) explains to Bacon s character, Ren, why dancing is forbidden: Even if this was not a law, which it is, I m afraid I would have a lot of difficulty endorsing an enterprise which is as fraught with genuine peril as I believe this one to be. Besides the liquor and the drugs which always seem to accompany such an event, the thing that distresses me even more, Ren, is the spiritual corruption that can be involved. These dances and this kind of music can be destructive.
Live@NationalSawdust:
Kyle Abraham, A.I.M, and Jlin (Toulmin Creator)
Choreographer and MacArthur Fellow Kyle Abraham and pioneering producer Jlin have come together to create a new commission exploring death, folklore, and reincarnation through a reimagining of Mozart’s Requiem in D minor. While Abraham’s work is typically performed in proscenium, for FERUS he has reconceptualized an excerpt from an evening length work, exploring abstracted movement for the digital landscape. The duet features Keerati Jinakunwiphat and Jae Neal from A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, costumed by highly noted designer Giles Deacon with musical excerpts by producer Jlin. Choreography created in collaboration with A.I.M. dancers Keerati Jinakunwiphat and Jae Neal. A short live discussion with the artists, moderated by National Sawdust’s Elena Park, followed the screening.