ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre

★★★★★

“A great introduction to the company, and modern dance, for modern audiences”

This year is the first time Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has performed in the UK since 2019 and they are making the most of the opportunity. The fifteen show run at Sadler’s Wells treats audiences to four different programmes spanning a wide range of classics and more contemporary pieces.

Most programmes end with the iconic and uplifting Revelations, created by the company’s founder-choreographer in 1960. It is a masterpiece of modern dance, a tribute to Ailey’s southern American upbringing – standing the test of time through its combination of moving spirituals, evocative costume, and as a piece which allows the company’s large cast of dancers the opportunity to demonstrate their technical prowess. It’s the most rehearsed, most precisely directed piece of the programme. The artistry is evident, with the smallest movements of the arms, hands, or hips often having the most powerful impact. I only wished the music could be louder – ear-drum-bustingly so – to be transported all the more into a southern baptismal church where the power of the music means you can’t help but find yourself dancing in the aisles.

In a clever programming decision, the opening piece in many ways mirrors Revelations, as a celebration of the contemporary black experience. Are You in Your Feelings? was created for the company by Kyle Abraham and is set to popular black music from Kendrick Lamar to Jazmine Sullivan. It is a playful piece with plenty of humour, bright neon lights and costumes contrasting with the muted tones of Revelations. From braggadocious displays of street swagger, through to voguing and intimate pas de deux, mixed and same gender, Abraham clearly has a broad church when seeking to represent the black experience.

The choreography here is more relaxed than the other works, informed by classical techniques but taking its cue from the musical choices, and likely the dancers own unique styles. Some moments, like when doing a pastiche of a petit allegro to a Drake song, don’t quite come off. But that doesn’t detract from enjoyment. Ashley Kaylynn Green is undoubtedly the star of the show. She intuitively melts into each and every movement, or jolts her isolations like a bolt of lightning. Her face lights up the stage and she looks like she’s having the time of her life – you can’t take your eyes off her.

The two pieces that act as the bridge between the contemporary and classic are For Four and Unfold, both by current artistic director Robert Battle. For Four is a high intensity jazz number where the rapid and precise movements of the four dancers have a specificity to the music. Unfold, set to an operatic aria, takes a much slower pace, but appears no less demanding on the dancers. But neither piece is just a beautiful display of talent; each leaves you with questions about what you were really watching. The jazz formula is broken in For Four when one of the dancers breaks out of their braces and waistcoat and dances in a spotlight of the american flag. Ashley Mayeux’s movements in Unfold get steadily more unnerving and unnatural, until she looks like a woman possessed. No explanations are given in either piece, and you are left wondering what it could all mean – an interesting contrast to the relatively simple narratives in the other half of the programme.

The four year hiatus from UK shores has done nothing but increase anticipation for this iconic American company who have delivered with crowd-pleasers and more challenging works. This is a must-see show for dance aficionados and amateurs alike. A great introduction to the company, and modern dance, for modern audiences.