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Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
returns to The Auditorium March 7-9
REVIEW
By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara
Last night Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at Auditorium Theatre was as stunning as ever. This weekend marks the Company’s 56th visit to The Auditorium and we're here for it. I've seen Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater a number of times and their astonishing talent, superior production values, kinetic costume design, and barefoot brilliance is sure to impress.
Ailey’s Solomon Dumas, Constance Stamatiou and Yazzmeen Laidler in Alvin Ailey's Revelations
All Photos by Paul Kolnik unless otherwise noted
This company exudes world class strength, style, and grace! The lighting is a character unto itself and the score is so good you’ll be humming it for days. It's inspiring to see such tight ensemble work and stellar solo artists. Their 2025 tour is a great mix of acclaimed Alvin Ailey classics dating back to the 60s, mixed with new works.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Jamar Roberts Al-Andalus Blues.
It was chilly and sleeting on this March Chicago night, but Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater brought the soul warming sun!
It gave me such joy to see a beautiful mix of races and ages in the audience, from silver haired elders, to enthusiastic teens, and wide eyed children. What a wonderful exposure to the arts and to dance in particular. According to The Auditorium CEO Rich Regan, “In addition to our public programming, we are proud to be offering two student performances by the Company this year, enabling The Auditorium to introduce thousands of students to this inspiring, dynamic company.”
I feel so fortunate to catch an excerpt of Cry in honor of Ms. Judith Jamison, the beloved Company dancer and Artistic Director Emerita who passed away in late 2024.
Alvin Ailey’s Cry pays tribute to the late Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison on opening night, while Ailey masterpiece Revelations concludes both programs.
Cry excerpt (1971) Alvin Ailey choreographed the solo ballet, Cry, as a birthday present for his mother; it went on to become an enduring work of American art. First danced by the legendary Judith Jamison, an excerpt of this powerful work dedicated to "all black women everywhere - especially our mothers" will be performed on the opening night program (Friday, March 7) as a tribute to Ms. Judith Jamison, the beloved Company dancer and Artistic Director Emerita who passed away in late 2024.
This weekend is also special because Chicago’s own Vernard J. Gilmore is celebrating his farewell hometown engagement with Ailey, taking his final bow after 28 seasons with the Company. He was met with enthusiastic applause and well deserved ovations. The Auditorium Theatre was packed to the upper balconies with adoring fans of hometown favorite, Gilmore and his impressively long dance career. It was breathtaking to see him so joyfully embraced.
Currently the longest tenured Company member, the Englewood native began his professional dance training at Curie Performing and Creative Arts High School before receiving a scholarship to The Ailey School, performing with Ailey II, and joining Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1997.
The company is only in Chicago for 4 performances, so catch them live this weekend if you can! Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is truly a treat. Don't miss this! Highly recommended. ★★★★ Four out of four stars.
Bonnie is a Chicago based writer, theatre critic, photographer, artist, and Mama to 2 amazing adults. She owns two websites where she publishes frequently: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly).
The Auditorium proudly presents the 2025 Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Chicago season featuring two programs packed with premieres March 7-9, 2025
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, one of the world’s most popular dance companies, returns to The Auditorium, Chicago’s landmark stage at 50 E Ida B. Wells Drive, in four performances only, Friday-Sunday, March 7-9, 2025 as part of a coast-to-coast 2025 United States tour in a season celebrating the life and legacy of Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison (1943-2024).
Led by Interim Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, the passionate spirit and extraordinary technique of Ailey’s dancers will be showcased in two exciting programs featuring a trio of Chicago premieres alongside compelling new productions and beloved Ailey Classics including Alvin Ailey’s must-see signature masterpiece Revelations. Tickets start at $39.00 and are now available at AuditoriumTheatre.org. or by calling The Auditorium’s Ticket Service Center at 312.341.2300.
New works abound by Hope Boykin, Lar Lubovitch, and Matthew Rushing, plus 25th anniversary restaging of Ronald K. Brown’s rapturous Grace, and new production of Elisa Monte’s mesmerizing duet Treading.
“Auditorium audiences welcome Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater with great enthusiasm each Spring, knowing a joyful experience awaits, and this year’s programming will be no exception. In this, the Company’s 56th visit to The Auditorium, we are saddened by the recent passing of the legendary Ailey dancer and Artistic Director, Judith Jamison, with whom we collaborated many times, but are pleased to pay tribute with a special opening night performance featuring an excerpt of Cry, the exuberant Ailey work that became her signature,” said The Auditorium CEO Rich Regan.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Alvin Aileys Revelations. Photo by Danica Paulos
In addition to the inspiring finale of Revelations for all performances, the programs for the 2025 Chicago engagement of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater are as follows: Friday, March 7 at 7:30pm & Sunday, March 9, at 3pm
Grace (1999, Chicago Premiere of 25th anniversary production) Set to Duke Ellington's classic "Come Sunday," Peven Everett’s hit "Gabriel," and the irresistible pulse of Fela Kuti's Afro-Pop, Ronald K. Brown’s spellbinding work depicts individuals on a journey to the promised land, expanding from a single angel-like figure in white to the fireball intensity of 12 powerful dancers. Here, the secular and sacred meet in a tour-de-force connecting African and American dance.
Finding Free (2024, Chicago Premiere) by former Company member Hope Boykin who returns to explore personal freedoms in this collaboration with pianist Matthew Whitaker who is composing an original score. This insightful work uses Boykin’s movement-language and Whitaker’s jazz- and gospel-influenced music to examine the challenges and restrictions throughout life’s peaks and valleys that propel the journey forward.
Ailey’s Caroline Dartey and James Gilmer in Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish's Me, Myself and You.
Saturday, March 8 at 1pm & 7:30pm
Sacred Songs (2024, Chicago Premiere) by Matthew Rushing features music used in the original 1960 premiere of Alvin Ailey’s seminal Revelations but later omitted when the piece was edited into the current version that has captivated audiences for decades. Drawing inspiration from the roots of Mr. Ailey’s most venerated and consummate creation, this stirring new work will resurrect and reimagine those spirituals—with the collaboration of musical director Du’Bois A’Keen—as an offering to our present need for lamentation, faith, and joy.
Treading (1979, Chicago Premiere of new production) by Elisa Monte is a sculptural, mesmerizing duet featuring fluid, intricate movements that combine with Steve Reich's evocative music to create an aura of mystery and sensuality.
Many Angels (2024, Chicago Premiere) by Lar Lubovitch in his first premiere for the Company, features the native Chicago choreographer’s renowned lush choreography and musicality set to Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. Many Angels is inspired by a question posed by 13th century theologian St. Thomas Aquinas, “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?,” illustrating that some questions have no logical response but are understood as a question of faith.
Culminating each program will be Alvin Ailey’s must-see American masterpiece Revelations, acclaimed around the world for sending hearts soaring and lifting audiences to their feet with its perfect blend of reverent grace and spiritual elation. Since its debut in 1960, Revelations has been moving audiences with its powerful storytelling and soul-stirring music, evoking timeless themes of determination, hope, and transcendence. An intimate reflection of Mr. Ailey’s childhood memories of growing up in the South and attending services at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Texas, Revelations pays homage to the rich cultural heritage of the African American community and explores the emotional spectrum of the human condition.
Ailey’s Chalvar Monteiro in Hans van Manen’s Solo. Photo by Daniel Azoulay
2025 Chicago program & performance schedule
Friday, March 7 at 7:30pm & Sunday, March 9, at 3pm
Grace, Finding Free, Cry* (excerpt), Revelations
*Friday only: Special Opening Night excerpt of Cry as a tribute to Ms. Jamison.
Saturday, March 8 at 1pm & 7:30pm
Sacred Songs, Treading, Many Angels, Revelations
In addition to these four public performances, the Company will present two student matinees at The Auditorium, reaching thousands of youths with an inspiring program of Ailey Classics on Thursday, March 6 and Friday, March 7 at 11am.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Alvin Ailey's Revelations
About Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, recognized by U.S. Congressional resolution as a vital American “Cultural Ambassador to the World,” grew from a now-fabled March 1958 performance in New York that changed forever the perception of American dance. Forged during a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement, the Company was established to uplift the African American experience while transcending boundaries of race, faith, and nationality with its universal humanity. Founded by Alvin Ailey, the posthumous recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the nation’s highest civilian honor. Before his untimely death in 1989, Mr. Ailey named Judith Jamison as his successor, and for 21 years she led the Company to unprecedented success. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has performed for an estimated 25 million people in 71 countries on 6 continents—as well as millions more through television broadcasts, film screenings, and online platforms—promoting the uniqueness of the African American cultural experience and the preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance tradition. In addition to being the Principal Dance Company of New York City Center, where its performances have become a year‐end tradition, the Ailey company performs annually at The Auditorium; Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC; The Fox Theatre in Atlanta; Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, CA, and at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark where it is the Principal Resident Affiliate, and appears frequently in other major theaters throughout the United States and the world during extensive yearly tours. The Ailey organization also includes Ailey II (1974), a second performing company of emerging young dancers and innovative choreographers; The Ailey School (1969), one of the most extensive dance training programs in the world; Ailey Arts in Education & Community Programs, which brings dance into the classrooms, communities, and lives of people of all ages; and Ailey Extension (2005), a program offering dance and fitness classes to the general public, which began with the opening of Ailey’s permanent home—the largest building dedicated to dance in New York City, the dance capital of the world—named The Joan Weill Center for Dance, at 55th Street at 9th Avenue in New York City. For more information, visit ailey.org.
The compelling story of the life, work, and legacy of Alvin Ailey is the subject of Portrait of Ailey, a new eight-part documentary series available for free on PBS LearningMedia. Created by Ailey II Artistic Director Emerita Sylvia Waters, Portrait of Ailey uses rare historical film and still images as well as contemporary footage to create a sweeping narrative of Mr. Ailey as a performer, choreographer, celebrity, teacher, social activist, arts advocate, and the creator of an enduring institution. All eight chapters are currently available online.
About The Auditorium
The Auditorium, located at 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive in Chicago, is an Illinois not-for-profit organization committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural, community, and educational programming to all of Chicago and beyond as The Theatre for the People. The organization also is committed to the continued restoration and preservation of this National Historic Landmark that originally opened in 1889. The Auditorium’s 2024-25 performance season features a dynamic mix of cultural events from ballet to rock and roll and everything in between. For more information on The Auditorium and a complete listing of events at The Auditorium, please visit AuditoriumTheatre.org.
