If you were at UTC’s Roland W. Hayes Concert Hall on Sunday night, then you know that the Tennessee Lottery came early, and there were a lot of winners, namely the people in the audience. The modern dance group Ailey II blew into town for one night as part of the Patten Performances series, and the low and behold they actually had to turn other people away at the door. Chattanooga’s secret dance cult showed up in droves because they knew a very good thing was going to happen there. There are few things as invigorating as a theatre filled to the gills. It also helps to pay the bills. The only tragedy was that they didn’t lock the doors to keep the Ailey dancers inside a few more nights.
The Hayes Hall, which usually exudes a predominant air of stodginess was suddenly very much the right place to see this electric company. There are no bad seats and everyone is close. I was perched above the last row, and it didn’t matter one bit. With a bare stage and relatively simple, but very effective lighting, Ailey II demonstrated at once both the total power and beauty of dance.
Ailey II was first created in 1974 to highlight and display the talents of the younger dancers connected with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, one of this country’s principal modern dance companies. They combine the disciplines of ballet, jazz, modern, and African dance to create an extremely exciting amalgam that is guaranteed to keep you mesmerized.
The company dancers come from all over the U.S. and Canada, and they typify the state of dance as an art form. There are extremely dedicated training and development programs in virtually every city, including Chattanooga, who create an intensely devoted substrata who toil away mostly unnoticed by their hometowns. The cream of this crop then migrate usually to New York, our dance Mecca. The Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation is currently in the process of building the nation’s largest dance facility on Manhattan’s Westside. It will undoubtedly attract even more young dancers from the hinterlands.
Southern cities like Chattanooga are a perfect venue for the Ailey II dancers, since their work actually fuses a variety of musical forms which emanated throughout this country from the South, namely jazz, African rhythms, and spirituals, which were used respectively to compose the three sections of the evening. Alvin Ailey merged his own roots with highly classical dance forms like ballet to create his company’s very distinctive style.
The South has yet to corral its own vast creative energies for its own. It’s hard to think of an indigenous American art form that does not have its roots in the South, but it almost always has to migrate elsewhere to acquire polish and commercial potential, and then come back in a package – but for only one night this time around. Word of mouth should seep out on Ailey II enough to generate several nights the next time around. Send your postcards and e-mails now asking for dates.
The evening’s first selection was entitled “The Tyner Project” and featured the musical of composer McCoy Tyner. The costumes featured various shades of purple.
The final selection of the evening was entitled “Revelations” and was choreographed by Alvin Ailey himself in 1960. The costumes this time around were mainly brown and yellow. The first part of a ten-part part selection was called “I Been ‘Buked,” and it features Ailiy’s signature moment when eight dancers form a V and all extend their arms out in a wing-like fashion. You’ve probably seen a picture of it somewhere.
“Revelations” also included “You May Run On” which will make you want to save your old Sunday-go-to-church hand fans.
However, it was the middle selection that had in it a piece called “The Hunt” choreographed by Robert Battle that literally blew the roof off the building. Six men in long black and red skirts and bare-chested enacted a tribal ritual where it was hard to tell if the quarry was animal or human. If you think dance is for sissies, this one will change your mind. It also demonstrated that dancers are probably the most in shape people in the world. I know the NBA likes to make this claim, but I don’t think any of its players would have made it through half of this thing. It was without doubt one of the finest things I have seen on any stage in Chattanooga ever. Get in the long line to see this one alone if it comes back. Only fools will miss it.
The Pattern Performances series will continue January 24 and 25 with the Aquila Theatre Company’s productions of The Man Who Would be King and Othello. I have seen Aquila’s work before several times. They feature strong classical material presented with a modern point of view. I’d say they are definitely worth seeing. Call 425-4269 for tickets.