Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater continues its Ailey All Access programming with Artistic Director Robert Battle's repertory Ella and In/Side , which begins streaming August 13 at 7 PM ET. Watch it on AAADT's YouTube.
Using a live concert recording of Ella Fitzgerald’s “Airmail Special,” Ella matches the singer’s virtuosic scatting with lightning-fast, articulated movement. Nina Simone’s “Wild is the Wind” plays out in Battle’s solo In/Side, originally commissioned by Dance New Amsterdam as part of a celebration of the spirit of male dancers in NYC in light of the AIDS epidemic.
The company offers access to free performance broadcasts from its repertory every Thursday. The online platform also offers dance and fitness class, original short films, conversation series, and more.
The series continues August 20 with the streaming debut of Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s Shelter, a statement about the physical and emotional deprivation of homeless people. Set to a score with percussion by Junior “Gabu” Wedderburn, and poetry by Hattie Gossett and Laurie Carlos, the ballet includes a new ending with revised text highlighting recent hurricanes and how our shelter can be threatened by climate change.