since succeeding the regal Judith Jamison in 2011. The ballet nods to his rise and celebrates company founder Alvin Ailey (1931-1989), who rose from poverty in small-town Texas to help shape modern black dance. Ailey’s pulse is still vibrant throughout the company. When Jamison choseBattle to succeed her, the first thing he did was visit the company’s archives to read interviews she did when Ailey died. “In every one she would evoke his name or spirit in some way,” he says. It didn’t end there. 12 ENCOREATLANTA.COM
“Even in her staff meetings, she would always remind everybody — from marketing to arts and education to maintenance — she would talk about Alvin and say, ‘You must remember he’s the reason we are all here. We are not forgetting where we came from. We are always honoring that.’ ” Awakenings, an 18-minute world premiere for 12 dancers, is something of a rite of passage. The central figure is trying to reach another plane of existence, and his community is inspiring him in the effort.
PAUL KOLNIK
ABOVE: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Robert Battle’s No Longer Silent. BELOW: AAADT’s Jamar Roberts in Robert Battle’s Awakening