Arts & Lectures
2005-2006 Performing Arts Season News Release
For Immediate Release

January 24, 2006

UCSB Arts & Lectures presents the inimitable style, energy and grace of the Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater at the Arlington Theatre

Summary Facts:

The world-renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AADT), famed for its soul-stirring, high-energy performances, returns to Santa Barbara after its sold-out Arlington show in 2004, on Tuesday, March 7 at 8 pm at the Arlington Theatre, 1317 State Street. Founded in 1958, the group maintains Alvin Ailey’s enduring and uplifting vision. A national institution that has touched the hearts of countless dance fans, the company features dancers who match physical virtuosity with emotional heat. New York magazine calls the AADT’s work, “The most gorgeous dancing you ever did see.”

This cornerstone of modern dance was set when Alvin Ailey led a group of African-American dancers in a 1958 performance at the 92nd Street Young Men’s Hebrew Association in New York. Since that fabled first show, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has gone on to perform for an estimated 21 million people throughout the United States and in nearly 71 other countries. The company has earned a reputation as one of the most acclaimed international ambassadors of American culture, promoting the uniqueness of the African-American experience and the preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance heritage.

One of the 20th century’s greatest choreographers, Alvin Ailey created 79 ballets over his lifetime. His most popular and acclaimed work Revelations, which will be performed as part of the Santa Barbara program, drew upon his “blood memories” of growing up in Texas, and in particular the inspiring spiritual, blues and gospel music of the south. After a December 2005 performance of Revelations, The New York Times wrote that the ballet “is 45 years old now, but its deceptively simple-looking patterns and staging and its heart-filling spirituality have remained fresh and continuously affecting.”

Judith Jamison has been artistic director of the troupe since Ailey’s untimely death in 1989. Jamison studied with Marion Cuyjet, was discovered by Agnes de Mille and made her New York debut with American Ballet Theatre in 1964. She became a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1965 and danced with the company for 15 years to great acclaim. Jamison has won numerous awards for her work as a dancer, teacher, choreographer and lecturer, and has been presented with a National Medal of Arts by President Bush, the most prestigious award given to artists in the United States.

In addition to Revelations, the Santa Barbara program features Love Stories, Acceptance in Surrender and Solo. Love Stories, Judith Jamison’s dynamic collaboration with hip-hop pioneer Rennie Harris and modern dance maverick Robert Battle, examines the technique, energy, movement and rhythm of African-American social dances. Under Jamison’s direction, the expressive voices and no-limits choreography of these three artists draw on variations of the Lindy hop, Philly bop, hip-hop and eclectic modern dance techniques to explore a love of movement, all set to the soundscape of engineer Darrin Ross and the music of the legendary Stevie Wonder. Ailey Company members Hope Boykin, Abdur-Rahim Jackson and Matthew Rushing have collaborated on the work Acceptance in Surrender, set to an original score by Philip Hamilton, that tells the story of a distraught woman who only realizes truth through submission and surrender. Solo, a company premiere for the 2005-2006 season choreographed by Hans van Manen, the resident choreographer of the Nederlands Dans Theater, is a fast-paced work created for three male dancers. A race of intricate footwork, the piece is performed at breakneck speed, with virtuosic moments for each dancer.

Members of the company will teach a Community Dance Class on Monday, March 6 at 7:30 pm at Dance Studio, Santa Barbara City College. It costs $15 for participants and $5 for observers. This event is sponsored the Santa Barbara Dance Alliance; for information and to make a reservation, please phone (805) 966-6950.

Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and sponsored by the Santa Barbara Independent, Metropolitan Theatres Corporation and KRUZ Radio. The performance is generously supported by Virginia Castagnola-Hunter and the Towbes Foundation and funded in part by the Community Events & Festivals Program using funds provided by the City of Santa Barbara in partnership with the SB County Arts Commission. It is presented in cooperation with the Santa Barbara Dance Alliance. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is sponsored by Morgan Stanley.

Tickets are $50 and $40 for the general public and $25 for UCSB students who must show valid ID at ticket purchase and the evening of the show. Ticket prices are subject to convenience fees. Tickets are on sale now and can also be purchased at the door, if still available.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535,
or the Arlington Ticket Agency at (805) 963-4408.

Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.

©2006 UCSB Arts & Lectures, University of California, Santa Barbara