Word: ailey
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Jamison, artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and 28 members of her internationally acclaimed troupe began an emotional 15-day tour of South Africa last week. In Johannesburg, Pretoria and the sprawling black township of Soweto, the troupe presented hands-on workshops and dazzling stage performances of Ailey classics, including Night Creature, Vespers and Revelations. Enthusiastic audiences clapped, whooped and sometimes danced in the aisles...
...first time that the Ailey company, the pre-eminent African-American dance troupe in the U.S., has visited the African nation, long deprived of access to international artists by the cultural boycott of the old apartheid regime. South African officials hailed the visit as a major event. "This is the end of a long drought," said Johannesburg executive-committee chairman M.C. Matjila after the premiere performance Thursday night in the city's Civic Theater. "We are back in the international arena and able to host world-famous theater groups like this. It gives us pride after what we fought...
...trip has been Jamison's dream ever since Nelson Mandela's release from Victor Verster Prison Farm in 1990 signaled the beginning of the end of apartheid. "I feel like I'm coming home," said the majestic 54-year-old former dancer who took over the company following Ailey's death in 1989. "This is my homeland, my lineage. South Africans are not the same as African Americans, but we greet each other as brothers and sisters because we've both been through turmoil and we understand that. We have so much to learn from them, and they have...
...fact that Harvard did not garner a single first-place finish in any event at Heps and had only one second-place result--thanks to senior Ailey Penningroth's 3524;3 in the Pentathlon--certainly did not help the Crimson in the standings...
Altogether, the evening was an amazing mix of jazz and gospel, fast-paced dance and tenderly spiritual prayer. The Alvin Ailey company performed superbly and should be highly anticipated when it returns next spring...