Vespers part II, Alvin Ailey Dance Theater

Alvin Ailey dance theater does it again! The company delivers another amazing performance proving why they are one of the best companies in the indusrty today. The piece Vespers was choreographed by Ulysses Dove and was performed by six of Ailey's female dancers.

The dancers all wore the same knee length black dress that hugged the curves of their bodies, but still expressed sophistication. Each dancer used two chair throughout the piece, one on each side of the stage. The chairs placed stage right were in a formation separating the dancers from one another. The chairs stage left were lined up in a straight line.

This section of the piece began with a solo, with the addition of other dancers one by one as the choreography progressed. The movement was very athletic but contained soft, feminine gestures as well. Many motifs stood out to me such as the high arches in the chairs stage left, the firm pulling of the dresses and the grounded runs to and from the chairs. I especially enjoyed the end of the section when the dancers broke off into individual solos. Each solo was very powerful and incorporated movements in previous choreography.

Vespers is a piece that leaves the message up for interprtation. the overall them that Ulysses Dove wanted to express to the audience may be totally different from the was it percieved. i believe the dancers are women who want to show the world that they are elegant and soft but at the same time very powerful and outspoken. Vespers is always breathtaking each time I wach it and the Alvin Ailey dancers add the icing to the cake!