Dance Review: Ailey II Inspires

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Ailey 2 Movin' OnAiley II performs a thrilling evening of works choreographed by Christopher Huggins, Chang Yong Sung, Troy Powell, and George Faison at their beautiful in-house facility, the Ailey Citigroup Theater.  As expected of any Ailey production, whether it be from the first or second company, the dancers are in top form with this two hour performance demonstrating the very essence of technical grace and precision that all aspiring concert dancers strive to achieve.

The first piece of the evening is The External Knot choreographed by Troy Powell. The costumes,  nicely designed by Jon Taylor, have the girls in dresses and the men in high-waist pants both consisting of blue and black velvet stripes.  The music for The External Knot is by Phillip Glass who always seems to produce inspiring work. Troy Powell is able to grasp the nuances of Glass’ composition by working the choreography in a way that seems to comment on the search of something or someone special.  The stand out performance is by Renaldo Gardner who truly takes his place as the soloist leading this piece.  There is a lot of nice partnering created by Powell in which he has Gardner searching for someone to be his other half.  An excellent performer, Gardner (definitely a candidate for Ailey’s senior company I say) commands the stage as a technically proficient dancer who knows how to get down!

Photo by Eduardo Patino, NYC, Ailey II The second piece, Requiem, choreographed by Chang Yong Sung is a masterpiece!  Sung masters the use of technique with finding his own movement style which is punctual, edgy, and extremely athletic.  The duet consists of intricate and explosive movement that is extremely emotionally driven.  Crazy jumps and turns and complex arm patterns are accompanied by exciting and percussive music by Clint Mansell.  Yaaaaaas!

The Third piece, When Dawn Comes, choreographed by Christopher Huggins, is a piece about the feelings of couples as they spend the night together, touching on the emotional complexities that surround this situation.  Huggins choreography consists of very interesting motifs and creative uses of the body. The movement is a nice mix of throwing the body and release with controlled turns and lifts.  Megan Jakel did her thing in this piece as she performs with crazy energy!.  Love her . . .

Join iDANZ Today!The last piece is George Faison’s Movin On which recreates the mood of Harlem in the 20’s. The men really rock this piece as they are able to show their precision AND their ability to really recreate a character.  Ghrai DeVore really works it as she is able to really get into character while still showing off her lovely lines and facility…. She is in the back for the first section but my eye keeps going to her….I see you girl!  Chang Yong Sung and Renaldo Gardner also shows off exceptional energy and precision in this piece as well as Jarvis Mckinley who kills it, giving you face, leg, turns, and attitude!

Overall, it is inspiring  to see the up-and-comers of Ailey’s second company.  Ailey II dancers are phenomenal and they do a fine job representing the vastness of what modern dance can be.  Don’t miss them.  Ailey II performs through April 26, 2009.

IDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by JoiLynn
Performance: Ailey II
Choreographers:  Troy Powell, Christopher Huggins, George Faison, Chang Yong Sung
Venue: Ailey Citigroup Theater, NYC
Date: Thursday, April 16th, 2009
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