As the lights came up on Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater‘s production of Petite Mort, somebody in the audience whooped. “Ow!!”
Like Petite Mort, a company premiere for AAADT, Minus 16 (performed here again this year) gains new force and meaning before an African-American audience. Both works are packed with witty surprises, made for laughter and applause. Moreover, during one extended, affectionate scene, Minus 16 brings audience members onstage to dance. These dances satisfy the need for audience participation—a prominent feature of the African-American performing arts, maybe because of the call-and-response form of field songs, maybe because of the way storefront churchgoers testify. They’re inspired repertory choices. You can’t have a conversation about race without getting everybody in the same room. That’s something AAADT has always done well, and Battle’s battle plan promises to further that not-insignificant achievement.
The Ailey company is now such a strong institution—in every way—that it can afford to take risks. Battle’s stance seems to be that, if AAADT is doing it, it’s African-American. That kind of confident self-identity gives the company an unprecedented artistic freedom. The next step would be to expand its emotional and cultural range by exploring the downbeat.
Through 3/17: Wed-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 2 and 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress, 800-982-2787, auditoriumtheatre.org, $32-$92. Program content differs by performance; check website for specifics.
