A Tribute to Alvon Ailey

This two-part dance tribute to the great black choreographer Alvin Ailey (1931-89) was recorded in studio and features performances of four keys works from the repertoire of the company he founded. The ballets are introduced by Judith Jamison, the dancer and choreographer whose career was nurtured to stardom by Ailey and who succeeded him as director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Programme One: Gary Deloatch leads the company as the jazz musician Charlie 'Bird' Parker in Ailey's For Bird With Love. Inspired by Parker's music, this dramatic ballet evokes his life in scenes which bear out the maxim that genius has its price: Parker lost his life-long battle with drugs and alcohol in 1955. One of Ailey's last works was Witness. Set to traditional Negro spirituals, it continued the line of moving pieces he created for solo female dancers. It is danced here by Marilyn Banks. Programme Two: Alvin Ailey created Memoria to celebrate the memory of his friend, the choreographer/dancer Joyce Trisler, after her death in 1979. It is a lyrical work set to music by Keith Jarrett, and features several principal dancers plus corps de ballet. The second part of this double bill is Episodes, a ballet choreographed by Ailey's protégé Ulysses Dove. It is set to original music by Robert Ruggieri.