Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Tuesday through Thursday, April 11–13, 2023, 7:30pm
Friday, April 14, 2023, 8pm
Saturday, April 15, 2023, 2pm and 8pm
Sunday, April 16, 2023, 3pm
Zellerbach Hall
Bank of America is the North American Tour Sponsor of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
The 2023 North American Tour is supported, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Major funding of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is also provided by American Express, Bloomberg Philanthropies, BNY Mellon, Diageo North America, Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation, Ford Foundation, Fund II Foundation, Häagen-Dazs, The Hearst Foundations, Howard Gilman Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, NBA Foundation, New York City Center, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, Prudential, Salesforce, The SHS Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and Verizon Communications.
Run time for this performance is approximately 2 hours including two intermissions for all performances.
Due to a policy of the artist, there will be no late seating until after the first piece, which is 20 to 30 minutes into the programs.
Program
From the Executive and Artistic Director
As we move into the final weeks of the season, Cal Performances’ programming shows no signs of slowing down; indeed, April is traditionally one of our busiest months, and this year is certainly no exception.
During a period that begins with this season’s visit by the Bay Area’s legendary Kronos Quartet, and concludes with the highly anticipated West Coast premiere of Michel van der Aa’s chamber opera Blank Out starring Swedish soprano Miah Persson—who just made an impressive appearance with The English Concert in Handel’s Solomon at Zellerbach Hall—Bay Area audiences can look to Cal Performances for an ambitious lineup of live performances that few programs in the world can rival.
Also in store this month—and continuing a tradition that dates to the late 1960s—the beloved Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, a crown jewel among American companies, returns to campus for its annual residency. Three programs this year feature captivating dance from Artistic Director Robert Battle, Jamar Roberts, and Kyle Abraham; eye-opening new company productions of works from dance masters Twyla Tharp and Paul Taylor; the Bay Area premiere of a new production of Survivors, first created by Alvin Ailey in 1986 as a tribute to Nelson and Winnie Mandela; and a selection of Ailey classics, including the beloved Revelations. Each work on these programs reflects the timeless Ailey legacy of telling powerful and life-affirming stories through stunning dance.
Also part of our April schedule: the gifted harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani in his Cal Performances in-person debut; the Danish String Quartet in the third installment of its brilliant Doppelgänger Project, which pairs world premieres from a cohort of some of today’s most accomplished composers with major late-period chamber works by Schubert; new-music champion Sō Percussion in a concert featuring Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw as guest vocalist in the West Coast premiere of a luminous new set of songs Shaw co-composed with the members of the quartet; Latin jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera in an unmissable Bay Area appearance; George Hinchliffe’s devilishly irreverent and eclectic Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain in its Cal Performances debut; and masters of sacred Renaissance choral music The Tallis Scholars in a return engagement at Berkeley’s intimate First Congregational Church.
As the season draws to a close, Cal Performances’ Illuminations: “Human and Machine” programming will continue to take advantage of our unique positioning as a vital part of the world’s top-ranked public university. As we’ve done all season long, we’ll be engaging communities on and off campus to examine the evolution of tools such as musical instruments and electronics, the complex relationships between the creators and users of technology, the possibilities enabled by technology’s impact on the performing arts, and questions raised by the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in our society. A highlight of these activities has been our Human & Machine Song Contest, in which entrants submit original and previously unpublished songs or compositions integrating any technology (including AI) as a significant part of the creative process; the contest’s winners will be announced on April 22.
Given such a busy schedule, my boundless thanks and appreciation goes out to our tireless and dedicated staff, many of whom are currently (and equally) focused on not just this season, but also on the next. We are now deeply involved with putting the final touches on our plans to announce Cal Performances’ amazing 2023–24 season on April 18, and we can’t wait to share the details with you. Rest assured, we have an extraordinary season planned for you!
Thank you for joining us at Cal Performances. I look forward to seeing you in our halls throughout April and beyond.
Jeremy Geffen
Executive and Artistic Director, Cal Performances
As we move into the final weeks of the season, Cal Performances’ programming shows no signs of slowing down; indeed, April is traditionally one of our busiest months, and this year is certainly no exception.
During a period that begins with this season’s visit by the Bay Area’s legendary Kronos Quartet, and concludes with the highly anticipated West Coast premiere of Michel van der Aa’s chamber opera Blank Out starring Swedish soprano Miah Persson—who just made an impressive appearance with The English Concert in Handel’s Solomon at Zellerbach Hall—Bay Area audiences can look to Cal Performances for an ambitious lineup of live performances that few programs in the world can rival.
Also in store this month—and continuing a tradition that dates to the late 1960s—the beloved Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, a crown jewel among American companies, returns to campus for its annual residency. Three programs this year feature captivating dance from Artistic Director Robert Battle, Jamar Roberts, and Kyle Abraham; eye-opening new company productions of works from dance masters Twyla Tharp and Paul Taylor; the Bay Area premiere of a new production of Survivors, first created by Alvin Ailey in 1986 as a tribute to Nelson and Winnie Mandela; and a selection of Ailey classics, including the beloved Revelations. Each work on these programs reflects the timeless Ailey legacy of telling powerful and life-affirming stories through stunning dance.
Also part of our April schedule: the gifted harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani in his Cal Performances in-person debut; the Danish String Quartet in the third installment of its brilliant Doppelgänger Project, which pairs world premieres from a cohort of some of today’s most accomplished composers with major late-period chamber works by Schubert; new-music champion Sō Percussion in a concert featuring Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw as guest vocalist in the West Coast premiere of a luminous new set of songs Shaw co-composed with the members of the quartet; Latin jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera in an unmissable Bay Area appearance; George Hinchliffe’s devilishly irreverent and eclectic Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain in its Cal Performances debut; and masters of sacred Renaissance choral music The Tallis Scholars in a return engagement at Berkeley’s intimate First Congregational Church.
As the season draws to a close, Cal Performances’ Illuminations: “Human and Machine” programming will continue to take advantage of our unique positioning as a vital part of the world’s top-ranked public university. As we’ve done all season long, we’ll be engaging communities on and off campus to examine the evolution of tools such as musical instruments and electronics, the complex relationships between the creators and users of technology, the possibilities enabled by technology’s impact on the performing arts, and questions raised by the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in our society. A highlight of these activities has been our Human & Machine Song Contest, in which entrants submit original and previously unpublished songs or compositions integrating any technology (including AI) as a significant part of the creative process; the contest’s winners will be announced on April 22.
Given such a busy schedule, my boundless thanks and appreciation goes out to our tireless and dedicated staff, many of whom are currently (and equally) focused on not just this season, but also on the next. We are now deeply involved with putting the final touches on our plans to announce Cal Performances’ amazing 2023–24 season on April 18, and we can’t wait to share the details with you. Rest assured, we have an extraordinary season planned for you!
Thank you for joining us at Cal Performances. I look forward to seeing you in our halls throughout April and beyond.
Jeremy Geffen
Executive and Artistic Director, Cal Performances
About the Company
When Alvin Ailey and a small group of African American dancers took the stage on March 30, 1958, at New York City’s 92nd Street Y, the engagement was for one night only, but it turned out to be the start of a new era in the arts. Ailey envisioned a company dedicated to enriching the American modern dance heritage and preserving the uniqueness of the African American cultural experience. He became one of the trailblazers of modern dance, and the work of his company grew to encompass education, community outreach, and cultural diplomacy. To date, the company has gone on to perform for an estimated 25 million people at theaters in 48 states and 71 countries on six continents—as well as millions more through television, film, and online. More than 270 works by over 100 choreographers have been part of the Ailey repertory. In 2008, a US Congressional resolution designated the company as “a vital American cultural ambassador to the world.” Before his untimely death in 1989, Ailey named Judith Jamison as his successor, and over the next 21 years, she brought the company to unprecedented success. Jamison, in turn, personally selected Robert Battle to succeed her in 2011, and the New York Times declared he “has injected the company with new life.”
