Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Tuesday and Thursday, April 8-10, 2025, 7:30pm
Friday, April 11, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, April 12, 2025, 2pm and 8pm
Sunday, April 13, 2025, 3pm
Zellerbach Hall
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s 2024–25 season celebrates the life and legacy of Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison (1943–2024).
Bank of America is the 2025 North American Tour Sponsor.
Major funding of AILEY is provided by AARP, Anonymous, American Express, Bank of America, Bloomberg Philanthropies, BNY Mellon, Diageo North America, Ford Foundation, Fund II Foundation, The Hearst Foundations, Howard Gilman Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Mellon Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The Prudential Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Southern Company, The Thompson Family Foundation, and Verizon Communications.
Cal Performances is committed to fostering a welcoming, inclusive, and safe environment for all one that honors our venues as places of respite, openness, and respect. Please see the Community Agreements section on our Policies page for more information.
From the Executive and Artistic Director
As Cal Performances’ 2024–25 season nears its conclusion, it’s natural to look back at some of the highlights we’ve enjoyed since last September. We will all have our favorite moments—times when a performance seemed to leap off the stage and speak to us individually. But if such experiences can be deeply personal, they also rely on the communal act of gathering together and opening our hearts to the miracle of artistic expression. As this particular season winds down, I want to thank each of you for taking part in the magic of great—and live!—music, theater, and dance.
Over the coming weeks, our season’s Illuminations theme of “Fractured History” will continue to enrich our understanding of the past and explore how our notions of history affect our present and future. In April, we’ll see three such programs: Story Boldly’s Defining Courage, an immersive event—combining film, live music, and eyewitness interviews—commemorating the struggles and sacrifices of the Nisei soldiers of World War II (Apr 4, Zellerbach Hall [ZH]); the long-awaited Cal Performances debut of the renowned Brazilian dance troupe Grupo Corpo (Apr 25–26, ZH); and the UK’s brilliant early-music ensemble The English Concert in a concert presentation of Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto, a stirring tale of love, betrayal, family drama, and political intrigue under the assured direction of Harry Bicket and featuring dazzling British soprano Louise Alder as Cleopatra and French countertenor Christophe Dumaux as her Caesar (Apr 27, ZH; see page 23 for more information).
Once again, springtime brings the return of the beloved Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Apr 8–13, ZH). With its UC Berkeley relationship now in its 57th year (Ailey has visited campus every non-pandemic year since 1968), the company will present four separate programs featuring Bay Area premieres of four new works—Jamar Roberts’ Al-Andalus Blues, Matthew Rushing’s Sacred Songs, Hope Boykin’s Finding Free, and Lar Lubovitch’s Many Angels—that recently received their world premieres at New York’s City Center, as well as new productions of Ronald K. Brown’s Grace (1999) and Elisa Monte’s Treading (1979). The company’s current season celebrates the life and legacy of Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison, who passed away last November, and Cal Performances dedicates this year’s Ailey Week and AileyCamp to her legacy as well.
And I must also mention of the upcoming visit by our great friends at the Mark Morris Dance Group (Apr 19–21), returning to their West Coast home-away-from-home with encore performances of the Cal Performance co-commissioned Pepperland (May 9–11, ZH), the smash hit of our 2018–19 season. You won’t want to miss this crowd-pleasing romp through the Beatles’ beloved and groundbreaking concept album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
This season comes to a close a little later than usual, on June 21, when composer, vocalist, and banjo virtuoso Rhiannon Giddens and the Old-Time Revue arrive at Zellerbach Hall. Until then, we still have much to look forward to: concerts with the commanding Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes (Apr 1, ZH); Broadway superstar Patti LuPone with her Songs from a Hat program featuring pianist Joseph Thalken (Apr 5, ZH); Owls, a fresh and original new string quartet collective comprised of violinist Alexi Kenney, violist Ayane Kozasa, and cellists Gabriel Cabezas and Paul Wiancko (Apr 13, Hertz Hall); and a special 500th-birthday celebration of Italian composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s music with Berkeley favorites The Tallis Scholars (May 2, First Congregational Church).
Finally, I hope you’ll join us on April 15, when we announce our 2025–26 season, featuring more than 80 extraordinary performances. We can’t wait to share the details! (And, if you’re reading this after April 15, we hope you have taken a moment to review all the exciting events coming up, beginning this summer! See the website for details.
Thank you for joining us this season. I look forward to seeing you again in the fall.
Jeremy Geffen
Executive and Artistic Director, Cal Performances
As Cal Performances’ 2024–25 season nears its conclusion, it’s natural to look back at some of the highlights we’ve enjoyed since last September. We will all have our favorite moments—times when a performance seemed to leap off the stage and speak to us individually. But if such experiences can be deeply personal, they also rely on the communal act of gathering together and opening our hearts to the miracle of artistic expression. As this particular season winds down, I want to thank each of you for taking part in the magic of great—and live!—music, theater, and dance.
Over the coming weeks, our season’s Illuminations theme of “Fractured History” will continue to enrich our understanding of the past and explore how our notions of history affect our present and future. In April, we’ll see three such programs: Story Boldly’s Defining Courage, an immersive event—combining film, live music, and eyewitness interviews—commemorating the struggles and sacrifices of the Nisei soldiers of World War II (Apr 4, Zellerbach Hall [ZH]); the long-awaited Cal Performances debut of the renowned Brazilian dance troupe Grupo Corpo (Apr 25–26, ZH); and the UK’s brilliant early-music ensemble The English Concert in a concert presentation of Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto, a stirring tale of love, betrayal, family drama, and political intrigue under the assured direction of Harry Bicket and featuring dazzling British soprano Louise Alder as Cleopatra and French countertenor Christophe Dumaux as her Caesar (Apr 27, ZH; see page 23 for more information).
Once again, springtime brings the return of the beloved Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Apr 8–13, ZH). With its UC Berkeley relationship now in its 57th year (Ailey has visited campus every non-pandemic year since 1968), the company will present four separate programs featuring Bay Area premieres of four new works—Jamar Roberts’ Al-Andalus Blues, Matthew Rushing’s Sacred Songs, Hope Boykin’s Finding Free, and Lar Lubovitch’s Many Angels—that recently received their world premieres at New York’s City Center, as well as new productions of Ronald K. Brown’s Grace (1999) and Elisa Monte’s Treading (1979). The company’s current season celebrates the life and legacy of Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison, who passed away last November, and Cal Performances dedicates this year’s Ailey Week and AileyCamp to her legacy as well.
And I must also mention of the upcoming visit by our great friends at the Mark Morris Dance Group (Apr 19–21), returning to their West Coast home-away-from-home with encore performances of the Cal Performance co-commissioned Pepperland (May 9–11, ZH), the smash hit of our 2018–19 season. You won’t want to miss this crowd-pleasing romp through the Beatles’ beloved and groundbreaking concept album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
This season comes to a close a little later than usual, on June 21, when composer, vocalist, and banjo virtuoso Rhiannon Giddens and the Old-Time Revue arrive at Zellerbach Hall. Until then, we still have much to look forward to: concerts with the commanding Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes (Apr 1, ZH); Broadway superstar Patti LuPone with her Songs from a Hat program featuring pianist Joseph Thalken (Apr 5, ZH); Owls, a fresh and original new string quartet collective comprised of violinist Alexi Kenney, violist Ayane Kozasa, and cellists Gabriel Cabezas and Paul Wiancko (Apr 13, Hertz Hall); and a special 500th-birthday celebration of Italian composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s music with Berkeley favorites The Tallis Scholars (May 2, First Congregational Church).
Finally, I hope you’ll join us on April 15, when we announce our 2025–26 season, featuring more than 80 extraordinary performances. We can’t wait to share the details! (And, if you’re reading this after April 15, we hope you have taken a moment to review all the exciting events coming up, beginning this summer! See the website for details.
Thank you for joining us this season. I look forward to seeing you again in the fall.
Jeremy Geffen
Executive and Artistic Director, Cal Performances
About the Company
Founded by Alvin Ailey on March 30, 1958, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is one of the most acclaimed dance companies in the world. With a repertory that boasts close to 300 works by more than 100 choreographers, it has performed in more than 70 countries on six continents and has been designated a “vital American Cultural Ambassador to the world” by a US Congressional resolution. Forged during a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was established to uplift the African American experience while transcending boundaries of race, faith, and nationality with its universal humanity. Ailey invited dancers of all backgrounds to be a part of his vision while reimagining his company as a “library of dance,” a home for a wide range of choreographers’ works that might otherwise be lost. Before his untimely death in 1989, Ailey named Judith Jamison as his successor, and for 21 years she brought the company to unprecedented success. In 2011, she selected Robert Battle as her successor; he stewarded the company until 2023. Today, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater continues to bring joy to audiences around the globe, while expanding its repertory with works by new choreographers and upholding Ailey’s legacy for future generations.
