Walter’s World: Weekend Picks- Dance and Celebrating Greatness

This weekend begins the December holiday season. Dance seems to dominate the array of arts offered throughout the city. We have three dance companies performing downtown, midtown and uptown and we continue to celebrate the genius of a twentieth century master. Here are a few of the many events taking place around the city and in our community.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater began their annual five-week holiday season Wednesday, November 28 and runs through December 30, at the New York City Center. The 54^th season of the company will offer a diverse roster of works with the world première of Another Night by Kyle Abraham performed to Dizzy Gillespie’s jazz classic A Night In Tunisia, and three company premieres, Petite Mort by Jiří Kylián, Artistic Director Robert Battle’s Strange Humors and From Before by Tony Award-winning choreographer (The Lion King) Garth Fagan.

The company will also present audience favorites including Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16, Ronald K. Brown’s Grace, Paul Taylor’s Arden Court, Rennie Harris’s Home, and Ailey classics Cry, Love Songs and For ‘Bird’ With Love and his signature masterwork Revelations. For a complete listing of works and more information about the Alvin Ailey New York City Center season please visit www.alvinailey.org. Tickets can be purchased at the New York City Center Box Office, through CityTix® at (212) 581-1212 or online at www.alvinailey.org or www.nycitycenter.org.  For group sales, call 212-405-9082 or e-mail groupsales@alvinailey.org.

Ballet Hispanico returns to the Apollo Theater, 253 West 125th Street, on Saturday, December 1, 2012 at 7:30pm. The evening features three Ballet Hispanico premieres that put a contemporary spin on Cuba’s danzón, Argentina’s tango, and 1980s Spanish pop. Vibrant live music by the Paquito D’Rivera Ensemble accompanies choreography by Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro, Argentinean legend Alejandro Cervera and cutting-edge Spanish choreographers Inma García and Meritxell Barberá. This the second consecutive year the company has appeared uptown at the world-renowned Harlem venue.

Tickets start at $33 and are available for purchase in person at the Apollo Theater Box Office, or through Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 or http://www.ticketmaster.com.

Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company celebrates its 40^th anniversary this concert season with performances at Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th Street at 9th Avenue from November 30through December 2. In celebration of this Ruby Anniversary milestone, the company under the artistic direction of Enrique Cruz DeJesus treats its audience to a thoroughly entertaining program of company classics, fan favorites and new works commemorate four decades of Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company’s existence and pays homage to its founders, directors, and mentors Ronn Pratt, Dolores Vanison-Blakely, Andy Torres, Martial Roumain, and Eleo Pomare.

Tickets on Friday November 30 at 8PM are $35 includes reception. The Saturday and Sunday December 1 and 2, 8PM performances are $25 general admission and $20 for students and seniors. For more information call 212-749-0095 or visit  info@alphaomegadance.org.

On December 3, 2012, 8 pm A Writers’ Celebration of Romare Bearden will take place at New York’s famed 92^nd Street Y, located at 1395 Lexington Avenue. The event will feature talks by Elizabeth Alexander, Kim Bridgford, Stanley Crouch, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Kwame Dawes, Sarah Lewis, Russell Goings, Khalil Gibran Muhammad, John Edgar Wideman and others. Admission is $24 – $32 and can be purchased at www.92y.org/Uptown/Event/A-Writers–Celebration-R–Bear.aspx. For more information call (212) 415-5500. While at the 92 Street Y visit the Milton J. Weill Art Gallery and see the Bearden exhibition entitled The Paper Truth: Works from the collection of Russell Goings and Evelyn Boulware.

As always thank you for letting me share my world with you.

In Photo: 1) Jamar Roberts and Antonio Douthit  2)  Kirven Boyd and Alicia Graf  3) Ballet Hispanico 4) Romare Bearden  circa 1940