Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to stages on a coast-to-coast national tour starting Jan. 28 in Philadelphia; kicking off Black History Month at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 1; and traveling to cities such as Atlanta, Miami, Berkeley, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles before the finale in Newark, New Jersey, on May 8.
The Chicago stop will be at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Dr., on March 2-6. (Regionally, the company will also perform at the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, Wisconsin, on March 1.)
Artistic Director Robert Battle is presenting Ailey's renowned artists in a diverse repertory of premieres, new productions and Ailey classics. Highlights include a Battle 10th Anniversary program; two world premieres adapted from video to stage"For Four," by Robert Battle and "Holding Space," by Ailey Resident Choreographer Jamar Roberts; the return of hip-hop innovator Rennie Harris's "Lazarus"; "50 Years of Cry," commemorating Ailey's classic dedicated to "all Black women everywhereespecially our mothers"; and Ailey & Ellington, spotlighting cherished classics from the series of more than a dozen ballets that Alvin Ailey created celebrating the musical genius of the eminent American composer Duke Ellington.
Also, Alvin Ailey's "Revelations," which was created in 1960, will reach all cities on the North American tour.
In addition, the acclaimed creation of Ailey's first two-act ballet, "Lazarus," is featured in the AILEY documentary that opened the 36th season of PBS American Masters on Jan. 11 and that is now being re-broadcast (check local listings at pbs.org/ailey), and is also available to watch online for free through Feb. 11.
See AuditoriumTheatre.org and AlvinAiley.org .