February 7, 2001
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Entertainment
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Portland to Welcome World-Acclaimed Alvin Ailey Dancers
'Rolls Royce' o f American Dance to
Perform at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
to 1958 w hen A lvin A iley (1931-
1989) and a group o f young black
m odem dancers gave a fabled per
formance at the 92n<1 Street Y oung
M en’s Hebrew A ssociation in New
York City. The production changed
forever the perception o f Am erican
dance.
A iley’s blues spirituals and gos
pel music resulted in his most popu
lar work “ R evelations,” although
he created 79 works over his life
time.
The com pany has now p e r
formed more than 170 dances by
over 65 choreographers and has
perform ed for 19 m illion people in
48 states and 68 countries on six
continents.
m odem dance and W est A frican
he A lv in A iley D ance
idioms.
T h eater, one o f th e p re
T h e Feb. 28 p erfo rm an ce w ill
em in en t m o d ern dance
in c lu d e J a m is o n ’s “ D iv in in g ”
com p an ies o f to d ay , w ill p erform
(1984), her first w ork for the com
tw o d iffe re n t p ro g ra m s on T u e s
p a n y ; A ile y ’s “ Pas de D u k e ”
day and W e d n esd ay , Feb. 27 and
(1 9 7 6 ) w ith E llin g to n ’s m usic,
28 at 7 :3 0 p.m . at the A rlen e
o rig in a lly ho n o rin g M s. Jam ison
S c h n itz e r C o n cert H all on S o u th
and M ikhail B ary sh n ik o v , w ho
w est B ro ad w ay and M ain.
also preform ed the piece; U llyses
U n d er th e a rtistic d ire c tio n o f
D o v e ’s “ E p iso d e s” (1989) w ith
A ile y ’s le g e n d a ry d a n c e r Ju d ith
m usic by R o bert R u g g ieri, and
Jam ison, the co m p a n y , w hich last
ag ain A ile y ’s “ R e v e la tio n s” .
p e rfo rm e d in P o rtla n d in M arch
The origins o f the A lvin A iley
1995, has b een c a lle d “ th e R o lls-
A m erican Dance Theater date back
R oyce o f A m erican d a n c e ” by the
L os A n g eles T im es and is re
g ard ed as o n e o f th e le a d in g in
te rn a tio n a l a m b a s s a d o rs o f
A m erican cu ltu re.
T ickets are now on sale with
prices ranging from $ 17.50 to $65,
w ith discounts for students, se
niors and groups o f eight or more.
Tickets are available through the
Performing Arts Center Box Office,
all Fred M eyer FA STIX X outlets,
online at w w w .w hitebird.org or by
calling 503-224-8499 and 1-800-922-
8499.
T h e A lv in A ile y A m e ric a n
D ance T h eater is co m p rised o f 30
o u tsta n d in g d an cers. T he group
w ill p erfo rm th re e A ile y c la ssic s
on o p en in g n ig h t: “N ig h t C re a
tu re ” (1 9 7 4 ), c h o re o g ra p h e d by
A lv in A iley w ith m usic b y D uke
E llin g to n ; “ C ry ” (1 9 7 1 ), a solo
o r ig in a lly c h o r e o g r a p h e d fo r
Ju d ith Jam iso n w ith m u sic by
A lice C o ltra n e , L au ra N yro and
C h u ck G riffe n ; an d the jo y o u s
sig n a tu re w o rk “ R e v e la tio n s ”
(1 9 6 0 ) w h ich c a p tu re s th e e x u
b e ra n t e n erg y o f N eg ro sp iritu
_____
Clifton Brown and Briana Reed are members o f one o f the world-
als.
acclaimed Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. They will perform in Portland Feb.
A lso on the bill is R onald K.
27 and Feb. 28.
(P hoto by B arron C lairborne )
B ro w n ’s 1999 h it “G race” , fusing
T
Dancers Bring
Culture To
Area Students
V A L E N T IN E
S P E C IA L :
ortland area students will
get an im pressive insight
into A frican -A m erican
culture when the Alvin A iley Ameri
can D ance T heater C om pany vis
its the R ose City.
T he gro u p ’s prom oter, W hite
Bird, is partnering w ith P ortland
Public Schools to develop and
Tuesday, Feb ru ary 13 a t 7 :3 0 pm
im plem ent a B lack H istory M onth
& Concert
for Lowers
P
curriculum about the cultural co n
tributions o f A lvin A iley, the great
A frican-A m erican choreographer
and genius.
T he cu rricu lu m w ill be offered
to selected e le m e n ta ry and all
m iddle and h ig h sch o o ls to fo cus
on A iley and his lastin g c o n trib u
tion to c o n te m p o ra ry d an ce.
T he curriculum w ill consist o f a
teacher’s curriculum guide, sup
porting lesson plans, a student study
guide and accom panying video.
T he project w ill culm inate in a
free student perform ance for over
2,700 students by the A iley co m
pany on W ednesday, Feb 28 at
10:30 a.m. at the A rlene S chnitzer
Concert.
T he com pany w ill also offer a
m aster class at Jefferson H igh
School, taught by a lead dancer
from the theater group, on M on
day, Feb. 26, from 1:40-3:10 p.m .
Ron W yden, S enior S enator
from O regon, has agreed to serve
as H onorary C hair o f the A iley
O utreach Project.
Murry Sidlin, conductor
Milagro Vargas, mezzo-soprano
Treat your sweetheart to an
evening of passionate music,
including Tchaikovsky's
“Romeo and Juliet,"
Ravel’s “Bolero” and
intoxicating tangos.
Sponsored by the
Andrianoff family
Media support by
K 10 3fm &
Willamette
Week
Tickets start
at $20
Call
5 0 3 -2 2 8 -1 3 5 3
or 1-800-228-7343
Monday - Saturday 9:00 am -5:00 pm
w w w .o r s y m p h o n y .o r g
A R L E N E S C H N IT Z E R C O N C E R T H A LL
""",„,,„,,„111,11«"''
TUES. .
& WED.
FEB. 27 & 28
DIFFERENT
PROGRAM
EACH NIGHT
WITH AILEY'S
MASTERPIECE
7:30 PM
ARLENE SCHNITZER
CONCERT HALL
“REVELATIONS"
AS THE FINALE!
T h u rs d a y , F e b ru a ry 22
7 p m to 1 0 p m
w ith p e r fo r m a n c e b y
BLACK SWAN
CLASSIC JAZZ BAND
"U N M A T C H E D BY AN Y
OTHER DANCE C O M PANY
—The New YorKTimes
C o n c e r t a d m is s io n : $ 7
21 a n d o v e r o n ly
Sponsor«,! by
5 7 5 6 NE 55r<l • P o r tla n d , O r e g o n
S'
S65 DISCOUNTS FOR GROUPS OF 8 OR MORE STUD EN TS SENIORS 62 AND OVER
EVER FASTIXX O'O, 224-8499(800) 992-8499 OR ORDER ONLINE \ M W WHITEBIRD ORG
INFORMATION AND GROUP SALES (503t 245-1600
(5 0 5 ) 2 4 9 - 5 9 0 5 • m v w .m t m c n a m in s .t o iii
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