Alvin Ailey's venerable Black dance company, now under the artistic directorship of Robert Battle, graces New York City with a "summer celebration" free outdoor events in all
five boroughs. The keystone event is a July 23 outdoor performance by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater—at the Amphitheater at Coney Island Boardwalk—of company classics including Rennie Harris’s Lazarus and Ailey's iconic signature work Revelations. On July 28 at Bryant Park, the troupe's second company, Ailey II, performs a mixed bill of works by Ailey,
Andrea Miller, Yannick Lebrun and Francesca Harper; the festival concludes on August 1 with a screening of Jamila Wignot’s 2021 documentary Ailey in Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park.
Also on the schedule are free alfresco classes and workshops throughout the city, focusing on a range of dance styles from West African to mambo and Broadway jazz. A calendar of events can be downloaded here; visit the Ailey website for details.
Revelations | Photograph: Courtesy Christopher Duggan