For Robert Battle, newly christened artistic director of the world-renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the past has an important role to play in the future. And both are coming to Toronto this month.
Back in 1958, at the age of 27, Alvin Ailey founded the company that bears his name, beginning a choreographic revolution. His journey saw him studying with dance greats Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Hanya Holm and Karel Shook, eventually carving his own place in such auspicious company. The company’s ever-eclectic style incorporated ballet, modern, jazz and hip hop, fostering a newfound confidence and presence of black artists in dance. Ailey died of AIDS in 1989; he was 58.
At 38, Battle is only the third AD in the company’s history, replacing (and hand-picked by) Judith Jamison in 2011. With the company since 1999, Battle knows he’s following in mighty big footsteps. He’s undaunted. “It’s the right fit,” he says.
Battle has been at the dance game nearly his whole life, and traces his love of movement and music back to his Liberty City roots in Miami. He remembers singing around the piano as a boy, raised by his great-uncle. “Music was a part of the fabric growing up,” says Battle.
Surprisingly, Battle studied martial arts as a youth before training in dance at New World School of the Arts in Miami and at the Juilliard School in NYC. “I was always into the physicality of the martial arts,” he says, “but never the competition. It made me uncomfortable. I was afraid of it.”
“Spectators should paint on the dance what they want.”
This mix of curiosity and caution led him in 2001 to create The Hunt¸ a six-man piece set to a rhythmic, percussive score that reveals the predatory side of human nature and the primitive thrill of the hunt. “It’s about the ritual, the idea of exchange just before a hunt. It’s about competition but also comradeship.”
That piece plus two others by Battle are programmed with works that span the choreographic history of the company, from Joyce Trisler and Paul Taylor to Rennie Harris. There are two different programs on offer during the tour; the company’s most famous work, Ailey’s Revelations from 1960, concludes both programs. It kind of has to. Exploring and espousing the worship and wonder of American gospel music, Battle calls Revelations “an anchor that keeps the company grounded.” But its weight is not without consequence. “If we leave it out, we feel it at the box office. People remember when and where they first saw it. It’s a masterpiece. A true masterpiece.”
Battle sees Revelations as a good example of how meaning is made in dance. “Audiences should bring their own story to the work,” he says, “Spectators should paint on the dance what they want. Sometimes it’s okay just to experience it.” Referring to pieces of choreography as “movement-based poems,” Battle admits there are definitely two camps when it comes to this way of thinking. “It’s like our [US] political system. They just don’t see eye to eye on it.”
When asked what the future holds, Battle is reluctant to talk beyond the current tour. “What I will say is that it’s important to me to continue to shock and amaze the audience with new works… but also keep focus on the historical works, to keep their presence alive.”
Or in the words of Ailey, himself, “I believe that the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people.”
ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER $28-$88. 8pm. Thu, Feb 2-4. 2pm. Feb 4. Sony Centre. 1 Front St E. 1 (855) 872-SONY. sonycentre.ca.
