This won’t be a political article at all. All of us have been inundated and overwhelmed with news about the multiple human rights crises that are happening in the USA and I want this newsletter to be a safe space and a small reprieve from all the scary and sad things happening around us. That being said, PLEASE stay vigilant. Now is the time to organize, volunteer, donate, make community, and not get stunned into silence.

NOW….about the dancey-dance world of NYC!

Full disclosure, I haven’t paid to see any of the dance shows that I’m going to mention so I’m not sure how much my tickets would’ve been but I’ll include the prices that I find online :) If you’re wondering how I got to see these shows for free, it’s because I wrote this article for Departures and several NYC-based PR reps reached out to me to see free stuff in the hopes that I’d write about them in the future. That’s the fun part of being a travel writer. Anyway, back to the shows!

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at the Lincoln Center

This is a long-standing, Black dance company in NYC with roots leading back to the Civil Rights Movement. This is also my mom’s favorite dance company so, of course, I brought her as my plus one. Members of the AA dance company had visited our church a few years back and their performance brought my mom to tears. She never had the chance to see the company perform in a theater before and it was adorable how nervous she was.

“I don’t know dance, Shayna”
“What if I don’t understand what’s going on?”
“What do I need to know about the show to understand it?”

I just reassured her that she only needed to watch what happened on stage and embrace whatever feelings arise or storylines she interprets. By the end of the first act, she was pouring over with thoughts about the performances and I think it’s fair to say that she trusts herself more when it comes to feeling accepted in artistic spaces.

The performance that we saw was broken up into 3 acts:

-BUSK by Aszure Barton

-a Sentimental Mood by Jamar Roberts

-Revelations by Alvin Ailey

To quickly break these acts down, first it’s important to know that none of these acts are connected. BUSK is a series of vignettes. The first was very much a mood-setter for the rest of the evening and then all of the others focused on a social issue (or at least that’s how I saw it). One of the most captivating pieces in BUSK was a solo piece in which the dancer interacted with the techy music in a way that felt like he was trying to outmaneuver the very abrupt rigidity of the soundtrack. Basically, that piece, to me, was asking, “When it comes to where technology is today, who is really in control?”

A Sentimental Mood is about romantic relationships. One of the pieces in BUSK was also about romantic relationships but not as much as this act. Personally, I thought all the relationships that were depicted were very unhealthy. BEAUTIFULLY choreographed, but oh so unhealthy. I loved watching the piece though because, like most unhealthy relationships, sometimes you don’t know where it all went wrong. All you know is that, at some point, you look at your situation and go realize that this ain’t it. Do I think that any of the characters learned something by the end of the piece? No, but if that isn’t the human condition I don’t know what is.

Revelations is a timeless Black masterpiece. Choreographed by Alvin Ailey himself, this act is nothing short of a tour-de-force. The chills that I got from the opening sequence alone still stick with me now. Out of all the acts, this one was my mother’s absolute favorite. The choreography was ensemble-based and filled with gorgeous images and human structures that made each performer seem 7 ft tall. The music was all old negro spirituals and anyone that knows me knows that I LOVES me some “Wade in the Water.” Each performer had a different shade of brown. And, somehow, in the midst of all the seriousness and heaviness of the Civil Rights background of this act, there were some hilarious moments, too. I couldn’t sing this act’s praises loudly enough if I tried.

Alvin Ailey will also have a holiday season at New York’s City Center if you want to do something special this holiday season (November through the end of December) and they will have a National Tour that starts in February. Ticket information hasn’t been disclosed yet :(

The second show is Swan Lake by American Ballet Theater at the MET Opera House, but I’ll share more about that in the Baddies (my new name for the paid subscribers lol). If you want to read more about ABT (and a little bit about my dating life) then go ahead a subscribe here.

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UNTIL NEXT TIME! Stay safe out there, friends!

Heart To Arts

NYC Shows to See (Dance Edition)