This year is the second in a row I’ve gotten to go to a Kennedy Center performance. Last year, my girlfriend (now fiancée) and I went with another couple to see Porgy & Bess. This past Thursday, it was the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Having never seen a ballet before (or anything called modern dance for that matter), I had no idea what to really expect. It turned out to be quite a fun time.
Of the four works they performed (all of which were impressive), my favorite parts were the solo “The Evolution of a Secured Feminine”, and other dances within “Revelations” (the company’s signature work) that had no more than a handful of dancers. I suppose that no one goes to the ballet for the music, but with Duke Ellington music as the backdrop for one of the pieces and gospel for some of the others, I certainly enjoyed that as much as the dancing.