REVIEW: Ailey 2 At The Mayflower Theatre

‘Ailey 2’ took a trip across the pond to visit The Mayflower for a truly breathtaking performance presented by the ‘Dance Consortium’. ‘Ailey 2’, founded by Alvin Ailey, is the “young version of ‘Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre’”, which is renowned for finding and shaping the finest early-career dance talent in the United States. They aim to establish a cultural community that provides dance performers, training, and community programmes for all people. With the ‘Dance Consortium’ committed to do the same through similar projects, it’s so exciting to see such a celebrated company grace the Mayflower’s stage right here in Southampton. 

New Artistic Director, Francesca Harper, has really helped ‘Ailey 2’ flourish into one of the most popular modern dance companies. Having been a part of ‘Ailey’ herself, she has been in the exact same place that the ‘Ailey 2’ dancers are at now – so who better to be at the wheel than her? As they return to the UK, this dance presentation is made up of four different incredible masterpieces; William Forsythe’s energetic ‘Enemy in the Figure’ (excerpt), Francesca Harper’s very own futuristic ‘Freedom Series’ (excerpt), Robert Battle’s exhilarating ‘The Hunt’, and Alvin Ailey’s triumphant showpiece ‘Revelations’. 

Usually in my reviews I would sum up what I thought of certain performances and segments of a show, but I think it only fair to go through each of the dances individually; being as they were all superb in their own right!

But I’d firstly just like to give the whole company a huge congratulations because they were all flawless. Each dancer left every piece of emotion they had out on that stage and told all of these different stories through dance and their bodies. Just amazing! So without further ado: 

Enemy in the Figure (excerpt)

As the name may suggest, this piece of dance was meant to feel chaotic. There was so much going on it was almost overloading the senses. The electronic music mixed with constant movement created a sense of organised chaos. The movements were quick and large and everybody, collectively had their own different role in the story that they were telling. I found it incredibly stimulating when the company would go from dancing individually to altogether in unison, almost to create the shift from chaos to calm. The lights, which may have been simple, added so much to the overall mood of the dance also switching perfectly on beat. The tasseled costumes for this piece really elevated every single movement and accentuated the story that was being told therefore. There was something demonically beautiful about it all – incredible.

Freedom Series (excerpt)

This dance is all about embodying a world where memory influences the future through a landscape of different vignettes and it was delightful. The solo dancing in this piece was just magical. The lights, once again simple, but so effective by shimmering off of costumes and either creating or taking away space on the stage. The timing between the music and the lights once again was part of the story, with one particular moment still sticking in my mind. The music is soft and the lyrics meaningful – and then when that cuts we’re left in silence with the dancers still dancing…  beautiful! That silence is so powerful and it resonates with the audience, especially when you can hear the dancers breathing and moving. The use of the light orbs in this piece was also incredibly powerful; Especially when the lights turn out and all we are left is the dull illumination from the orbs. A stunning piece of work, executed to perfection.

The Hunt 

This next piece is an incredibly athletic piece of dance all about the predatory side of human nature and the primitive drive that we all have within us. This dance only featured 4 dancers and was the most energetic piece of the night by far. The music had a theme of a constant crescendo that kept on going and going with the dancers matching that energy. The lights once again built the space that the dancers had, but also took it away from them when needed. When the crescendo eventually subsided to silence, well the silence was deafening. I felt so involved in the story that was being told I felt my heart pounding. I could almost hear my own heartbeat in that moment. The energy and bravado that was being exerted really put across the feeling that with being power hungry, comes a bigger internal struggle. This could clearly be seen through the dancers, helping relate back with the audience again. Even though there may have only been 4 dancers at this moment, because the piece was so strong and there was so much constant movement it felt like there was a whole army of dancers. Phenomenal.

Revelations  

I feel as if this piece speaks for itself. Alvin Ailey’s masterpiece. And it was exactly that. The piece explores the places of deepest grief and the biggest joy the soul can give. Ailey said that one of America’s richest treasures was the cultural heritage of the African-American, “sometimes sorrowful, sometimes jubilant, but always hopeful.” The company tonight payed tribute to this and did Ailey incredible justice in doing so. The story telling throughout was exceptional. You were clinging to every movement as the story progressed and with the music accompanying, you felt a part of the narrative. I feel like a broken record but the energy from each member of the company was outstanding. You felt every high, and every low of the piece – just as Ailey would’ve intended. One section in particular called ‘Take Me to the Water’ was spectacular. The use of the sheets ruffling to become streams of water as if they were dancing too was magical, it was so captivating! The very ending of ‘Revelations’, really gave the dance almost a full circle moment. This linked with the historical vibrancy of the story made yet another powerful piece of dance told expertly by this young company.  

To sum up, ‘Ailey 2’ certainly didn’t disappoint and I can absolutely see why they have the reputation as one of the most popular modern dance companies around right now. Everybody at the company definitely has a bright future ahead of them and I think the work that they and the ‘Dance Consortium’ are doing is fantastic! ‘Ailey 2’ will continue on its tour of the UK, and if you have any interest in dance you’d be silly to miss them! I can’t wait to see what the ‘Dance Consortium’ brings into the Mayflower next and I wish the whole company of ‘Ailey 2’ the best of luck in the rest of their time in the UK.