Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers. The performance opens with an excerpt from Divining, a dance by Judith Jamison set to a score of North African, Central African, and Latin rhythms. This piece builds on African dance idioms to create a striking, pulsating modern dance work. Divining is followed by excerpts from three classic works by Alvin Ailey, beginning with his first masterpiece, Blues Suite, which poignantly evokes the sorrow, humor, and humanity of the blues—those heartfelt songs that Ailey called “hymns to the secular regions of the soul.” Lark Ascending seamlessly fuses ballet and modern vocabularies to display the dancers’ technical abilities in both disciplines and has entranced audiences for years. The performance closes with the formal, meditative mood of Streams. The dance evokes images and sensations inspired by various bodies of water—from gentle brooks to turbulent oceans—that correlate to the changing tides within us.

Program
Excerpt from Divining
Excerpts from Blues Suite
Excerpt from Lark Ascending
Excerpts from Streams 

Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers. The performance opens with an excerpt from Divining, a dance by Judith Jamison set to a score of North African, Central African, and Latin rhythms. This piece builds on African dance idioms to create a striking, pulsating modern dance work. Divining is followed by excerpts from three classic works by Alvin Ailey, beginning with his first masterpiece, Blues Suite, which poignantly evokes the sorrow, humor, and humanity of the blues—those heartfelt songs that Ailey called “hymns to the secular regions of the soul.” Lark Ascending seamlessly fuses ballet and modern vocabularies to display the dancers’ technical abilities in both disciplines and has entranced audiences for years. The performance closes with the formal, meditative mood of Streams. The dance evokes images and sensations inspired by various bodies of water—from gentle brooks to turbulent oceans—that correlate to the changing tides within us.

Program
Excerpt from Divining
Excerpts from Blues Suite
Excerpt from Lark Ascending
Excerpts from Streams 

Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers. The performance opens with an excerpt from Divining, a dance by Judith Jamison set to a score of North African, Central African, and Latin rhythms. This piece builds on African dance idioms to create a striking, pulsating modern dance work. Divining is followed by excerpts from three classic works by Alvin Ailey, beginning with his first masterpiece, Blues Suite, which poignantly evokes the sorrow, humor, and humanity of the blues—those heartfelt songs that Ailey called “hymns to the secular regions of the soul.” Lark Ascending seamlessly fuses ballet and modern vocabularies to display the dancers’ technical abilities in both disciplines and has entranced audiences for years. The performance closes with the formal, meditative mood of Streams. The dance evokes images and sensations inspired by various bodies of water—from gentle brooks to turbulent oceans—that correlate to the changing tides within us.

Program
Excerpt from Divining
Excerpts from Blues Suite
Excerpt from Lark Ascending
Excerpts from Streams 

Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers. The performance opens with an excerpt from Divining, a dance by Judith Jamison set to a score of North African, Central African, and Latin rhythms. This piece builds on African dance idioms to create a striking, pulsating modern dance work. Divining is followed by excerpts from three classic works by Alvin Ailey, beginning with his first masterpiece, Blues Suite, which poignantly evokes the sorrow, humor, and humanity of the blues—those heartfelt songs that Ailey called “hymns to the secular regions of the soul.” Lark Ascending seamlessly fuses ballet and modern vocabularies to display the dancers’ technical abilities in both disciplines and has entranced audiences for years. The performance closes with the formal, meditative mood of Streams. The dance evokes images and sensations inspired by various bodies of water—from gentle brooks to turbulent oceans—that correlate to the changing tides within us.

Program
Excerpt from Divining
Excerpts from Blues Suite
Excerpt from Lark Ascending
Excerpts from Streams 

Presented as part of Edges of Ailey, Parable of the Guest is an homage to choreographer, Ulysses Dove, and his iconic presence in the Ailey Company's repertoire.

Will Rawls is a multidisciplinary choreographer, dancer, and writer. In 2023, his performance and video installation, [siccer], toured to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, The Momentary, On the Boards, and Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. Other recent presentations include the 35th Bienal de São Paulo, Counterpublic 2023 and Liste Art Fair. He has received fellowships and residencies from the Guggenheim Foundation, Herb Alpert Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, United States Artists, Rauschenberg Foundation, and the MacDowell Colony. His writing has been published by the Hammer Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Museu de Arte de São Paulo, and Dancing While Black Journal. He is currently Associate Professor of Choreography in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at UCLA.

Commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of Edges of Ailey.

Presented as part of Edges of Ailey, Parable of the Guest is an homage to choreographer, Ulysses Dove, and his iconic presence in the Ailey Company's repertoire.

Will Rawls is a multidisciplinary choreographer, dancer, and writer. In 2023, his performance and video installation, [siccer], toured to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, The Momentary, On the Boards, and Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. Other recent presentations include the 35th Bienal de São Paulo, Counterpublic 2023 and Liste Art Fair. He has received fellowships and residencies from the Guggenheim Foundation, Herb Alpert Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, United States Artists, Rauschenberg Foundation, and the MacDowell Colony. His writing has been published by the Hammer Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Museu de Arte de São Paulo, and Dancing While Black Journal. He is currently Associate Professor of Choreography in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at UCLA.

Commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of Edges of Ailey.

Presented as part of Edges of Ailey, Parable of the Guest is an homage to choreographer, Ulysses Dove, and his iconic presence in the Ailey Company's repertoire.

Will Rawls is a multidisciplinary choreographer, dancer, and writer. In 2023, his performance and video installation, [siccer], toured to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, The Momentary, On the Boards, and Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. Other recent presentations include the 35th Bienal de São Paulo, Counterpublic 2023 and Liste Art Fair. He has received fellowships and residencies from the Guggenheim Foundation, Herb Alpert Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, United States Artists, Rauschenberg Foundation, and the MacDowell Colony. His writing has been published by the Hammer Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Museu de Arte de São Paulo, and Dancing While Black Journal. He is currently Associate Professor of Choreography in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at UCLA.

Commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of Edges of Ailey.

Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers. The performance opens with an excerpt from Divining, a dance by Judith Jamison set to a score of North African, Central African, and Latin rhythms. This piece builds on African dance idioms to create a striking, pulsating modern dance work. Divining is followed by excerpts from three classic works by Alvin Ailey, beginning with his first masterpiece, Blues Suite, which poignantly evokes the sorrow, humor, and humanity of the blues—those heartfelt songs that Ailey called “hymns to the secular regions of the soul.” Lark Ascending seamlessly fuses ballet and modern vocabularies to display the dancers’ technical abilities in both disciplines and has entranced audiences for years. The performance closes with the formal, meditative mood of Streams. The dance evokes images and sensations inspired by various bodies of water—from gentle brooks to turbulent oceans—that correlate to the changing tides within us.

Program
Excerpt from Divining
Excerpts from Blues Suite
Excerpt from Lark Ascending
Excerpts from Streams 

Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers. The performance opens with an excerpt from Divining, a dance by Judith Jamison set to a score of North African, Central African, and Latin rhythms. This piece builds on African dance idioms to create a striking, pulsating modern dance work. Divining is followed by excerpts from three classic works by Alvin Ailey, beginning with his first masterpiece, Blues Suite, which poignantly evokes the sorrow, humor, and humanity of the blues—those heartfelt songs that Ailey called “hymns to the secular regions of the soul.” Lark Ascending seamlessly fuses ballet and modern vocabularies to display the dancers’ technical abilities in both disciplines and has entranced audiences for years. The performance closes with the formal, meditative mood of Streams. The dance evokes images and sensations inspired by various bodies of water—from gentle brooks to turbulent oceans—that correlate to the changing tides within us.

Program
Excerpt from Divining
Excerpts from Blues Suite
Excerpt from Lark Ascending
Excerpts from Streams 

Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers. The performance opens with an excerpt from Divining, a dance by Judith Jamison set to a score of North African, Central African, and Latin rhythms. This piece builds on African dance idioms to create a striking, pulsating modern dance work. Divining is followed by excerpts from three classic works by Alvin Ailey, beginning with his first masterpiece, Blues Suite, which poignantly evokes the sorrow, humor, and humanity of the blues—those heartfelt songs that Ailey called “hymns to the secular regions of the soul.” Lark Ascending seamlessly fuses ballet and modern vocabularies to display the dancers’ technical abilities in both disciplines and has entranced audiences for years. The performance closes with the formal, meditative mood of Streams. The dance evokes images and sensations inspired by various bodies of water—from gentle brooks to turbulent oceans—that correlate to the changing tides within us.

Program
Excerpt from Divining
Excerpts from Blues Suite
Excerpt from Lark Ascending
Excerpts from Streams 

Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers. The performance opens with an excerpt from Divining, a dance by Judith Jamison set to a score of North African, Central African, and Latin rhythms. This piece builds on African dance idioms to create a striking, pulsating modern dance work. Divining is followed by excerpts from three classic works by Alvin Ailey, beginning with his first masterpiece, Blues Suite, which poignantly evokes the sorrow, humor, and humanity of the blues—those heartfelt songs that Ailey called “hymns to the secular regions of the soul.” Lark Ascending seamlessly fuses ballet and modern vocabularies to display the dancers’ technical abilities in both disciplines and has entranced audiences for years. The performance closes with the formal, meditative mood of Streams. The dance evokes images and sensations inspired by various bodies of water—from gentle brooks to turbulent oceans—that correlate to the changing tides within us.

Program
Excerpt from Divining
Excerpts from Blues Suite
Excerpt from Lark Ascending
Excerpts from Streams 

Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers. The performance opens with an excerpt from Divining, a dance by Judith Jamison set to a score of North African, Central African, and Latin rhythms. This piece builds on African dance idioms to create a striking, pulsating modern dance work. Divining is followed by excerpts from three classic works by Alvin Ailey, beginning with his first masterpiece, Blues Suite, which poignantly evokes the sorrow, humor, and humanity of the blues—those heartfelt songs that Ailey called “hymns to the secular regions of the soul.” Lark Ascending seamlessly fuses ballet and modern vocabularies to display the dancers’ technical abilities in both disciplines and has entranced audiences for years. The performance closes with the formal, meditative mood of Streams. The dance evokes images and sensations inspired by various bodies of water—from gentle brooks to turbulent oceans—that correlate to the changing tides within us.

Program
Excerpt from Divining
Excerpts from Blues Suite
Excerpt from Lark Ascending
Excerpts from Streams 

Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers. The performance opens with an excerpt from Divining, a dance by Judith Jamison set to a score of North African, Central African, and Latin rhythms. This piece builds on African dance idioms to create a striking, pulsating modern dance work. Divining is followed by excerpts from three classic works by Alvin Ailey, beginning with his first masterpiece, Blues Suite, which poignantly evokes the sorrow, humor, and humanity of the blues—those heartfelt songs that Ailey called “hymns to the secular regions of the soul.” Lark Ascending seamlessly fuses ballet and modern vocabularies to display the dancers’ technical abilities in both disciplines and has entranced audiences for years. The performance closes with the formal, meditative mood of Streams. The dance evokes images and sensations inspired by various bodies of water—from gentle brooks to turbulent oceans—that correlate to the changing tides within us.

Program
Excerpt from Divining
Excerpts from Blues Suite
Excerpt from Lark Ascending
Excerpts from Streams 

Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers. The performance opens with an excerpt from Divining, a dance by Judith Jamison set to a score of North African, Central African, and Latin rhythms. This piece builds on African dance idioms to create a striking, pulsating modern dance work. Divining is followed by excerpts from three classic works by Alvin Ailey, beginning with his first masterpiece, Blues Suite, which poignantly evokes the sorrow, humor, and humanity of the blues—those heartfelt songs that Ailey called “hymns to the secular regions of the soul.” Lark Ascending seamlessly fuses ballet and modern vocabularies to display the dancers’ technical abilities in both disciplines and has entranced audiences for years. The performance closes with the formal, meditative mood of Streams. The dance evokes images and sensations inspired by various bodies of water—from gentle brooks to turbulent oceans—that correlate to the changing tides within us.

Program
Excerpt from Divining
Excerpts from Blues Suite
Excerpt from Lark Ascending
Excerpts from Streams 

Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers. The performance opens with an excerpt from Divining, a dance by Judith Jamison set to a score of North African, Central African, and Latin rhythms. This piece builds on African dance idioms to create a striking, pulsating modern dance work. Divining is followed by excerpts from three classic works by Alvin Ailey, beginning with his first masterpiece, Blues Suite, which poignantly evokes the sorrow, humor, and humanity of the blues—those heartfelt songs that Ailey called “hymns to the secular regions of the soul.” Lark Ascending seamlessly fuses ballet and modern vocabularies to display the dancers’ technical abilities in both disciplines and has entranced audiences for years. The performance closes with the formal, meditative mood of Streams. The dance evokes images and sensations inspired by various bodies of water—from gentle brooks to turbulent oceans—that correlate to the changing tides within us.

Program
Excerpt from Divining
Excerpts from Blues Suite
Excerpt from Lark Ascending
Excerpts from Streams 

Everyone can dance! Join us for a class and conversation about Alvin Ailey’s masterwork Revelations. After a warm-up for both seated and standing individuals, participants will learn modified excerpts of Revelations, which still resonates more than sixty years after its premiere. 

Alvin Ailey said, “Dance is for everybody. I believe that the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people.” Believing in the transformative power of movement, AileyDance for Active Aging provides classes for older adults that support strength, balance, and flexibility while offering an outlet for artistic expression.  

Instructors 

Amos Machanic, Jr. is currently a Teaching Artist with Ailey Arts In Education & Community Programs. Machanic studied dance at the New World School of the Arts and continued his training at The Ailey School where he was a fellowship recipient. Machanic was a member of Ailey II and joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1996. During his years with the Company, Machanic had the pleasure of traveling across the globe. In 2010, he performed at the White House tribute to Judith Jamison and now enjoys being a freelance artist and teacher.  

Rachel Watson-Jih is currently a teaching artist for Ailey Arts In Education & Community Programs. She began her dance training at the age of four in Raleigh, North Carolina. After attending the University of North Carolina School of the Arts summer dance program in 2008, she was recruited to attend school there where she received her BFA in contemporary dance in 2012. Rachel has performed at Lincoln Center Outdoors and Joe’s Pub with Mark Dendy, Karen Harvey Dances, Mari Meade Dance Collective, and apprenticed with Camille A. Brown and Dancers. She made her Public Theater debut in Eve’s Song in 2018 and joined Company SBB in 2019. Rachel is the founder and Artistic Director of Blue Morph Collective. 

Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers. The performance opens with an excerpt from Divining, a dance by Judith Jamison set to a score of North African, Central African, and Latin rhythms. This piece builds on African dance idioms to create a striking, pulsating modern dance work. Divining is followed by excerpts from three classic works by Alvin Ailey, beginning with his first masterpiece, Blues Suite, which poignantly evokes the sorrow, humor, and humanity of the blues—those heartfelt songs that Ailey called “hymns to the secular regions of the soul.” Lark Ascending seamlessly fuses ballet and modern vocabularies to display the dancers’ technical abilities in both disciplines and has entranced audiences for years. The performance closes with the formal, meditative mood of Streams. The dance evokes images and sensations inspired by various bodies of water—from gentle brooks to turbulent oceans—that correlate to the changing tides within us.

Program
Excerpt from Divining
Excerpts from Blues Suite
Excerpt from Lark Ascending
Excerpts from Streams 

Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers. The performance opens with an excerpt from Divining, a dance by Judith Jamison set to a score of North African, Central African, and Latin rhythms. This piece builds on African dance idioms to create a striking, pulsating modern dance work. Divining is followed by excerpts from three classic works by Alvin Ailey, beginning with his first masterpiece, Blues Suite, which poignantly evokes the sorrow, humor, and humanity of the blues—those heartfelt songs that Ailey called “hymns to the secular regions of the soul.” Lark Ascending seamlessly fuses ballet and modern vocabularies to display the dancers’ technical abilities in both disciplines and has entranced audiences for years. The performance closes with the formal, meditative mood of Streams. The dance evokes images and sensations inspired by various bodies of water—from gentle brooks to turbulent oceans—that correlate to the changing tides within us.

Program
Excerpt from Divining
Excerpts from Blues Suite
Excerpt from Lark Ascending
Excerpts from Streams 

Everyone can dance! Join us for a class and conversation about Alvin Ailey’s masterwork Revelations. After a warm-up for both seated and standing individuals, participants will learn modified excerpts of Revelations, which still resonates more than sixty years after its premiere. 

Alvin Ailey said, “Dance is for everybody. I believe that the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people.” Believing in the transformative power of movement, AileyDance for Active Aging provides classes for older adults that support strength, balance, and flexibility while offering an outlet for artistic expression.  

Instructors 

Amos Machanic, Jr. is currently a Teaching Artist with Ailey Arts In Education & Community Programs. Machanic studied dance at the New World School of the Arts and continued his training at The Ailey School where he was a fellowship recipient. Machanic was a member of Ailey II and joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1996. During his years with the Company, Machanic had the pleasure of traveling across the globe. In 2010, he performed at the White House tribute to Judith Jamison and now enjoys being a freelance artist and teacher.  

Rachel Watson-Jih is currently a teaching artist for Ailey Arts In Education & Community Programs. She began her dance training at the age of four in Raleigh, North Carolina. After attending the University of North Carolina School of the Arts summer dance program in 2008, she was recruited to attend school there where she received her BFA in contemporary dance in 2012. Rachel has performed at Lincoln Center Outdoors and Joe’s Pub with Mark Dendy, Karen Harvey Dances, Mari Meade Dance Collective, and apprenticed with Camille A. Brown and Dancers. She made her Public Theater debut in Eve’s Song in 2018 and joined Company SBB in 2019. Rachel is the founder and Artistic Director of Blue Morph Collective. 

Memory Piece is a series of solo performances reflecting on influential moments and figures throughout the illustrious career of Bill T. Jones. Jones describes himself as someone who went in a different direction than Alvin Ailey. This iteration, Memory Piece: Mr. Ailey, Alvin… the un-Ailey?, will welcome audiences into a rare and intimate space built from words, movement, and music.  

Memory Piece is a series of solo performances reflecting on influential moments and figures throughout the illustrious career of Bill T. Jones. Jones describes himself as someone who went in a different direction than Alvin Ailey. This iteration, Memory Piece: Mr. Ailey, Alvin… the un-Ailey?, will welcome audiences into a rare and intimate space built from words, movement, and music.  

Presented as part of Edges of Ailey, Yusha-Marie Sorzano presents dynamic and awe-inspiring dances exploring cycles, ritual, heritage, and lore. Shaped by the compositions of Chinese American composer Tan Dun and American multi-instrumentalist composer Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, these performances express the building of two separate worlds at their beginning, middle, and end. Through chaos and rapture, rebirth and futurism, Sorzano’s choreography touches the fantastical and draws matrilineal lines to honor the Black feminine. 

The self-liberating sovereign loyalties to give her hunter a vision
One to cease quell and quiet all derision
To bark out thunder, to roar out lightning
—Chief Adjuah

Program:
Solfège (2024)
This World Anew (2024)

Solfège
(2024)
Choreographer: Yusha-Marie Sorzano 
Music: Symphonic Poems of Three Notes by Tan Dun
Lighting: Pilar I

Cast courtesy of Repertory Dance Theatre: Caleb Daly, Trung “Daniel” Do, Lindsey Faber, Jacob Lewis, Megan O’Brien, Ursula Perry, Caitlyn Richter, Alexander Pham

Note: "The three solfege pitches, LA - SI - DO, have always reminded me of the ABCs - that is, the meaning of things starting, beginning, and of the origins of everything."   -Tan Dun

This World Anew
(2024)
Choreographer: Yusha-Marie Sorzano
Assistant Choreographer: Natalie McCall
Set and Costume Design: Stephanie Karr Smith
Lighting and Production Manager: Pilar I
Artistic Advisor: Toni Pierce-Sands

Cast: Sa’Nah Britt, Elinor Kleber Diggs, Aleigha Mayo

Originally from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Yusha-Marie Sorzano (pronounced Oosha) is a relentless performing artist, choreographer, educator, and mentor who has worked in concert dance, theater, television, and film. She has been a member of eight acclaimed dance companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Camille A. Brown & Dancers. She has received fellowships from AILEY, The New York Public Library, The Watermill Center, and YoungArts. Sorzano is currently the Co-Artistic Director of Zeitgeist Dance Theatre.

About RDT
Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT), founded in 1966 in Salt Lake City, Utah, is both a museum and contemporary gallery representing the scope and diversity of modern dance, past and present.  From the early pioneers of the art form to today’s cutting edge choreographers, RDT is known worldwide for its collection of dance treasures. The Company re-stages historical and contemporary classic works that animate our nation’s multiplicity of stories and commissions new works from a breadth of regional, national, and international choreographers. In addition to performing, RDT produces a variety of community-based activities and has a long standing commitment to arts-in-education that serves to train and ignite the creative voice in people of all ages.  

Solfège was commissioned by RDT and premiered in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2024. This World Anew was commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of Edges of Ailey.

Special thanks to TU Dance. To Founder and Artistic Director Toni Pierce-Sands and Artistic Associate Laurel Keen for their unyielding support.

Presented as part of Edges of Ailey, Yusha-Marie Sorzano presents dynamic and awe-inspiring dances exploring cycles, ritual, heritage, and lore. Shaped by the compositions of Chinese American composer Tan Dun and American multi-instrumentalist composer Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, these performances express the building of two separate worlds at their beginning, middle, and end. Through chaos and rapture, rebirth and futurism, Sorzano’s choreography touches the fantastical and draws matrilineal lines to honor the Black feminine. 

The self-liberating sovereign loyalties to give her hunter a vision
One to cease quell and quiet all derision
To bark out thunder, to roar out lightning
—Chief Adjuah

Program:
Solfège (2024)
This World Anew (2024)

Solfège
(2024)
Choreographer: Yusha-Marie Sorzano 
Music: Symphonic Poems of Three Notes by Tan Dun
Lighting: Pilar I

Cast courtesy of Repertory Dance Theatre: Caleb Daly, Trung “Daniel” Do, Lindsey Faber, Jacob Lewis, Megan O’Brien, Ursula Perry, Caitlyn Richter, Alexander Pham

Note: "The three solfege pitches, LA - SI - DO, have always reminded me of the ABCs - that is, the meaning of things starting, beginning, and of the origins of everything."   -Tan Dun

This World Anew
(2024)
Choreographer: Yusha-Marie Sorzano
Assistant Choreographer: Natalie McCall
Set and Costume Design: Stephanie Karr Smith
Lighting and Production Manager: Pilar I
Artistic Advisor: Toni Pierce-Sands

Cast: Sa’Nah Britt, Elinor Kleber Diggs, Aleigha Mayo

Originally from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Yusha-Marie Sorzano (pronounced Oosha) is a relentless performing artist, choreographer, educator, and mentor who has worked in concert dance, theater, television, and film. She has been a member of eight acclaimed dance companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Camille A. Brown & Dancers. She has received fellowships from AILEY, The New York Public Library, The Watermill Center, and YoungArts. Sorzano is currently the Co-Artistic Director of Zeitgeist Dance Theatre.

About RDT
Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT), founded in 1966 in Salt Lake City, Utah, is both a museum and contemporary gallery representing the scope and diversity of modern dance, past and present.  From the early pioneers of the art form to today’s cutting edge choreographers, RDT is known worldwide for its collection of dance treasures. The Company re-stages historical and contemporary classic works that animate our nation’s multiplicity of stories and commissions new works from a breadth of regional, national, and international choreographers. In addition to performing, RDT produces a variety of community-based activities and has a long standing commitment to arts-in-education that serves to train and ignite the creative voice in people of all ages.  

Solfège was commissioned by RDT and premiered in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2024. This World Anew was commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of Edges of Ailey.

Special thanks to TU Dance. To Founder and Artistic Director Toni Pierce-Sands and Artistic Associate Laurel Keen for their unyielding support.

Presented as part of Edges of Ailey, Yusha-Marie Sorzano presents dynamic and awe-inspiring dances exploring cycles, ritual, heritage, and lore. Shaped by the compositions of Chinese American composer Tan Dun and American multi-instrumentalist composer Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, these performances express the building of two separate worlds at their beginning, middle, and end. Through chaos and rapture, rebirth and futurism, Sorzano’s choreography touches the fantastical and draws matrilineal lines to honor the Black feminine. 

The self-liberating sovereign loyalties to give her hunter a vision
One to cease quell and quiet all derision
To bark out thunder, to roar out lightning
—Chief Adjuah

Program:
Solfège (2024)
This World Anew (2024)

Solfège
(2024)
Choreographer: Yusha-Marie Sorzano 
Music: Symphonic Poems of Three Notes by Tan Dun
Lighting: Pilar I

Cast courtesy of Repertory Dance Theatre: Caleb Daly, Trung “Daniel” Do, Lindsey Faber, Jacob Lewis, Megan O’Brien, Ursula Perry, Caitlyn Richter, Alexander Pham

Note: "The three solfege pitches, LA - SI - DO, have always reminded me of the ABCs - that is, the meaning of things starting, beginning, and of the origins of everything."   -Tan Dun

This World Anew
(2024)
Choreographer: Yusha-Marie Sorzano
Assistant Choreographer: Natalie McCall
Set and Costume Design: Stephanie Karr Smith
Lighting and Production Manager: Pilar I
Artistic Advisor: Toni Pierce-Sands

Cast: Sa’Nah Britt, Elinor Kleber Diggs, Aleigha Mayo

Originally from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Yusha-Marie Sorzano (pronounced Oosha) is a relentless performing artist, choreographer, educator, and mentor who has worked in concert dance, theater, television, and film. She has been a member of eight acclaimed dance companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Camille A. Brown & Dancers. She has received fellowships from AILEY, The New York Public Library, The Watermill Center, and YoungArts. Sorzano is currently the Co-Artistic Director of Zeitgeist Dance Theatre.

About RDT
Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT), founded in 1966 in Salt Lake City, Utah, is both a museum and contemporary gallery representing the scope and diversity of modern dance, past and present.  From the early pioneers of the art form to today’s cutting edge choreographers, RDT is known worldwide for its collection of dance treasures. The Company re-stages historical and contemporary classic works that animate our nation’s multiplicity of stories and commissions new works from a breadth of regional, national, and international choreographers. In addition to performing, RDT produces a variety of community-based activities and has a long standing commitment to arts-in-education that serves to train and ignite the creative voice in people of all ages.  

Solfège was commissioned by RDT and premiered in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2024. This World Anew was commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of Edges of Ailey.

Special thanks to TU Dance. To Founder and Artistic Director Toni Pierce-Sands and Artistic Associate Laurel Keen for their unyielding support.

Presented as part of Edges of Ailey, Yusha-Marie Sorzano presents dynamic and awe-inspiring dances exploring cycles, ritual, heritage, and lore. Shaped by the compositions of Chinese American composer Tan Dun and American multi-instrumentalist composer Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, these performances express the building of two separate worlds at their beginning, middle, and end. Through chaos and rapture, rebirth and futurism, Sorzano’s choreography touches the fantastical and draws matrilineal lines to honor the Black feminine. 

The self-liberating sovereign loyalties to give her hunter a vision
One to cease quell and quiet all derision
To bark out thunder, to roar out lightning
—Chief Adjuah

Program:
Solfège (2024)
This World Anew (2024)

Solfège
(2024)
Choreographer: Yusha-Marie Sorzano 
Music: Symphonic Poems of Three Notes by Tan Dun
Lighting: Pilar I

Cast courtesy of Repertory Dance Theatre: Caleb Daly, Trung “Daniel” Do, Lindsey Faber, Jacob Lewis, Megan O’Brien, Ursula Perry, Caitlyn Richter, Alexander Pham

Note: "The three solfege pitches, LA - SI - DO, have always reminded me of the ABCs - that is, the meaning of things starting, beginning, and of the origins of everything."   -Tan Dun

This World Anew
(2024)
Choreographer: Yusha-Marie Sorzano
Assistant Choreographer: Natalie McCall
Set and Costume Design: Stephanie Karr Smith
Lighting and Production Manager: Pilar I
Artistic Advisor: Toni Pierce-Sands

Cast: Sa’Nah Britt, Elinor Kleber Diggs, Aleigha Mayo

Originally from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Yusha-Marie Sorzano (pronounced Oosha) is a relentless performing artist, choreographer, educator, and mentor who has worked in concert dance, theater, television, and film. She has been a member of eight acclaimed dance companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Camille A. Brown & Dancers. She has received fellowships from AILEY, The New York Public Library, The Watermill Center, and YoungArts. Sorzano is currently the Co-Artistic Director of Zeitgeist Dance Theatre.

About RDT
Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT), founded in 1966 in Salt Lake City, Utah, is both a museum and contemporary gallery representing the scope and diversity of modern dance, past and present.  From the early pioneers of the art form to today’s cutting edge choreographers, RDT is known worldwide for its collection of dance treasures. The Company re-stages historical and contemporary classic works that animate our nation’s multiplicity of stories and commissions new works from a breadth of regional, national, and international choreographers. In addition to performing, RDT produces a variety of community-based activities and has a long standing commitment to arts-in-education that serves to train and ignite the creative voice in people of all ages.  

Solfège was commissioned by RDT and premiered in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2024. This World Anew was commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of Edges of Ailey.

Special thanks to TU Dance. To Founder and Artistic Director Toni Pierce-Sands and Artistic Associate Laurel Keen for their unyielding support.

Presented as part of Edges of Ailey, Yusha-Marie Sorzano presents dynamic and awe-inspiring dances exploring cycles, ritual, heritage, and lore. Shaped by the compositions of Chinese American composer Tan Dun and American multi-instrumentalist composer Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, these performances express the building of two separate worlds at their beginning, middle, and end. Through chaos and rapture, rebirth and futurism, Sorzano’s choreography touches the fantastical and draws matrilineal lines to honor the Black feminine. 

The self-liberating sovereign loyalties to give her hunter a vision
One to cease quell and quiet all derision
To bark out thunder, to roar out lightning
—Chief Adjuah

Program:
Solfège (2024)
This World Anew (2024)

Solfège
(2024)
Choreographer: Yusha-Marie Sorzano 
Music: Symphonic Poems of Three Notes by Tan Dun
Lighting: Pilar I

Cast courtesy of Repertory Dance Theatre: Caleb Daly, Trung “Daniel” Do, Lindsey Faber, Jacob Lewis, Megan O’Brien, Ursula Perry, Caitlyn Richter, Alexander Pham

Note: "The three solfege pitches, LA - SI - DO, have always reminded me of the ABCs - that is, the meaning of things starting, beginning, and of the origins of everything."   -Tan Dun

This World Anew
(2024)
Choreographer: Yusha-Marie Sorzano
Assistant Choreographer: Natalie McCall
Set and Costume Design: Stephanie Karr Smith
Lighting and Production Manager: Pilar I
Artistic Advisor: Toni Pierce-Sands

Cast: Sa’Nah Britt, Elinor Kleber Diggs, Aleigha Mayo

Originally from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Yusha-Marie Sorzano (pronounced Oosha) is a relentless performing artist, choreographer, educator, and mentor who has worked in concert dance, theater, television, and film. She has been a member of eight acclaimed dance companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Camille A. Brown & Dancers. She has received fellowships from AILEY, The New York Public Library, The Watermill Center, and YoungArts. Sorzano is currently the Co-Artistic Director of Zeitgeist Dance Theatre.

About RDT
Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT), founded in 1966 in Salt Lake City, Utah, is both a museum and contemporary gallery representing the scope and diversity of modern dance, past and present.  From the early pioneers of the art form to today’s cutting edge choreographers, RDT is known worldwide for its collection of dance treasures. The Company re-stages historical and contemporary classic works that animate our nation’s multiplicity of stories and commissions new works from a breadth of regional, national, and international choreographers. In addition to performing, RDT produces a variety of community-based activities and has a long standing commitment to arts-in-education that serves to train and ignite the creative voice in people of all ages.  

Solfège was commissioned by RDT and premiered in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2024. This World Anew was commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of Edges of Ailey.

Special thanks to TU Dance. To Founder and Artistic Director Toni Pierce-Sands and Artistic Associate Laurel Keen for their unyielding support.

Presented as part of Edges of Ailey, Yusha-Marie Sorzano presents dynamic and awe-inspiring dances exploring cycles, ritual, heritage, and lore. Shaped by the compositions of Chinese American composer Tan Dun and American multi-instrumentalist composer Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, these performances express the building of two separate worlds at their beginning, middle, and end. Through chaos and rapture, rebirth and futurism, Sorzano’s choreography touches the fantastical and draws matrilineal lines to honor the Black feminine. 

The self-liberating sovereign loyalties to give her hunter a vision
One to cease quell and quiet all derision
To bark out thunder, to roar out lightning
—Chief Adjuah

Program:
Solfège (2024)
This World Anew (2024)

Solfège
(2024)
Choreographer: Yusha-Marie Sorzano 
Music: Symphonic Poems of Three Notes by Tan Dun
Lighting: Pilar I

Cast courtesy of Repertory Dance Theatre: Caleb Daly, Trung “Daniel” Do, Lindsey Faber, Jacob Lewis, Megan O’Brien, Ursula Perry, Caitlyn Richter, Alexander Pham

Note: "The three solfege pitches, LA - SI - DO, have always reminded me of the ABCs - that is, the meaning of things starting, beginning, and of the origins of everything."   -Tan Dun

This World Anew
(2024)
Choreographer: Yusha-Marie Sorzano
Assistant Choreographer: Natalie McCall
Set and Costume Design: Stephanie Karr Smith
Lighting and Production Manager: Pilar I
Artistic Advisor: Toni Pierce-Sands

Cast: Sa’Nah Britt, Elinor Kleber Diggs, Aleigha Mayo

Originally from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Yusha-Marie Sorzano (pronounced Oosha) is a relentless performing artist, choreographer, educator, and mentor who has worked in concert dance, theater, television, and film. She has been a member of eight acclaimed dance companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Camille A. Brown & Dancers. She has received fellowships from AILEY, The New York Public Library, The Watermill Center, and YoungArts. Sorzano is currently the Co-Artistic Director of Zeitgeist Dance Theatre.

About RDT
Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT), founded in 1966 in Salt Lake City, Utah, is both a museum and contemporary gallery representing the scope and diversity of modern dance, past and present.  From the early pioneers of the art form to today’s cutting edge choreographers, RDT is known worldwide for its collection of dance treasures. The Company re-stages historical and contemporary classic works that animate our nation’s multiplicity of stories and commissions new works from a breadth of regional, national, and international choreographers. In addition to performing, RDT produces a variety of community-based activities and has a long standing commitment to arts-in-education that serves to train and ignite the creative voice in people of all ages.  

Solfège was commissioned by RDT and premiered in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2024. This World Anew was commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of Edges of Ailey.

Special thanks to TU Dance. To Founder and Artistic Director Toni Pierce-Sands and Artistic Associate Laurel Keen for their unyielding support.

Presented as part of Edges of Ailey, Sacred Songs is a concert of dance and music dedicated to and inspired by the legacy of Alvin Ailey’s masterpiece Revelations. In its first performance in 1958, Revelations was presented as a full-length dance theater work, consisting of sixteen sections sung by a chorus and danced by the founding members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Revelations was soon commissioned to go on tour and as a result needed to be condensed, hence our present version. In Sacred Songs, the omitted songs from the original production of Revelations will be resurrected and reimagined to speak to our present need of lament, faith, and joy.

Collaborators
Matthew Rushing: Director, Choreographer
Du’Bois A’Keen: Composer, Lead Vocalist, Creative Associate
Jermaine Terry: Costume Designer
Alexandria Johnson: Collaborator/Choreographer’s assistant/Rehearsal Director
Nick Hetko: Pianist/Collaborator, original piano composition
Adriel Vincent-Brown: Drummer/Collaborator, original drum composition
Ian Forde: Bassist/Collaborator, original bass composition
Blake Johnston: Guitarist/Collaborator - original guitar composition
Ken Alston Jr.: Vocalist
Deana Cowan: Vocalist
Danyele Yvonne James: Vocalist

Cast
Stacie Cannon, Alan George, Maxwell Green-Waterman, Mahoko Hikita, Jason Jacob, Alexandra Love Strouse, Amy Lindelof, Renee McGinnis, Catalina Mendiola, Lilliana (Lily) Nishihira, Sherra Pierre-March, Angelique Smith, Josh Torres, Aminah Walton, La ‘ShelleMoneé Wilson, Rebecca Yang (Nov 1 at 4pm, Nov 2 at 1pm, Nov 3 at 1pm) 

Chris Cates, Claire Charvet, Aisha Cohen, Nadine DeNinno, Ja'Michael De'Shawn, Alexis Eldredge, KaVonna Holloway, Ming Infante, Jamia N. Jordan, Imani Kai, Gina Mayers, Nailah Roberts, Allyson Ross, B'ili Scott, T'Keyah Slaten  (Nov 1 at 7pm, Nov 2 at 4pm, Nov 3 at 4pm) 

Matthew Rushing was born in Los Angeles. He was a scholarship student at The Ailey School, became a member of Ailey II and in 1992 became a member of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. During his career he has performed for Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. During his time with the Company, he has choreographed four ballets: Acceptance In Surrender (2005), a collaboration with Hope Boykin and Abdur-Rahim Jackson; Uptown (2009), a tribute to the Harlem Renaissance; ODETTA (2014), a celebration of “the queen of American folk music”; and Testament (2020), a tribute to Alvin Ailey’s Revelations created in collaboration with Clifton Brown and Yusha-Marie Sorzano. Rushing became Rehearsal Director in 2010, was appointed Associate Artistic Director in January 2020, and is interim Artistic Director during the sixty-fifth anniversary season.

Commissioned by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of Edges of Ailey.

Presented as part of Edges of Ailey, Sacred Songs is a concert of dance and music dedicated to and inspired by the legacy of Alvin Ailey’s masterpiece Revelations. In its first performance in 1958, Revelations was presented as a full-length dance theater work, consisting of sixteen sections sung by a chorus and danced by the founding members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Revelations was soon commissioned to go on tour and as a result needed to be condensed, hence our present version. In Sacred Songs, the omitted songs from the original production of Revelations will be resurrected and reimagined to speak to our present need of lament, faith, and joy.

Collaborators
Matthew Rushing: Director, Choreographer
Du’Bois A’Keen: Composer, Lead Vocalist, Creative Associate
Jermaine Terry: Costume Designer
Alexandria Johnson: Collaborator/Choreographer’s assistant/Rehearsal Director
Nick Hetko: Pianist/Collaborator, original piano composition
Adriel Vincent-Brown: Drummer/Collaborator, original drum composition
Ian Forde: Bassist/Collaborator, original bass composition
Blake Johnston: Guitarist/Collaborator - original guitar composition
Ken Alston Jr.: Vocalist
Deana Cowan: Vocalist
Danyele Yvonne James: Vocalist

Cast
Stacie Cannon, Alan George, Maxwell Green-Waterman, Mahoko Hikita, Jason Jacob, Alexandra Love Strouse, Amy Lindelof, Renee McGinnis, Catalina Mendiola, Lilliana (Lily) Nishihira, Sherra Pierre-March, Angelique Smith, Josh Torres, Aminah Walton, La ‘ShelleMoneé Wilson, Rebecca Yang (Nov 1 at 4pm, Nov 2 at 1pm, Nov 3 at 1pm) 

Chris Cates, Claire Charvet, Aisha Cohen, Nadine DeNinno, Ja'Michael De'Shawn, Alexis Eldredge, KaVonna Holloway, Ming Infante, Jamia N. Jordan, Imani Kai, Gina Mayers, Nailah Roberts, Allyson Ross, B'ili Scott, T'Keyah Slaten  (Nov 1 at 7pm, Nov 2 at 4pm, Nov 3 at 4pm) 

Matthew Rushing was born in Los Angeles. He was a scholarship student at The Ailey School, became a member of Ailey II and in 1992 became a member of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. During his career he has performed for Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. During his time with the Company, he has choreographed four ballets: Acceptance In Surrender (2005), a collaboration with Hope Boykin and Abdur-Rahim Jackson; Uptown (2009), a tribute to the Harlem Renaissance; ODETTA (2014), a celebration of “the queen of American folk music”; and Testament (2020), a tribute to Alvin Ailey’s Revelations created in collaboration with Clifton Brown and Yusha-Marie Sorzano. Rushing became Rehearsal Director in 2010, was appointed Associate Artistic Director in January 2020, and is interim Artistic Director during the sixty-fifth anniversary season.

Commissioned by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of Edges of Ailey.

Presented as part of Edges of Ailey, Sacred Songs is a concert of dance and music dedicated to and inspired by the legacy of Alvin Ailey’s masterpiece Revelations. In its first performance in 1958, Revelations was presented as a full-length dance theater work, consisting of sixteen sections sung by a chorus and danced by the founding members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Revelations was soon commissioned to go on tour and as a result needed to be condensed, hence our present version. In Sacred Songs, the omitted songs from the original production of Revelations will be resurrected and reimagined to speak to our present need of lament, faith, and joy.

Collaborators
Matthew Rushing: Director, Choreographer
Du’Bois A’Keen: Composer, Lead Vocalist, Creative Associate
Jermaine Terry: Costume Designer
Alexandria Johnson: Collaborator/Choreographer’s assistant/Rehearsal Director
Nick Hetko: Pianist/Collaborator, original piano composition
Adriel Vincent-Brown: Drummer/Collaborator, original drum composition
Ian Forde: Bassist/Collaborator, original bass composition
Blake Johnston: Guitarist/Collaborator - original guitar composition
Ken Alston Jr.: Vocalist
Deana Cowan: Vocalist
Danyele Yvonne James: Vocalist

Cast
Stacie Cannon, Alan George, Maxwell Green-Waterman, Mahoko Hikita, Jason Jacob, Alexandra Love Strouse, Amy Lindelof, Renee McGinnis, Catalina Mendiola, Lilliana (Lily) Nishihira, Sherra Pierre-March, Angelique Smith, Josh Torres, Aminah Walton, La ‘ShelleMoneé Wilson, Rebecca Yang (Nov 1 at 4pm, Nov 2 at 1pm, Nov 3 at 1pm) 

Chris Cates, Claire Charvet, Aisha Cohen, Nadine DeNinno, Ja'Michael De'Shawn, Alexis Eldredge, KaVonna Holloway, Ming Infante, Jamia N. Jordan, Imani Kai, Gina Mayers, Nailah Roberts, Allyson Ross, B'ili Scott, T'Keyah Slaten  (Nov 1 at 7pm, Nov 2 at 4pm, Nov 3 at 4pm) 

Matthew Rushing was born in Los Angeles. He was a scholarship student at The Ailey School, became a member of Ailey II and in 1992 became a member of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. During his career he has performed for Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. During his time with the Company, he has choreographed four ballets: Acceptance In Surrender (2005), a collaboration with Hope Boykin and Abdur-Rahim Jackson; Uptown (2009), a tribute to the Harlem Renaissance; ODETTA (2014), a celebration of “the queen of American folk music”; and Testament (2020), a tribute to Alvin Ailey’s Revelations created in collaboration with Clifton Brown and Yusha-Marie Sorzano. Rushing became Rehearsal Director in 2010, was appointed Associate Artistic Director in January 2020, and is interim Artistic Director during the sixty-fifth anniversary season.

Commissioned by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of Edges of Ailey.