Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater continues its Ailey All Access programming with Jawole Willa Jo Zollar's Shelter, which begins streaming August 20 at 7 PM ET. Watch it on AAADT's YouTube channel.
Shelter is a statement about the physical and emotional deprivation of homeless people. Set to an score which incorporates drumming by Junior “Gabu” Wedderburn and poetry by Hattie Gossett and Laurie Carlos, the work includes a new ending with revised text highlighting recent natural disasters and how shelters can be threatened by climate change.
In addition to the broadcast, viewers can catch a discussion between Zollar and Associate Artistic Director Matthew Rushing to learn more about the creative process behind the piece, as well as a behind-the-scenes video entitled Dance as a Metaphorical Shelter.
The company offers access to free performance broadcasts from its repertory every Thursday. The online platform also offers dance and fitness class, original short films, conversation series, and more.
The series continues August 27 with Artistic Director Robert Battle’s No Longer Silent, created in 2007 as part of a concert of choreography that brought to life long-forgotten scores by composers whose work the Nazis had banned. The ensemble piece is set to the percussive “Ogelala” by Erwin Schulhoff, who died in a concentration camp in 1942.
