Skip to content
Three dancers wearing red in low lighting in arabesque

Repertory

Flight Time

COMPANIES

CHOREOGRAPHER

WORLD PREMIERE

New York City Center, 1980

RESTAGING

Masazumi Chaya

MUSIC COMPOSITION

L. Mizell

COSTUMES

A. Christina Giannini

LIGHTING

Chenault Spence

RUN TIME

  • 8 minutes

Flight Time is an excerpt from Alvin Ailey’s work Phases, choreographed in 1980 at the height of his artistry. Phases is a startling, classic jazz dance that is divided into five sections, each composed by a significant African American jazz musician. This excerpt, Flight Time, features music composed by L. Mizell, performed by jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd.

Dancers wearing red in low lighting

Ailey II in Alvin Ailey's Flight Time Photo by Nir Arieli

Male and female dancer leaning with leg extended

Ailey II's Jada Ammons and Christian Butts in Alvin Ailey's Flight Time Photo by Nir Arieli

Male and female dancer in low lighting wearing red

Ailey II's Adanna Smalls and Eric J. Vidaña in Alvin Ailey's Flight Time Photo by Nir Arieli

Dancers in low lighting wearing red with two dancers in center looking upward

Ailey II in Alvin Ailey's Flight Time. Photo by Nir Arieli

See It Live

Music Credits

“Flight Time” composed by L. Mizell, played by Donald Byrd. Courtesy of Al Ruby Music Inc. and Almo Music Corp.

Funders

The creation of this work was made possible, in part, with commissioning funds from 

The New York State Council on the Arts – a State Agency. 

Hero Credit: Photo by Nir Arieli