The Mooche

Alvin Ailey choreographed this musical comedy ahead of Duke Ellington’s Bicentennial. It recalls and celebrates the nightclub era from the days of the Cotton Club, of which Ellington was a part, but is also dedicated to four great Black women artists, all of them personal friends of Ellington—Florence Mills, Marie Bryant, Mahalia Jackson, and Bessie Smith.

The Mooche glitters with its mirror‐paneled décor and feathered costumes. The work deals with a theme that interested Mr. Ailey: the contrast between the surface glamour of entertainers and their private lives. The four women are surrounded by eight chorus boys who either worship or menace them. The choreography incorporates tap dance, vaudeville routines, male chorus lines, and strutting flamingo walks.

An earlier version of The Mooche was drafted in 1974 as a television project for Ailey II (then known as the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble). Of the first stage presentation of the complete ballet, The New York Times wrote that it was “one of the most spectacular works the Ailey company has ever presented.” Mr. Ailey would go on to revise the work several times in the following years.