The ailey company all posing with their legs crossed and their arms reaching above their heads and touching. There is a floral pattern in the background.

Repertory

Ode

COMPANIES

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

CHOREOGRAPHER

Jamar Roberts

WORLD PREMIERE

New York City Center, 2019

RESTAGING

Ghrai Devore-Stokes

MUSIC

Don Pullen

SET DESIGN

Libby Stadstad

COSTUME DESIGN

Jamar Roberts

LIGHTING DESIGN

Brandon Stirling Baker

RUN TIME

17 minutes

Former Ailey dancer Jamar Roberts offers a meditation on the beauty and fragility of life in a time of growing gun violence. This tender, engrossing work features a jazz score—Don Pullen’s “Suite (Sweet) Malcolm (Part 1 Memories and Gunshots)”—and Roberts’ own costume designs.

Visit the Ailey Blog to learn more about Jamar Roberts and his inspiration for Ode.

Ode by Jamar Roberts (Female Cast)

Jamar Roberts Talks about Ode

The Company all makeing the same pose with their elbow wrapped around their head, and their other arm at their waist

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Ode by Jamar Roberts Photo by Paul Kolnik

The Company all holds on to the arms of the performer in front. One has her hand placed on other others chest

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Ode by Jamar Roberts Photo by Paul Kolnik

Members of the company holding on to one another. One has his arm wrapped around loosely wrapped around the other's neck

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Ode by Jamar Roberts Photo by Paul Kolnik

Y. Lebrun, C. Monteiro, R. Maurice, and S. Dumas all posing with one arm our and the other bent and raised. There is a floral pattern in the background

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Y. Lebrun, C. Monteiro, R. Maurice, and S. Dumas in Ode by Jamar Roberts Photo by Paul Kolnik

NEWS & PRESS

Listen to an NPR Morning Edition feature on Ode

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Kicks Off 2019 Holiday Season
"It is a tribute to victims of gun violence. I really wanted to do something really beautiful, so in essence, it’s a poem. I’m not really depicting any one scene in particular, but I really wanted to do something that was gonna really help facilitate healing to most of the communities and families affected,' Roberts said."
- CBS New York Article, 12/1/19

A Dance About Gun Violence? ‘Ode’ Is Daring and Delicate
"'Ode' isn’t obvious, though. It’s delicate, daring and heartbreaking. Pitfalls of maudlin cliché surround the subject, but Mr. Roberts has skirted them, above all through his bold choice of music […] His emotions and his musicality are hooked up in a distinctive, quietly persuasive fashion. In 'Ode,' his sensuous, full-bodied choreography is anchored in the music at a deep enough level that it’s free to flow over the surface in its own form, slowing and speeding and sometimes maintaining two tempos at once. Something similar is at work among the dancers. Their connection is palpably strong but under threat, and the interplay of unison and do-your-own-thing — the call-and-response between soloist and group — keeps up an underlying tension parallel to the music's."
- The New York Times review, 12/11/19

At Alvin Ailey, a Quiet Disrupter With No Time for Tears
"The music fit his vision: 'Ode' isn’t about gun violence, but a balm for those who have lived in its aftermath. It’s rooted in healing."
- The New York Times, 12/9/19

Music Credits

Funders

_Ode_{was made possible with generous support from Kathleen & Ernest Abrahamson, Simin N. Allison, Judith McDonough Kaminski & Joseph Kaminski, Denise Littlefield Sobel, Daria L. & Eric J. Wallach, Tracy Elise Poole, and The Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn & Nicolas Rohatyn New Works Endowment Fund. The creation of}_Ode_{was also supported by commissioning funds from New York City Center.}

Two dancers in front of a screen that looks like a lowering orange sun. They are wearing big hats and have church fans.

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Hero Credit: Photo by Paul Kolnik