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

CHOREOGRAPHER

RUN TIME

17 Minutes

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

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.

NEWS & PRESS

Listen to an NPR Morning Edition feature on Ode 

CBS New York Article, 12/1/19: 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." 
View this article on the Ailey Pressroom 

The New York Times review, 12/11/19: 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." 
View this article on the Ailey Pressroom 

The New York Times feature story, 12/9/19: 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." 

See it Live

Music Credits

“Suite (Sweet) Malcolm (Part 1 Memories and Gunshots)” by Don Pullen. Courtesy of Universal Music Corp, all rights reserved. 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 supported by commissioning funds from New York City Center.

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.