five women sit on the ground arms linked looking up at the sky in anquish.

Repertory

Shelter

COMPANIES

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

CHOREOGRAPHER

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar

COMANY PREMIERE

1992

WORLD PREMIERE

Urban Bush Women, The Kitchen, New York City, 1988

REHEARSAL ASSISTANTS

Maria Bauman, Jaimé Dzandu, Marjani Forté, Paloma McGregor, Samantha Speis, and Bennalldra Williams

MUSIC

Junior "Gabu" Wedderburn and Victor See Yuen

TEXTS

"Between a Rock and a Hard Place at the Intersection of Reduced Resources and Reverberating Rage" by Hattie Gossett, "Elmina Blues Opus 3 (Pigin Drum Song)" by Carl Hancock Rux, "Belongo" by Laurie Carlos, "Are You Listening" by Paloma McGregor and Jawole

COSTUMES

Terri Cousar

LIGHTING

Susan Hamburger

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s Shelter, first performed by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1992, is a passionate statement about the physical and emotional deprivation of unhoused people. Set to an inventive score that incorporates drumming by Junior “Gabu” Wedderburn and poetry by Hattie Gossett and Laurie Carlos, Shelter delivers the compelling message that the poverty of individuals will inevitably lead to the destitution of all humanity. The work is typically performed by either an all-female or all-male cast. Over the years, Zollar has occasionally altered the dance to respond to current events. The Company’s most recent production in 2017 ended with a new poem listing the recent onslaught of hurricanes and raising the alarm about how climate change threatens shelter for everyone.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Jawole Willa Jo Zollar's Shelter

Roy Volkmann

One dancer reaches forward while kneeling on the stage, and several other dancers lie on the floor, intertwined. They are wearing casual outfits in muted colors, and the background is black.

Members of the Company in Shelter Paul Kolnik

Six dancers are performing on stage, reaching upwards with their arms. They are wearing various casual outfits in muted colors, and the background is black.

Members of the Company in Shelter Paul Kolnik

A dancer is captured mid-air performing a split leap against a black background. The dancer is wearing a pink sleeveless top and green pants.

Jacquelin Harris in Shelter, photo by Paul Kolik Paul Kolnik

a woman jumps in the air legs in the splits

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Toni Pierce in Jawole Willa Jo Zollar's Shelter Photo by Jack Mitchell. (©) Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Inc. and Smithsonian Institution

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Jawole Willa Jo Zollar's Shelter (circa 1992) Photo by Jack Mitchell. (©) Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Inc. and Smithsonian Institution

A potent statement on homelessness and displacement [which] speaks pointedly to the present. The work both depicts transience and pushes back at it, through the persevering performances of six dancers. They begin piled on the ground, a heap of bodies that later reappears, uprooting itself and migrating from place to place. Countering these weary moments, they also unleash deep reserves of power, in high, slashing kicks—paired with downward-punching fists—and propulsive, intricately shuddering phrases. New text by Ms. Zollar and Paloma McGregor addressed the endangered home that is our planet, referring to hurricanes Harvey and Irma and other recent events. Ms. Zollar’s (recorded) voice intoned: 'The earth is talking; are you listening? We are talking; are you listening?' At times one dancer fell backward, swiftly caught by the rest. If nowhere else, they found shelter in one another.

Siobhan Burke, The New York Times