Slaves

George Faison, a former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater company member and Tony Award-winning choreographer, captures the resilience of the human spirit in this ballet composed of 10 dramatic episodes that recreate brutal human bondage in the hold of a slave ship. An eclectic mixture of African rhythms, jazz, and soulful vocals in the musical score contrast with the clanking of chains and shackles worn by the dancers. Faison wanted to tell the story of a journey out of freedom into slavery from an African American point of view and to declare that, despite the horrible darkness of enslavement, nothing can extinguish the light in the human soul.