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A solo dancer in brown pants in a wide plie, bent over with hands close to his face

Repertory

Song of the Anchorite

COMPANIES

CHOREOGRAPHER

WORLD PREMIERE

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: New York City Center, 2025

MUSIC

Maurice Ravel
Performed by Avishai Cohen, Yonathan Avishai, Barak Mori, & Ziv Ravitz

COSTUMES

Jon Taylor & Jamar Roberts

LIGHTING DESIGN

Yi-Chung Chen

SCENIC DESIGN

Joseph Anthony Gaito

RUN TIME

  • 8 minutes

Renowned Ailey choreographer Jamar Roberts gives a fresh take on the 1961 solo Hermit Songs, Alvin Ailey’s reaction to a set of medieval religious texts and the haunting song cycle by Samuel Barber that they inspired. The result is a powerful meditation on passion and devotion—both earthly and spiritual—danced to jazz trumpeter Avishai Cohen’s interpretation of a Ravel adagio.

Alvin - 

To you, I offer my eternal debt of gratitude for leaving behind a legacy of truth, power, beauty, and spirit. Because of you, we are seen.

- Jamar Roberts 

A solo dancer kneeling with arms up and wrists crossed with large branches in the background

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Donnie Duncan Jr in Jamar Roberts' Song of the Anchorite Photo by Paul Kolnik

A solo dancer in brown pants holding one leg up to his chest

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Donnie Duncan Jr in Jamar Roberts' Song of the Anchorite Photo by Paul Kolnik

A solo dancer in brown pants with knees bent and one arm overhead

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Donnie Duncan Jr in Jamar Roberts' Song of the Anchorite Photo by Paul Kolnik

See It Live

MUSIC CREDITS

“Adagio assai (from Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major)”

FUNDERS

The world premiere of Song of the Anchorite is supported by Celestine & Howard Campbell.

Hero Credit: Photo by Paul Kolnik