Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, one of the world’s most popular dance companies and America’s cultural ambassador to the world, returns to Atlanta in 2025 with several performances at the Fox Theatre.  Celebrating Legacy in Motion and the late, beloved Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison, the 2025 Atlanta engagement will feature the world premieres Sacred Songs by Interim Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, Finding Free by Hope Boykin, Many Angels by Lar Lubovitch, and Al-Andalus Blues by Jamar Roberts. The season will also include the 25th anniversary staging of Ronald K. Brown’s rapturous blockbuster Grace and a new production of Elisa Monte’s mesmerizing Treading. The finale of all programs will be Alvin Ailey’s soul-stirring, must-see masterpiece, Revelations, which has captivated audiences globally since 1960. The Atlanta engagement opens Feb. 12 with a College Night performance. The evening begins with the 25th anniversary production of Ronald K. Brown’s spellbinding Grace, set to Duke Ellington’s classic “Come Sunday,” Peven Everett’s hit “Gabriel,” and the irresistible pulse of Fela Kuti’s Afro-Pop. The secular and sacred meet in a tour-de-force connecting African and American dance that depicts individuals on a journey to the promised land, expanding from a single angel-like figure in white to the fireball intensity of 12 powerful dancers. The performance continues with former Company member Hope Boykin’s exploration of personal freedoms in the world premiere Finding Free, a collaboration with pianist Matthew Whitaker who composed an original score. This insightful work uses Boykin’s movement language and Whitaker’s jazz- and gospel-influenced contemporary music to examine the challenges and restrictions throughout life’s peaks and valleys that propel our journey forward. The performance on Feb. 13 kicks off with Grace followed by the world premiere Al-Andalus Blues by former Ailey dancer Jamar Roberts. Featuring music from Roberta Flack and Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain, the abstract ensemble piece journeys back in time to the golden age of Al-Andalus, evoking the northern African Moors who flourished in the south of present-day Spain prior to the Christian Reconquista. Following Al-Andalus Blues will be a performance of an excerpt of Alvin Ailey’s Cry, to pay tribute to Judith Jamison, who originated the role and ignited the ballet with her unparalleled grace and power. This program repeats on Feb. 15 without Cry. On Valentine’s Day, a moving performance will feature Sacred Songs, a world premiere by Matthew Rushing that reimagines several spirituals used in the original 1960 premiere of Revelations that were later omitted when the piece was edited into the current version, beloved for decades. Drawing inspiration from the roots of Mr. Ailey’s most venerated and consummate creation, this stirring new work—with the collaboration of creative associate and musical director Du’Bois A’Keen—is an offering to our present need for lamentation, faith, and joy. Fittingly for Valentine’s, the program features two mesmerizing duets: Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish’s Me, Myself and You, a dreamlike duet of reminiscence set to Damien Sneed and Brandie Sutton’s rendition of “In A Sentimental Mood;” and a new production of Elisa Monte’s Treading, a sculptural, mesmerizing duet featuring fluid, intricate movements that together with Steve Reich’s evocative music create an aura of mystery and sensuality. In 1958, Alvin Ailey and a small group of dancers took the stage in New York and forever changed American dance and culture. Mr. Ailey was one of the country’s groundbreaking greats, and his Company inspires all people in a universal celebration of the human spirit using the African American cultural experience and the modern dance tradition. More than 66 years after its founding, the Company continues to move forward with far-reaching performances, revealing time and again why Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is one of the world’s most beloved dance companies. The compelling story of the life, work, and legacy of Alvin Ailey is the subject of Portrait of Ailey, a new eight-part documentary series available for free on PBS LearningMedia. Created by Ailey II Artistic Director Emerita Sylvia Waters, Portrait of Ailey uses rare historical film and still images as well as contemporary footage to create a sweeping narrative of Mr. Ailey as a performer, choreographer, celebrity, teacher, social activist, arts advocate, and the creator of an enduring institution. The post Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Returns To Atlanta In 2025, Here’s What To Expect appeared first on Atlanta Daily World.