In the curtain raiser, Tchaikovsky’s 23-minute “Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture,” Childress proved all business—and then some—while at the same time, she was able to coax sumptuous sounds from the Phil. Notable were the stellar principal harpist Emmanuel Ceysson, as well as the tympanists, where the sounds of foreboding doom accentuated the tragedy to come. (And if the omnipresent melodies sounded familiar, they were used to pitch classical vinyl discs for the Record-Of-The-Month Club back in the day, the earworms still prevalent now.) 

From tragedy to ebullience, Childress then led the band in Adolphus Hailstork’s Symphony No. 1. Born in 1941, Hailstork composed the opus in 1988, and with elements of West African, Latin American and Asian music mixed with Black spiritual traditions, the four movements were a study in propulsion and brio. Add to the mix the dazzling Dance Theatre of Harlem, and the combination was irresistible.

Choreographed by DTH artistic director Robert Garland, the work featured a quintet of dancers in powder blue and silver costumes designed by Katy A. Freeman. Sassy, jazzy, and full of oomph, the performers—Ingrid Silva, Micah Bullard, Derek Brockington, Delaney Washington and Alexandra Hutchinson—could have been on stage at New York’s famed Apollo Theatre. 

There were lifts galore, pirouettes that spanned the long but narrow floor, and gorgeous bourrées, while unisons also ruled, as the Bernstein-like dissonances, Copland-esque melodies and a rhythmic nod or two to Gershwin, offered the orchestra a chance to swing, as well. 

At 21 minutes, the work was a perfect fit for the dancers, who, while offering sky-high kicks and even the occasional split, emanated joy, a much needed feeling these days. The cherry on this terpsichorean sundae was the presence of Hailstork himself, who bounded on stage afterwards to take a well-deserved bow.