A Journey of Healing
Across North Africa, the all-night music-dance-trance ritual called lila (pronounced lee-lah) is celebrated as a means for spiritual healing.
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The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater held a blink-or-you’ll-miss-it run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music this week. Ambitiously, the troupe alternated two programs and changed up casting a remarkable amount for so few shows. The programs, titled Contemporary Visions and All Ailey, were split into newer works (all were listed as new productions in 2023) and older company classics (including the stalwart “Revelations”). I wish I could’ve gone multiple times to see the various pieces and interpreters. I particularly wanted to see “Revelations” in the warm weather. Like the song “My Favorite Things” from the Sound of Music, “Revelations” has been coopted by the holiday season. The AADT performs it without fail at their City Center residency each December. Although I now associate it with mistletoe and holly, it really is a summery piece—with its sun umbrellas and fans and hazy amber lighting. Sigh, maybe next time. I did, however, make it to the contemporary program on opening night. It was a brief affair—running just an hour with an intermission—but the works were rich and the dancers were great, so I didn’t feel slighted. If you tacked on a nice dinner afterward it was a perfect night.
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Across North Africa, the all-night music-dance-trance ritual called lila (pronounced lee-lah) is celebrated as a means for spiritual healing.
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