Channelling the spirit of Ailey, who was known for his dynamic storytelling, particularly when it came to the histories of Black America, the dancers parlay the material into something turbulent and extraordinary. 

First up is “For Four,” a 2021 quartet from artistic director Robert Battle that unleashes a gust of bottled-up, pandemic-driven energy. Wheeling to a 4/4 jazz arrangement by Wynton Marsalis, the dancers burst forth in an explosion of shimmies and cha-chas, their heads bobbing like chickens. Swing moves mingle with sensuous slices of contemporary dance, producing lush pirouettes and full-body extensions accentuated by cocked, wagging fingers. Just a few minutes long, the piece is as glossy and rousing as a shot of bourbon, especially when the crew start snapping their sparkly suspenders.

A quick pause before another short, sweet offering from Battle: 2007’s “Unfold,” set to the central aria from Gustave Charpentier’s 1900 opera Louise, a fable of love and poverty in fin de siècle Paris. Ashley Mayeux delivers drama from the opening notes, wrenching herself into a powerful backbend while the lengths of a blood orange chiffon dress cascade around her. She keeps her fingers outstretched as she morphs from one statuesque pose into another, clawing at her lover (Jeroboam Bozeman) and the empty spaces he leaves behind. The pair clamber together in a slow, staggering display of desperation, their passion writ large in arms that scrape at the sky. Most of the duet had unfurled by the time I realised they still hadn’t faced each other directly, a superb touch of staging. Nothing matters outside of this private world they’ve engineered, and yet they can hardly bear to make eye contact—devastating.