Ailey II

Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s finest early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s outstanding and emerging choreographers.

Founded as the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble in 1974, Ailey II serves as a bridge between The Ailey School and the professional dance world. The company embodies Alvin Ailey’s pioneering mission of cultivating the next generation of emerging artists and inspiring audiences of all backgrounds. Under the artistic direction of Francesca Harper, Ailey II features some of the most promising rising stars redefining modern dance today.

Francesca Harper’s In the Moment is a meditation on presence, transformation, and the profound impact of being truly seen. The work is inspired by a small but powerful gesture of recognition and enduring friendship. Through movement and text, the work explores the ways empathy can become action and how one generation can affirm, guide, and empower the next.

Renowned for his fusion of African and modern dance, Ronald K. Brown added new flavor to his signature style in Open Door, an enlivening work set to recordings by Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. With co-choreographer Arcell Cabuag, Brown combines the impassive swagger of club dance with the undulant torso, winging arms and rhythmic feet of West African dance.

Alvin Ailey’s Night Creature is a bubbly champagne cocktail of a dance, a perfect fusion of Mr. Ailey’s buoyant choreography and Duke Ellington’s sparkling music. At once wistful and sassy, it beckons viewers into a nocturnal world populated by jazz babies and night owls. Ellington said that “night creatures, unlike stars, do not come OUT at night—they come ON, each thinking that, before the night is out, he or she will be the star.” This ensemble work is full of such stars—strutting, leaping, and slinking through a variety of dance idioms as they flaunt and flirt with each other and the audience. It’s the definitive dance homage to the exuberance of The Duke’s sophisticated symphonic work.

“This season, Ailey II continues to embody the bold and fearless spirit of the next generation of dance while honoring the legacy that brought us here,” Francesca Harper said. “I am thrilled for audiences across the country to experience the passion and artistry of these twelve extraordinary artists on stage, and to close out the season at home in New York City.”

Ailey II welcomes back Kamani Abu, Jada Ammons, Christian Butts, Adanna Smalls, and Eric J. Vidaña along with seven new dancers: Julie Colotroc, Daijia Monaé, Vic E. Davis, Jaydin Javier De Jesús, Michelle Osanya, Jalyn Postadan, and Dominic A. Roberts.

Chosen by Alvin Ailey to guide and develop Ailey II after its inception in 1974 until she stepped down in 2012, Ailey II Artistic Director Emerita Sylvia Waters conceived and directed Portrait of Ailey, an eight-part documentary series available for free on AILEY.org or PBS LearningMedia. The exceptional series combines rare historical film and still images with 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.

Pictured: Ailey II’s Adanna Smalls and Eric J. Vidaña. Photo by Nir Arieli.