See highlights from several ballets not performed by the Ailey company in over a decade, including works originally danced or choreographed by living legend Carmen de Lavallade: John Butler’s Portrait of Billie (about iconic jazz singer Billie Holiday) and Lester Horton’s Sarong Paramaribo, as well as de Lavallade’s own Sweet Bitter Love.

These excerpts are part of a special evening honoring dance icon Carmen de Lavallade, a close friend of Alvin Ailey’s who first introduced him to dance when they were high school students in Los Angeles. The two later journeyed to New York where they starred together on Broadway in Harold Arlen and Truman Capote’s musical House of Flowers. She went on to have an illustrious career in dance, theater, and films, and performed with the Company throughout its first few decades.