Former Ailey dancer Jamar Roberts offers a meditation on the beauty and fragility of life in a time of growing gun violence. This tender, engrossing work features a jazz score—Don Pullen’s “Suite (Sweet) Malcolm (Part 1 Memories and Gunshots)”—and Roberts’ own costume designs. 

Visit our blog to learn more about Jamar Roberts and his inspiration for Ode

PRESS COVERAGE

Listen to an NPR Morning Edition feature on Ode

CBS New York Article, 12/1/19: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Kicks Off 2019 Holiday Season
"'It is a tribute to victims of gun violence. I really wanted to do something really beautiful, so in essence, it’s a poem. I’m not really depicting any one scene in particular, but I really wanted to do something that was gonna really help facilitate healing to most of the communities and families affected,' Roberts said."
View this article on the Ailey Pressroom

The New York Times review, 12/11/19: A Dance About Gun Violence? ‘Ode’ Is Daring and Delicate
"'Ode' isn’t obvious, though. It’s delicate, daring and heartbreaking. Pitfalls of maudlin cliché surround the subject, but Mr. Roberts has skirted them, above all through his bold choice of music […] His emotions and his musicality are hooked up in a distinctive, quietly persuasive fashion. In 'Ode,' his sensuous, full-bodied choreography is anchored in the music at a deep enough level that it’s free to flow over the surface in its own form, slowing and speeding and sometimes maintaining two tempos at once. Something similar is at work among the dancers. Their connection is palpably strong but under threat, and the interplay of unison and do-your-own-thing — the call-and-response between soloist and group — keeps up an underlying tension parallel to the music's."
View this article on the Ailey Pressroom

The New York Times feature story, 12/9/19: At Alvin Ailey, a Quiet Disrupter With No Time for Tears
"The music fit his vision: 'Ode' isn’t about gun violence, but a balm for those who have lived in its aftermath. It’s rooted in healing."

The new production of Ode was made possible with generous support from Simin N. Allison, Judith McDonough Kaminski & Joseph Kaminski, Denise Littlefield Sobel, Daria L. & Eric J. Wallach, Tracy Elise Poole, and The Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn & Nicolas Rohatyn New Works Endowment Fund. 

The creation of Ode was supported by commissioning funds from New York City Center.