Ailey II - ALL NEW PROGRAM at NYU Skirball

The Ailey II Dance Company is performing at NYU Skirball through Sunday.  Artistic Director Troy Powell since 2012 is only the 2nd person to lead Ailey since its inception in 1974.  Mr. Powell began his dance training at The Ailey School with at age nine.  He was a member of Ailey II and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1991 before becoming the Artistic Director for the Ailey II.   Last night Ailey II presented an all new program which featured the first work Powell choreographed for dancers in Ailey II.  The piece "EBB AND FLOW" ('18) was a soft and sensual pas de deux featuring Grace Bergonzi and Kyle Martin.  The music was by Samuel Barber one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th C.  The dancers melded into each other and moved apart while creating an elasticity that connected them at all times.  The soft lighting and costumes lent an ephemeral aura.  This luxuriant and languid choreography was serenely mesmerizing.  The other premiering choreograph by Bradley Shelver, a former Ailey II "WHERE THERE ARE TONGUES" was a high energy, folk-lorish dance with a modern and whimsical edge.  The ensemble dancers were all magnificent.  The music by Lo For De La Plana merged innovative archaic sonorities vocals which shaped the dancer's groupings hinting at cultural heritage dance indigenous to the Greek Islands.  Ailey II is performing 2 programs:  ALL NEW PROGRAM and RETURNING FAVORITES.   I recommend seeing both!