Alvin Ailey Performs GREENWOOD at City Center

Choreographer Donald Byrd's GREENWOOD is potent, historic storytelling though dance.  Greenwood was the segregated district in Tulsa, OK a.k.a "Black Wall Street".  It was one of the most affluent Black communities in the country at the time when a barbaric massacre occurred on May 30, 1921.  This slaughter has mainly been obliterated from our history books and our nation's knowledge.  The indelible image of the tortured & murdered young man Emmett Till in 1955 from his casket is one that cannot, nor should it be forgotten.  Our nation has & continues to inflict a hateful war on its own people solely based on bigotry.  The horrors of Greenwood have all but been forgotten though they mirror the heinous murder of Emmett Till.  The upcoming centennial of the Greenwood melee has reignited attention to a white mob attacking the black community killing at least 300 black people & destroying the homes & business of more than 10,000 blacks.  Byrd's balletic interpretation of these events are both horrifying, remarkable & unforgettable.  Omnipresent on stage, entered by passing through a hazy, smoked filled aperture, is a female dancer garbed in tribal dress.  She performs a poignant African dance that personifies grace and strength.  It's through her ubiquitous & incredulous eyes we see into the future to 1921 as a witness to the terrifying events in Greenwood.  Byrd uses 2 couples in 1920s dress in an ephemeral pas de deux that is jolting in juxtaposition with futuristic, faceless militia that mercilessly raze the defenseless couples.  The catalysis for this mob lynching is depicted on stage by a white female dancer replete with white gloves opens and closes an invisible, but audible elevator door.  When a black man enters the elevator she screams.  Mayhem ensures whereupon a mass of henchmen in their uni-glow army dress and oversized heads resembling gas masks.  The intensive imagery of blacks being mowed down by these "green" monsters is utterly disturbing and makes it impossible to look away unscathed.  The ghostly presence of the African tribeswoman does her utmost to serve as a shield but in vain.  She manages to lift one of the women killed onto her back & carries her back through the crimson portal.  Byrd's brilliant choreography, haunting costuming by Doris Black and exceptional dancing by the company create a monumental work of artistry and historic legacy.