Creativity is an infinite and enduring resource; Alvin Ailey presents “Survivors” live at the Meridian Hall, Toronto

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

The haunting beat resonated among the screams and wails of jazz singer Abbey Lincoln Aminata Moseka. As I sat there, I couldn’t help but become immersed in the movement on stage, the darkness of the room, and the stillness of the crowd…

On Saturday, February 4^th, 2023, the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper was invited to be part of the Survivors experience. Survivors is the 1986 (New Production 2022) production of Alvin Ailey and Mary Barnett’s impassioned tribute to the profound courage and terrible anguish of Nelson and Winnie Mandela. Max Roach’s richly varied drumming and Abbey Lincoln’s vocals set the emotional tone for this powerful work that lifts up those who resist oppression in any form.

The production passionately connected strong emotions, vital voices, move-to-the-groove energy and necessary empathy and life-affirming connectedness. The dancers did an excellent job illustrating the human experience—the wonder of it, the bewilderment of it, the whimsy of it, the pain of it. The performance did what it was supposed to do; move people on an intellectual, and emotional level. Watching it, I saw the intentful purpose of Alvin Ailey and Mary Barnett’s; to cause a reaction and with this purpose it created a synergy, and perhaps a change in everyone in attendance; change in attitudes, perceptions, and thoughts.

Masazumi Chaya, former Associate Artistic Director, who danced with the Company from 1972-1988 and assisted Mr. Ailey with Survivors, restaged the new production, resurrecting Ailey’s emotional outcry for the inhumane treatment of the South African resistance leaders. “Bringing back any of Mr. Ailey’s work is very important and special for us,” he shares. “The dancers were excited to learn Alvin’s work, and I enjoyed working with them.”

The production featured seven dancers, with two representing the anti-apartheid activist duo. Physical bars separated the cast from one male dancer, embodying the heaviness of Nelson Mandela when he was a political prisoner. They actually used real jail bars in the performance, not circles of light. Mr. Ailey wanted the steel bars to be part of the memory, the experience, in its physical: headiness, its heat, its texture, its agony, its abstraction, and its sound.

We took an extended intermission, and the audience was then recaptured by the Canadian premiere of Kyle Abraham’s Are You In Your Feelings? The performance celebrated Black culture, Black music, and the youthful spirit that perseveres in us all. Scored to a “mixtape” of soul, hip-hop, and R&B, the work explored the connections among music, communication, and personal memory.

Hip-hop and ballet couldn’t be more different, but Kyle Abraham’s changed that up. Somehow, he was able to conceptualize and then curate the strict beauty in one and the freedom of movement in the other. The riveting curation was one of sheer newness; seeing classically trained dancers plié and pirouette and then break out into a sassy nae-nae, talking to each other and engaging the audience.

We cannot ignore the social impact of Kyle’s work: this type of performance gives African/American/Caribbean dancers, who have often struggled to fit into the world of classical dance, a space to shine. Their moves, while likely pre-staged and pre-choreographed, had an air of improvisation and innovation. The styles encouraged interaction with audience members and between the dancers themselves.

I had another event to attend, so I was not able to stay for the last score, but as I left Meridian Hall, I couldn’t help but reflect on why the arts matter. They are like a gift from one soul to another. Creativity is an infinite and enduring resource, one to draw upon in both the most joyous and the most challenging of moments. The arts strengthen community bonds, create new means of connection and understanding, and offer a continuous, powerful, and resilient source of individual and collective identity.