The Journey Inward

Last night was magical! I got to experience a childhood dream, surrounded by family.

As a young girl, I was enthralled by Alvin Ailey and his American Dance Theater. I didn’t take dance, nor did anyone in my family, but I loved it as an art form. I saw glimpses of Ailey and his dancers over the years and was drawn to something I couldn’t describe, but felt deep within me.

While visiting Atlanta with my daughter this past November, we passed a poster advertising the AAADT’s performance at a local theater and I told her how much I’d love to see them one day. It was a quick conversation and I didn’t think about it again.

But she remembered it. She called me in January and told me the dance troupe was coming to the Kennedy Center in DC and she could get discount tickets through her Fulbright membership. She asked if I’d come and I did not hesitate. YES!! I was tickled that she’d recalled my little wish.

I left work a bit early and caught a train to DC, then the metro to my daughter’s office. We walked the mile to the Kennedy Center on a mild winter evening just after sunset. We met my sister, brother-in-law and niece for dinner, wandered the Center a bit, and then took our seats. As the theater lights dimmed and the stage lights came up, our journey began.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was founded by Ailey on March 30, 1958 and was designated a “vital American Cultural Ambassador to the world” by a US Congressional Resolution. The performances were meant to transcend boundaries of faith, race, nationality and promoting humanity. (Could there by a more hopeful and uplifting place to be right now??)

The night was everything I had dreamed of for over four decades! The music, lighting, costumes and choreography were stunning. But I could not take my eyes off the dancers, so present in their Art, performing seamlessly so we might not be mindful of their hours of practice, their counting, their cues. Instead, I sat riveted, absorbing the sumptuousness, the sensuality, the rawness, emotion, the important messages. I didn’t look away once and forgot about the audience around me until the end of each number and the accompanying thunderous applause. It was clear we were all under Ailey’s spell.

Our little party talked non-stop on the way back to my sister’s about what we had seen and felt. This bit of joy had awakened our souls and bound us together. It was a powerful night.

As my sister dropped me at Union Station this morning for a very early train back to home and work, I imagined myself moving not with shuffling, tired steps, but with the grace, elegance and lightness of the Alvin Ailey dancers.

Photos: Kennedy Center, Washington, DC. 2.4.25 by LA