Night Creature

Alvin Ailey's Night Creature
Please Credit Photo: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Alvin Ailey's Night Creature. Photo by Gert Krautbauer
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(1974)
 
Choreographer: Alvin Ailey
Music: Duke Ellington
 
Combining modern dance, classical ballet and jazz, Night Creature is a perfect fusion of Alvin Ailey’s buoyant choreography and Duke Ellington’s sparkling music. Duke Ellington first composed the phenomenal, "Suite For Orchestra" in 1955, later adding the second and third movements in 1963. He said that “night creatures, unlike stars, do not come OUT at night¬– they come ON, each thinking that, before the night is out, he or she will be the star.” This large ensemble work is full of such stars — strutting, leaping and slinking Jazz babies and night owls. Night Creature is the definitive Ailey homage to the exuberance of The Duke's jazz, and remains one of Mr. Ailey’s most popular works.
 
 
 
 
 

Featured News Releases

Ailey All Access Premieres Jamar Roberts' Members Don't Get Weary On April 28 Set To The Legendary John Coltrane's Music During Jazz Appreciation Month

New York, NY – April 23, 2021 – The Ailey organization continues to honor its founder who taught the important lesson of “holding a mirror to society so that people can see how beautiful they are,” by offering Ailey All Access, a free online initiative that illuminates the human spirit and sparks change. Since March 30, the streaming series has reached millions across the globe with free performance broadcasts of full length works from the repertory, Ailey Extension dance and fitness classes, and more.

Ailey All Access Returns With A Spring Series Of Free Digital Broadcasts March 17-June 24

New York, NY – March 17, 2021 – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will continue to inspire audiences virtually with a spring series of free programs through Ailey All Access from March 17 – June 24. Using dance as a vehicle for joy and hope during a time of unprecedented challenges and separation, the presentations will advance the Ailey organization’s online initiatives that have inspired and enlightened over 12 million people in 121 countries over the past year, including a December holiday season featuring several dance film premieres.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Invites Viewers To Enjoy Family Programs During Ailey Forward - First-Ever Virtual Season Celebrating Six Decades Of Revelations

New York – December 4, 2020 – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater invites families around the world to gather for special family programming during Ailey Forward – the Company’s first-ever virtual holiday season. Led by Artistic Director Robert Battle, Ailey’s extraordinary dancers will elevate a legacy of artistic innovation and excellence while celebrating six decades of Alvin Ailey’s timeless Revelations. Nine presentations through the holidays, each available free online for a week, carry on the tradition of uplifting audiences and making dance accessible to all with engaging family-friendly programs and interactive experiences to uplift and unite across generations.

Featured Press Coverage

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The New York Times - Alvin Ailey’s Silky Creatures Of The Night

The sun sets, the moon rises and New York City is reborn. The night was a source of fascination for the choreographer Alvin Ailey. He understood its power, how bodies could soften in its shadows. It’s a time when some people “become their real selves,” he wrote in his notebooks in reference to his dance Night Creature. It’s no accident that Ailey, the subject of Edges of Ailey, a major exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, choreographed a performance to open Studio 54 in 1977.

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Ebony - 7 Iconic Alvin Ailey Dances That Should Be On Every Enthusiasts' Radar

Renowned choreographer Alvin Ailey started his namesake dance company back in 1958, and his work has remained timeless over the decades. Whether it’s the joyous celebration of Night Creature, the playful Pas de Duke, or his most revered masterpiece, Revelations, his work can be a transcendent experience that has filled the hearts and souls of audiences around the globe.

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The New York Times - Celebrating Two Birthdays: City Center And The Ailey Company

This theater, for this city. New York City Center Theater celebrated its 75th anniversary on Tuesday night. That milestone neatly coincides with the annual five-week Christmas season of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the theater’s first resident modern dance company, itself celebrating an anniversary this year: its 60th.