Following their triumphant 2024 season, the legendary New York modern dance company Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to enchant Europe with two brand-new programs. Blending heritage and creation, this is the unmissable dance event of the 2026 fall season.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's return to Brussels stands as one of the major choreographic events of 2026. The prestigious New York company returns to the Forest National stage with a renewed artistic offering that is both bold and deeply moving.

For this new Parisian series, the troupe unveils two different programs.

Program A, "Ailey Legacy", celebrates the company's heritage through emblematic works that have shaped its identity. "Night Creature", choreographed by Alvin Ailey in 1975 to Duke Ellington's sophisticated jazz score, immerses the audience in a vibrant nocturnal world where bouncing allegros blend with Graham-esque contractions. "Grace", a major creation by Ronald K. Brown in 1999, unfolds luminous spirituality by fusing modern dance vocabulary with movements from the African diaspora. This piece, which has become essential to the Ailey repertoire, traces the journey of a goddess who comes to spread grace on earth, sublimated by Duke Ellington's music.

Program B, "New Works", ventures into contemporary creation with works never before presented in Belgium. Medhi Walerski's "Blink of an Eye" set to Bach opens this unprecedented choreographic journey. "A Case of You", a sensual duet created by the legendary Judith Jamison to Diana Krall's interpretation of Joni Mitchell's classic, explores the fragilities of romantic connection. "Many Angels" by Lar Lubovitch, set to the Adagietto from Mahler's "Symphony No. 5", gracefully questions a metaphysical enigma. Finally, "Song of the Anchorite" by Jamar Roberts, former resident choreographer, boldly reinterprets Alvin Ailey's "Hermit Songs" in a contemporary meditation on passion and devotion.

The common thread of both programs, "Revelations" remains the absolute masterpiece of modern dance. Created in 1960, this iconic ballet draws from African American spirituals, gospels, and blues to offer a fervent exploration of the torments and joys of the human soul. The "blood memories" of Alvin Ailey's native Texas infuse every movement of this work that transcends cultural boundaries and continues, more than six decades after its creation, to move audiences around the world.

Under the artistic direction of Alicia Graf Mack, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perpetuates its founder's vision: celebrating technical excellence, choreographic diversity, and African American cultural heritage while commissioning new works from the most talented choreographers of our time. The company's dancers, true athletes of grace, embody with breathtaking virtuosity a repertoire that constantly dialogues between tradition and innovation.

Press reviews

"A superb show, dancers who hold nothing back, no easy activism, a refined musical score—in short, not to be missed." - Le Figaro

"African American dance magnificently showcased by the Alvin Ailey company." - Le Monde

"The dancers deploy, with elegance and ardor, the vibrant dance of Alvin Ailey, intimately linked to music, where academicism and African American culture coexist." - Scène Web