Pauline Adamek
The 2025/2026 season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center resumes this month with the return of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater—the company’s exclusive SoCal residency for the third consecutive year. Three of the works are L.A. premieres, and one is a company premiere.
A powerhouse of artistic excellence, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater carries forward a legacy of African American strength, resilience and joy through the power of movement. Founded in 1958 by Alvin Ailey, the company revolutionized modern dance, centering Black culture and storytelling on stages throughout the world, while transcending boundaries of race, faith and nationality with its universal humanity. Revelations, Ailey’s iconic masterpiece, remains a soul-stirring tribute to the Black experience, set to the rhythms of gospel, blues and spirituals. The company returns to The Music Center as part of its exclusive multi-year Southern California residency, under the leadership of its new Artist Director Alicia Graf Mack. In two different programs, audiences will be treated to classic works from the Ailey repertory that have thrilled fans for decades and new works by contemporary choreographers that promise to propel dance in exciting new directions.
The 2025/2026 Season is Dedicated to the Memory of Glorya Kaufman.
There will be three performances only, at The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion:
- Wednesday, March 25 (Opening Night), at 7:30 p.m. (Program A)
- Thursday, March 26, at 7:30 p.m. (Program B)
- Friday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m. (Program A)
Program A includes Blink of an Eye (Company Premiere), A Case of You,Difference Between (L.A. Premiere) and Revelations; Program B includes The Holy Blues (L.A. Premiere), Embrace (L.A. Premiere) and Revelations.
In true Ailey style, each performance will conclude with their classic work Revelations, first performed in 1960.
Revelations is a landmark modern dance piece choreographed by Alvin Ailey in 1960, celebrating African-American heritage. Using spirituals, gospel, and blues, it explores themes of suffering, faith, and joy across three sections—Pilgrim of Sorrow, Take Me to the Water, and Move, Members, Move. Renowned for its emotional power and storytelling, it remains a signature work of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, performed worldwide.
Alvin Ailey Dance Theater
March 25-29, 2026
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
To learn more about the remainder of the Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center 25/26 dance season, go here.
ABOUT GLORYA KAUFMAN PRESENTS DANCE AT THE MUSIC CENTER
Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, a TMC Arts program, is one of the leading presenters of dance on the West Coast. The celebrated series offers significant works by prestigious ballet and contemporary dance artists from around the world. Now entering its 21st year, Dance at The Music Center is a powerful force, supporting new works and artists-in-residence projects by today’s most influential companies and choreographers. Performances are complemented by special experiences for both ticket buyers and the public with opportunities to learn more about the choreography and the themes explored, including panels, master classes, dance film festivals, interactive experiences and more. The 21st season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center is generously supported by Glorya Kaufman Foundation, Center Dance Arts, Dorothy B. Chandler Program Fund and Elisabeth Katte Harris.
ABOUT CENTER DANCE ARTS
Center Dance Arts is a dynamic community of patrons with a passion for dance. Center Dance Arts members bring dance to life in Los Angeles by promoting The Music Center’s world-class dance performances, extensive educational outreach and free and low-cost community experiences so all may experience the transformative power of dance. For more information, visit musiccenter.org/cda.
ABOUT THE MUSIC CENTER
The Music Center convenes artists, communities and ideas with the goal of deepening the cultural lives of every resident in Los Angeles County. Celebrating its 60th year in 2024, the $70 million non-profit performing arts organization has two divisions: TMC Arts and TMC Ops. TMC Arts, The Music Center’s programming engine, provides year-round programming inside The Music Center’s four theatres, on Jerry Moss Plaza, outside at Gloria Molina Grand Park—a 12-acre adjacent green space—in schools and other locations all over Los Angeles County and on a digital platform called The Music Center Offstage. TMC Arts presents world-class dance with Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, free and low-cost public concerts and events, as well as live and digital K–12 arts education programs, workshops, performances, interactive experiences and special events. TMC Ops manages the theatres, the Plaza and Gloria Molina Grand Park, which comprise $2 billion in county assets, on behalf of the County of Los Angeles. The Music Center is also home to four renowned resident companies—Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles Master Chorale, LA Opera and LA Phil. For more information, visit musiccenter.org. Follow The Music Center on social media @MusicCenterLA.
ABOUT ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, recognized by U.S. Congressional resolution as a vital American “Cultural Ambassador to the World,” grew from a now‐fabled March 1958 performance in New York that changed forever the perception of American dance. Founded by Alvin Ailey, recent posthumous recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the nation’s highest civilian honor—and guided by Judith Jamison beginning in 1989, the Company was led until 2023 by Robert Battle, whom Judith Jamison chose to succeed her on July 1, 2011. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has performed for an estimated 25 million people in 71 countries on 6 continents—as well as millions more through television broadcasts, film screenings, and online platforms—promoting the uniqueness of the African American cultural experience and the preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance tradition. In addition to being the Principal Dance Company of New York City Center, where its performances have become a year‐end tradition, the Ailey company performs annually at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC; the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago; The Fox Theatre in Atlanta; Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, CA, and at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark where it is the Principal Resident Affiliate, and appears frequently in other major theaters throughout the United States and the world during extensive yearly tours. The Ailey organization also includes Ailey II (1974), a second performing company of emerging young dancers and innovative choreographers; The Ailey School (1969), one of the most extensive dance training programs in the world; Ailey Arts in Education & Community Programs, which brings dance into the classrooms, communities, and lives of people of all ages; and Ailey Extension (2005), a program offering dance and fitness classes to the general public, which began with the opening of Ailey’s permanent home—the largest building dedicated to dance in New York City, the dance capital of the world—named The Joan Weill Center for Dance, at 55th Street at 9th Avenue in New York City. For more information, visit alvinailey.org.
