“A scene ends in blackout and suddenly the stage is ablaze with a burnished, orange sun. Out come the women, in white frocks and wide hats, their hands aflutter in a desperate, probably losing battle to stave off the heat. They’re in church, but they’re home, too … We’re in Alvin Ailey territory, and the work, of course, is ‘Revelations,’ dance images as distinct and memorable as any in our fading century.”
Tribune critic Sid Smith wrote in 1998 of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s annual trip to the Auditorium Theatre — a tradition almost as old as the company itself. In the same review, Smith lauded both Judith Jamison, a founding dancer who assumed leadership in 1989 when founder Alvin Ailey died, and a young dancer, Matthew Rushing, who shepherds it today.
Rushing has been interim artistic director since 2023, filling the shoes Jamison wore for decades before Robert Battle’s 12-year tenure. Former Ailey dancer Alicia Graf Mack, who most recently was head of the dance program at Juilliard, will be the company’s permanent artistic director leading into the 2025-26 season.
It is thus the dawn of a new era for Ailey, which returns to the Auditorium Theatre March 7-9. The opening performance includes a special tribute to Jamison, who died in November 2024. It’s also the final time Chicago native Vernard Gilmore will perform here as part of the company; after almost 30 years with the organization, he’ll retire at the end of the season — the last company member on the current roster Jamison hired.
“You just know,” Gilmore said of his pending departure. “I’m ready to take on new things.”
It is an uncharacteristically short run in Chicago, lasting just three days and four public performances. Rushing said touring has shifted significantly since the pandemic, but Chicago is one of just a handful of non-negotiable cities. Despite the short stay, they’ve added an additional school show, bussing children from all over the city to sit in the Auditorium’s golden seats for a daytime performance. That’s how Gilmore first found out about Ailey.
“It’s a pretty amazing legacy to be a part of,” Gilmore said. A full circle moment was performing the iconic “I Wanna be Ready” solo from “Revelations” as part of the Auditorium’s 2019 showcase celebrating 50 years since the 1889 venue reopened to the public after closing during the Great Depression.
“It’s been a constant inspiration to keep a coalition together to keep reaching out to the public and bring people into the theater,” said Gilmore, “especially people like me from the South Side.”
Gilmore grew up in Englewood. His early dance training included Joseph Holmes Dance Theatre and Barat College, a private college in Lake Forest that housed a dance conservatory. The conservatory folded when DePaul University bought the college 2001. The campus closed altogether in 2005. Gilmore praised his teachers at Joseph Holmes and Barat; he’s kept them in his biography since joining Ailey II in 1995.
“Not many dancers can boast such a long performing career,” said Rory Foster, a former American Ballet Theatre dancer who was dean of the Barat College Dance Conservatory. “There was never a doubt among our faculty that (Gilmore) was destined to have a successful professional career.”
“Vernard pushed himself constantly in class, listening and absorbing everything, which made it a pleasure to teach him,” said Emily Stein, who taught Gilmore’s ballet classes at both Barat College and Joseph Holmes Dance Theatre. “He could see what he wanted and was willing to make the commitment and do the work to get there.”
As Gilmore now looks to pass the torch to the next generation, he feels the responsibility of his role as a senior company member, passing down the stories and culture of a uniquely American institution. But he’s also been on stage often and long enough that he can now just enjoy being in the moment.
“I’m a firm believer in Judith Jamison’s words: Hold onto the past, live in the present, reach fearlessly into the future,” he said.
As for his own future, Gilmore plans to seek opportunities to choreograph, following in the footsteps of colleagues such as Hope Boykin and Rushing, whose pieces “Finding Free” and “Sacred Songs” will be performed for the first time in Chicago. The mixed-bill, divided into two distinct programs, also features a refreshed, 25th-anniversary staging of Ronald K. Brown’s “Grace,” a new production of Elisa Monte’s 1979 “Treading” and the Chicago premiere of “Many Angels,” a rare new piece by Chicago native Lar Lubovitch.
Rushing looks forward to resuming his role as associate director when Graf Mack takes over, giving him more time to choreograph. He managed to squeeze in a new piece for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, set to premiere in May, in addition to “Sacred Songs,” a work culled from discarded parts of Alvin Ailey’s original evening-length version of “Revelations.” But he’s got no plans to leave Ailey.
“It’s simple but it’s profound,” Rushing said. “Mr. Ailey wanted to make a place and a vehicle for dancers of color when they didn’t have it. But he also wanted to celebrate humanity. When you step into this organization and you experience that firsthand, there’s something that shifts in your life. You can’t shake it. It gets into your DNA.”
Lauren Warnecke is a freelance critic.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs March 7-9 at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive; tickets are $39-$129 at 312-341-2300 and auditoriumtheatre.org
