Amy Hall Garner celebrates family in new work for the Alvin Ailey company

For CENTURY, her new work for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, choreographer Amy Hall Garner recorded a conversation with her grandfather, Henry Spooner, so she could include his voice in the score. The piece is Garner’s birthday present to Spooner, who turned 100 on December 30 — a celebration of his life and their relationship.

Speaking with ArtsATL about the days leading up to CENTURY’s opening in New York, Garner said: “Hearing his voice in City Center, this foreign place, while the crew was running sound checks, I realized that however long this piece is in the rep — and I hope it’s a long time — my grandfather will be in every theater where Ailey performs it. He will live forever and ever as one of the stories they tell.”

The Ailey company returns to its “second home” in Atlanta  January 25 through January 27. For the first time since 2011, Robert Battle, only the third artistic director in the company’s history, will not be there to greet the enthusiastic crowds that always fill the beloved Fox Theatre. He stepped down abruptly last year to focus on his health and family.

His enduring legacy as a nurturer of choreographic talent nonetheless thrives in both programs the company will present, including two Atlanta premieres: Garner’s CENTURY and Me, Myself and You by Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish.

CENTURY is a deeply personal and heartfelt homage to the company’s spirit, which is embodied in the repertoire and the dancers themselves. “I told the dancers that this was an absolute dream come true for me,” Garner said. “I grew up watching the Ailey company’s dance specials on TV during the ’80s, and they are part of the reason I went into this profession. I wanted to create something that said thank you to Mr. Ailey and the generations of dancers who brought that inspiration into the world.”

Garner’s numerous high-profile engagements include contributions to Beyoncé’s Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, choreography for off-Broadway theatrical productions​​​, a new work for Paul Taylor Dance Company that premiered in the fall and a new piece for New York City Ballet that will premiere this spring — her first for that company.

Garner set CENTURY to some of her grandfather’s favorite music by artists such Count Basie, Ray Charles and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Its joyful, fast-paced and challenging dance vocabulary weaves together the color and dynamics of the music with her cherished memories and a deep respect for the talent and artistry of the Ailey dancers.

“I come into the studio with an understanding that I’m here to serve; I need to live up to what these amazing dancers can give,” she said. “I’ve got to push them, and so I have to push myself. It takes a lot out of you to serve in that way and to create in that way.” During the creative process, Garner felt she had joined a “family,” as she described the Ailey company, a community she had previously admired mostly from afar.

Dancer Ashley Kaylynn Green told ArtsATL that Garner created a “dancer’s playground” in rehearsals. “When we were in the first stages of learning [the section] ‘Why Your Feet Hurt,’ the vibe from everyone in the room was enthusiastic and excited. Amy found a way to make us work really hard but let us have fun with the movement, too.”

Garner also drew closer to her grandfather during the process. “I knew this piece was going to be personal when I started,” she said, but “as it evolved, some things came back to me. I didn’t expect the experience of rediscovery [that I gained] from looking this closely at our relationship and thinking about having him in my life for so long.”

She said she “just broke down into tears” on the day of the New York premiere while watching a rehearsal of the solo “Total Praise.” That section was inspired by memories of sitting alone in the pews while her grandfather practiced with the church choir. “It hit me in that moment,” she said. “The dancers were rehearsing. I was standing on the stage with them, and the experience was right there in front of me again.”

CENTURY opens the Friday evening and Saturday matinée program, a bill that includes​​ Hans van Manen’s Solo, Ailey’s Revelations and Roxas-Dobrish’s Me, Myself and You.

This is the first time Roxas-Dobrish has created a work for the Ailey company, but she has a long history with the Ailey organization. She was a student in the Ailey school, the first Filipina principal in the company, a frequent guest artist and an Ailey school faculty member. She joined the company in 1984, five years before Judith Jamison took over as artistic director after Alvin Ailey’s death in December 1989.

Her work, Me, Myself and You, is a “pause piece,” just six minutes long. Set to Damien Sneed’s and Brandie Sutton’s operatic rendition of Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood,” it embodies the experience of a woman remembering a love affair. The dance begins as a solo and evolves into a pas de deux.

For company member James Gilmer, making the movement legible as the expression of love between two people is both the most challenging and most enjoyable aspect of the work. “In the final two to three minutes, Caroline [Dartey] and I test each other’s expansiveness through athletic counterbalances and tender embraces. We really rely on one another from moment to moment in order to make it through to the end,” he said.

“It’s a very touchy, feeling kind of piece, clinging and tactile,” Roxas-Dobrish said. “I love partnering. I think connection through touch is what we’re lacking these days. In dance, so many works being created are full of wonderful movement, but they are more about support and less about really sensing and connecting with the other person.”

Roxas-Dobrish says she will be forever grateful to Battle for the opportunity to choreograph for the main company and for his leadership. “By virtue of the choreographers he brought in, he took the dancers and the organization to the next stage. [He has left] an indelible mark.”

On Thursday and Saturday evening, along with Revelations, the program will feature Ronald K. Brown’s Dancing Spirit, inspired by Ailey Artistic Director Emerita Jamison, and Kyle Abraham’s Are You In Your Feelings?

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Robin Wharton studied dance at the School of American Ballet and the Pacific Northwest Ballet School. As an undergraduate at Tulane University in New Orleans, she was a member of the Newcomb Dance Company. In addition to a bachelor of arts in English from Tulane, Robin holds a law degree and a Ph.D. in English, both from the University of Georgia.