Repertory

Ascension

RUN TIME

10 Minutes

WORLD PREMIERE

New York City Center, 1998

MUSIC

Michael Wimberly

DÉCOR

Joseph Anthony Gaito

COSTUMES

Barbara Forbes

LIGHTING

Brenda Dolan

In former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater member Troy O’ Neil Powell’s choreographic debut, Ascension, he creates a world ruled by a goddess and her muses whose collective aim is not to inspire acts of creation, but to set boundaries on them. The voice of Powell’s choreographic influence, the late Ulysses Dove, is evident in the driving, percussive score and exciting athleticism. In this abstract work, notable for its muscular wit, Powell also incorporates intricate lifts to suggest that adherence to limitations may provide a unique means of transcendence. 

Ascension a ... piece by Troy O'Neil Powell has a whiff of disco about it…but it is not elevated club show-off stuff…. Michael Wimberly's music would baffle mere club dancers. Powell's steps interpret it with a blunt but clever grace.

Tom Strinni, Milwaukee Sentinel Journal