Ailey co. names Robert Battle as new artistic director

The much-anticipated news is finally here and Robert Battle has gotten the nod to replace Judith Jamison at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater:

Read New York Times article

Recent previews & reviews

We've fallen a little behind in our tracking of reviews and previews of our performances in the local press, so Aisle Be Seeing You will now fall back on lists of links to cover more ground. Don't worry, once we get our 2010-2011 subscription season launched, and once we're showered with enough compliments (and once we stop using the royal "we"), we'll pick up the delightfully informative and unrelenting narrative you all know and love. In the meantime, let's hear from the critical establishment:

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (April 15-18, Citi Wang Theatre)

Boston Globe/Boston.com

Boston Herald

Boston Phoenix

The Tufts Daily

Imani Winds with Stefon Harris (April 16, NEC's Jordan Hall)

Boston Globe/Boston.com (preview)

Maya Beiser, World to Come (April 23, Paramount Theatre)

Boston Globe/Boston.com (review)

Maurizio Pollini (April 25, Symphony Hall)
 
Boston Globe/Boston.com

The Boston Musical Intelligencer

The Boston Musical Intelligencer
(Thoughts on Hearing Maurizio Pollini's Hamburg Steinway Fabbrini in Concert)

Danish Dance Theater (April 27 & 28, Paramount Theatre)

Boston Globe/Boston.com

Boston Globe review of Ailey company's opening night

Karen Campbell's review of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's opening night performance is online (it will be in print tomorrow, April 17). The program covered in Campbell's review will be repeated Saturday evening:

"When the music pops into a funky groove, flat-footed jive walks combine with
rippling bodies. An African beat brings on rolling shoulders, arms swinging,
legs bent, dancers briefly launching themselves into backward turns, bodies
curved like commas in the air. Robinson’s swirling, swooping solo seems to
invoke the spirits, her arms repeatedly curling inward as if drawing in curling
tendrils of smoke. She turns in place, head thrown back."

Read all of Ailey troupe celebrates director's dancing spirit.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs at the Wang Theatre through Sunday.

Announcing the Celebrity Series of Boston 2010-2011 Season

Subscription sales begin April 30

So here is our season for next year in all its 41-event glory. You can't order your subscription, yet, that starts April 30, but you can check out the artists, dates, times, venues and even programs (follow the links), request a season brochure (if you're a subscriber this season, you will already get one), and join our e-mail list and get a reminder before subscription sales begin. We're announcing a little early this season so you can begin setting your arts calendar for 2010-2011.

October 2010

Mark Morris Dance Group
Program features the world premiere of a Celebrity Series commission
October 14-17
Cutler Majestic Theatre

Chucho Valdés with The Afro-Cuban Messengers
Celebrity Series Debut
Thursday, October 28, 8pm
Berklee Performance Center

November 2010

What Makes It Great? with The Claremont Trio
Beethoven's "Archduke Trio"
Sunday, November 7, 3pm
NEC's Jordan Hall

Liza Minnelli in Concert
Celebrity Series Debut
Sunday, November 7, 5pm
Symphony Hall

Basil Twist's Petrushka
Boston Debut
November 11-21
Subscription performances:

November 11-17
The Paramount Theatre

Kremerata Baltica
Gidon Kremer, violin soloist and leader
Celebrity Series Debut
Friday, November 12, 8pm
NEC's Jordan Hall

Murray Perahia, piano
Sunday, November 14, 3pm
Symphony Hall

Tokyo String Quartet with Lynn Harrell, cello
Friday, November 19, 8pm
NEC's Jordan Hall

Pinchas Zukerman, violin/viola
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Sunday, November 21, 3pm
Symphony Hall

Parker String Quartet
Bonus Subscriber Event
Monday, November 22, 8pm
NEC's Jordan Hall

December 2010

Haochen Zhang, piano
2009 Van Cliburn Gold Medalist
Boston Debut
Friday, December 3, 8pm
NEC's Jordan Hall

Pilobolus
December 3-5
Cutler Majestic Theatre

January 2011

Christine Brewer, soprano
Celebrity Series Debut
Saturday, January 15, 8pm
NEC's Jordan Hall

Liz and Ann Hampton Callaway, "Boom!"
Friday, January 21, 8pm
Sanders Theatre

Balé Folclórico da Bahia
Celebrity Series Debut
Saturday, January 22, 8pm
The Opera House

Philharmonia Quartett Berlin
Boston Debut
Friday, January 28, 8pm
NEC's Jordan Hall

Savion Glover, "SoLo in TiMe"
Saturday, January 29, 8pm
The Opera House

Golden Dragon Acrobats
Sunday, January 30, 3pm
Symphony Hall

February 2011

Joshua Bell, violin
Friday, February 4, 8pm
Symphony Hall

Ira Glass, "Radio Stories and Other Stories"
Saturday, February 5, 8pm
Sanders Theatre

Tierney Sutton Band
Celebrity Series Debut
Friday, February 11, 8pm
Sanders Theatre

What Makes It Great?
Excerpts from Mozart's Don Giovanni
Sunday, February 13, 3pm
NEC's Jordan Hall

Takács Quartet
Friday, February 18, 8pm
NEC's Jordan Hall

Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Sunday, February 27, 3pm
Symphony Hall

March 2011

Evgeny Kissin, piano
Wednesday, March 2, 8pm
Symphony Hall

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
Celebrity Series Debut
March 4 & 5
Tsai Performance Center

Emerson String Quartet with Sir James Galway, flute
Friday, March 11, 8pm
NEC's Jordan Hall

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Saturday, March 12, 8pm
NEC's Jordan Hall

KODO Drummers
Sunday, March 13, 4pm
Symphony Hall

American Legacies:
The Del McCoury Band with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Saturday, March 19, 8pm
Symphony Hall

Matthew Polenzani, tenor
Boston Recital Debut
Thursday, March 24, 8pm
NEC's Jordan Hall

John Williams, guitar
Friday, March 25, 8pm
NEC's Jordan Hall

April 2011

Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
Friday, April 1, 8pm
NEC's Jordan Hall

BeijingDance/LDTX
Boston Debut
April 1 & 2
Tsai Performance Center

Patti LuPone, "The Gypsy in My Soul"
Sunday, April 3, 5pm
Symphony Hall

St. Petersburg Philharmonic
Yuri Temirkanov, conductor
Alisa Weilerstein, cello soloist
Sunday, April 10, 3pm
Symphony Hall

Dubravka Tomsic, piano
Friday, April 15, 8pm
NEC's Jordan Hall

Dawn Upshaw, soprano
Friday, April 29, 8pm
NEC's Jordan Hall

May 2011

Sweet Honey In The Rock
Friday, May 6, 8pm
Symphony Hall

Compagnia TPO, Farfalle
Boston Debut
May 10-15
Black Box Theatre, Paramount Center

Complexions Contemporary Ballet
May 20-22
Cutler Majestic Theatre
_________________________________

Call for a free 2010-2011 season brochure: (617) 482-2595
or visit www.celebrityseries.org.

Important Dates:

Season Subscriptions go on sale April 30, 2010

Priority Seating Deadline is Friday, June 11, 2010

Subscriptions by phone begin Monday, June 14, 2010

Individual performance sales begin Monday, September 13, 2010

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in "Uptown" (video)

Check out Matthew Rushing's "Uptown" (and dig that jive, Jack!).

April 15 is opening night of Ailey in Boston (April 15-18, Citi Wang Theatre).