Marsalis: Jazz Is Dance
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

About the Concert

Garth Fagan Dance, New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey, and Twyla Tharp are just a few of the legendary companies that have commissioned ballets by Wynton Marsalis. This evening showcases highlights from his celebrated collaborations with the world of dance. Performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, the program features dances drawn from this extraordinary canon, alongside new choreography by Atlanta Ballet’s Choreographer-in-Residence and Princess Grace Award Winner Claudia Schreier, and a restaging of selections from Spaces (2016), an animal ballet created and performed by the gravity-defying Memphis jookin’ innovator Charles “Lil Buck” Riley and Tony Award–nominated tap virtuoso Jared Grimes. Playful and intimate, acrobatic and sensual, the performance is brought to life with colorful spoken introductions for each animal—reminding us of a shared connection with animals, for example “because each nightingale can improvise up to 300 unique songs, they are often compared to jazz musicians.”

Made possible by the John and Jody Arnhold Innovation Fund.

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Join us before the performance at 6:30 p.m. for a pre-concert lecture and gain deeper insight into the music and artists featured in the concert.