Alicia Graf Mack, a celebrated ballerina at Dance Theatre of Harlem and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, has come to know Cal Performances’ Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley well, and is happy to be bringing the Ailey troupe to the East Bay this month.
“It feels like a very special homecoming to come back to Zellerbach,” says Graf Mack, AAADT’s fourth artistic director, who assumed the role in July 2025.
“I have a great familiarity with the theater, the people of that theater, the presenters, much of the community partners, and the company always looks forward to returning,” adds the San Jose-born Graf Mack.
AAADT’s residency at Cal Performances, which began in 1968, resumes April 7-12 with four programs featuring seven Bay Area premieres, including a new production of Judith Jamison’s “A Case of You,” and revivals of Ailey’s soulful “Revelations” and Ronald K. Brown’s joyous “Grace.”
The residency marks Graf Mack’s curatorial debut with the company; she co-curated it with Associate Artistic Director Matthew Rushing.
She says, “The day I started is the day they went into rehearsals, so much of this planning had already taken place before my arrival, and it was a joy to work with Matthew and that my kind of vision or aesthetic was included.”
Graf Mack, former dean and director of the Juilliard School’s dance division, cites former AAADT director Jamison, who died in 2024, and Dance Theatre of Harlem founder Arthur Mitchell (1934-2018) among her most influential mentors: “… I would say Mr. Mitchell and Miss Jamison are my dance parents.”
She adds, “[Mitchell] was the one who really coached me and put me in roles to put me in the forefront of the field. But it was Ms. Jamison who brought me into the fold at Ailey, and she continued to mentor me through all of these various stages of my career. She became a mother figure in my life.”
AAADT’s Cal Performances program includes five 2025 dances making Bay Area premieres: Jamar Roberts’ “Song of the Anchorite”; Matthew Neenan’s “Difference Between”; Maija García’s “Jazz Island”; Frederick Earl Mosley’s “Embrace”; and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Samantha Figgins and Chalvar Monteiro’s “The Holy Blues.”
Roberts set his work to jazz trumpeter Avishal Cohen’s interpretation of an adagio by Ravel, while Zollar, Figgins and Monteiro set their piece to gospel and blues. Roberts and Monteiro are former AAADT dancers, Figgins is a company dancer; their creations were inspired by Ailey works.
Graf Mack says, “Jamar Roberts leans on legacy to innovate forward and created this piece that is closely inspired by a solo called ‘Hermit Songs’ Mr. Ailey created for himself in 1960. And ‘The Holy Blues’ is another piece that has made its inspirational departure from a phrase Mr. Ailey stated about the music of ‘Revelations’ — he called this gospel music ‘The Holy Blues.’”
Ballet BC artistic director Medhi Walerski’s 2011 “Blink of an Eye” also will be new to local audiences. Walerski, a former dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet du Rhin and Nederlands Dance Theater, set the work to music by Bach.
“It’s rooted in very strong classical ballet and modern dance vocabulary, and the way the choreographer approaches this work makes very old music feel contemporary again. That’s something that’s very germane to the company, says Graf Mack.
García’s “Jazz Island,” which is steeped in Caribbean culture and set to an original score by Etienne Charles, leans on dance theater: “It’s not so abstracted, so you’re following a plot line like a classical ballet would,” says Graf Mack.
“Difference Between,” set to music by 2025 MacArthur Foundation fellow Heather Christian, is choreographed by Neenan, co-founder of Philadelphia’s troupe BalletX. Graf Mack calls it “very contemporary in its language and rooted in this idea of group movement and communities.”
Mosley, founder and director of Diversity of Dance, an Ailey School faculty member and recipient of the 2025 NYC Performance “Bessie” Award for Outstanding choreographer, set “Embrace” to music by Stevie Wonder, Kate Bush and Pink. Graf Mack says, “Because the music is so recognizable to our audience It automatically connects them to what’s happening onstage.”
AADADT’s residency also includes hourlong daytime performances specifically for Bay Area K-12 students that introduce them to “Revelations” and excerpts of “Grace.”
“It’s especially important to maintain not just a presence on the stage, but in the community,” Graf Mack says. “This is why it’s so special that we return to Berkeley every year because our organization is much deeper than just the company. We have an extensive arts, education and community outreach program, which touches the communities in which we work.”
Cal Performances presents the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 7:30 p.m. April 7-9; 8 p.m. April 10-11; 2 p.m. April 11; and 3 p.m. April 12 in Zellerbach Hall on the University of California, Berkeley campus. Tickets are $38-$194 at calperformances.org.