Talking with Alvin Ailey's Daniel Harder: Shaping an Incredible Narrative with 'Lazarus'

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) is on the East Coast leg of their 60th Anniversary Tour season. The company will be in Boston on May 2 through 5 at the Boch Center Wang Theatre, presented by the Celebrity Series of Boston. For more information about this engagement, visit the Celebrity Series of Boston website).

On Friday they will be performing "Lazurus," a new ballet choreographed by Philadelphia-based contemporary choreographer Rennie Harris, currently the company's artist- in- residence.

During their performance run in Miami in March, out Ailey dancer Daniel Harder, who plays the lead in Harris' "Lazarus" spoke by phone about the tour and Ailey's enduring legacy still inspiring a new generation of dance artists.

"'Lazarus' says Harris "chronicles so many different journeys - the black experience, the inequities past and present. But also it was inspired by Mr. Ailey's life from growing up in segregated South in Texas in the '30s and creating a company during the civil-rights movement. Using his trials, tribulations and eventually triumphs as inspirations to craft this narrative."

Completely blown away

Harder has been with the Ailey company for nine years and has worked with Harris on two previous ballets, but admits "I was completely blown away when he told me I would be dancing the title role in 'Lazarus.' Rennie is extremely generous. His process is always relaxed, but very clear within the delivery of his movement and style. Watching him shape an incredible narrative."

He said Harris' choreography is "very technical, very fast and cathartic. Every time I perform the role I want to offer my purest honesty and vulnerability. So I can be true to the narrative really happening."

After its premiere performance in New York, African-American dance historian Brenda Dixon Gottschild ("The Black Dancing Body") described the ballet as a "moving meditation and a dramatic leap, drawing on themes from previous 'places in your heart' but with a visionary futuristic look at your/our past."

Harder joined the Ailey company in 2010. "I was one of the last hires from director Judith Jamison and was able to work with her, and I've been with Robert Battle (Ailey artistic director/choreographer) for 8 years. And it's been an incredible being part of such a rich artistic history.

"Mr. Ailey's legacy that celebrates not only the African American experience, expression through modern dance, but the human spirit. It's an honor to be part of it and share what I do with audiences everywhere."

Harder's professional career started his pre-professional training at Suitland High School for the Visual and Performing Arts in Maryland. He participated in a student residency program at the Kennedy Center and his technique was noticed by Arthur Mitchell, legendary African American principal dancer of the New York City Ballet in the 1950s and founder of the Dance Theater of Harlem. Harder recalls that "At the time Mitchell referred to him as the "'young man in the basketball shirt."

An all-inclusive environment

The student dancer in the basketball shirt went on to graduate from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program in Dance, and is also the winner of the Jerome Robbins/Layton Foundation Scholarship and has performed for leading international choreographers including Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, Donald McKayle, Debbie Allen, and Christopher L. Huggins.

Now, Harder is dancing it forward and is part of this generation of teachers, returning to teach dance workshops and master classes at Suitland High School.

Harder said during the anniversary tour, the company will perform "Kairos," a ballet by British choreographer Wayne McGregor, and "EN," a new work by Bessie and Arison Award=winning choreographer Jessica Lang. "Plus the Timeless Ailey Program, with excerpts from popular Ailey ballets and works that haven't been seen in a while."

Of course, every performance by AAADT includes Ailey's most famous ballet and an American masterpiece "Revelations." And Harder never tires of dancing it "I think that 'Revelations' speaks to spirit- it and allows everyone to see themselves in this ballet. Every human knows the journey of going from tribulation to triumph. That's why it's so powerful and timeless."

In an interview with the GLBTQ newspaper the Georgia Voice, Harder said the ballet "begins with the deepest grief and sorrow and ends in a celebration of spirit and joy is something that anyone can relate to regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual identity. I can speak for the Ailey company, for a lot of the dancers who wanted to join the company, because it is an all-inclusive environment."

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Philadelphia performances March 1-2 at the Academy of Music, Broad & Locust St. Philadelphia. Check www.kimmelcenter.org for tickets. For complete information on AAADT 60th anniversary tour visit www. www.alvinailey.org

Alvin Ailey Dance Theater's Boston run takes place May 2 – 5 at the Boch Center Wang Theatre, 270 Tremont Street, Boston, MA. For more information about this engagement, Watch this video preview of "Lazurus":

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