Roy's Joys

Alvin Ailey dancers performing in 2022. Photo by Paul Kolnik.

Company dancers in a brief excerpt.

Stahl and Mahoney in performance. Photo by Jack Vartoogian.

Alvin Ailey dancers performing in 2022. Photo by Paul Kolnik.

Premiere

Date

30 September 1997

Company

Tharp!

Venue

New York City Center

Location

New York, NY

Production

Choreographer

Twyla Tharp

Composer

Roy Eldridge

Lighting Designer

Jennifer Tipton

Costume Designer

Santo Loquasto

Dancers

Jennifer Howard, Gabrielle Malone, Julie Stahl, Sandra Stanton

Roger C. Jeffrey, Shawn Mahoney, Victor Quijada, Matt Rivera, Andrew Robinson

Number of Dancers

9

Dance Sections

I. Just Fooling

II. Une Petite Laitue

III. I Remember Harlem

IV. Baby Don’t Be Like That

V. L’isle Adam

VI. Oh Shut Up!

VII. Hollywood Pastime

VIII. Sweet Lorraine

IX. Tu Disais Qu’tu M’aimais

Runtime

00:29:09

Description

In the mid-1970s, photographer Richard Avedon gave Tharp a copy of an album by jazz musician Roy Eldridge. She revisited this recording in Roy’s Joys, an ensemble work for her contemporary dance company.

The choreography is rooted in the strong technique of the dancers. A spirit of spontaneity carries over from the Eldridge recordings. Even the unison duets are infused with this easy and carefree energy.

From the original program: “Special thanks to Richard Avedon, Norma Stevens, Patsy Tarr, the late Dale Harris, Sidney and Frances Lewis, Vicente Wolf, Maurice and Lois Rosenfield, Abbot Miller and Sean Kelleher.”