Ailey II will launch a 28-city tour from October 2024 to May 2025.

Ailey II will embark on a 28-city tour from October 4, 2024 to May 1, 2025. The next generation of dance will captivate audiences across the United States, from Miami, Florida, to Kansas City, Missouri, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, before returning home for its annual season in New York City, March 26 to April 6 at the Ailey Citigroup Theater. The 2024-2025 repertoire includes two world premieres by former Ailey II member Alia Kache and Houston Thomas, as well as repertoire favorites and beloved classics.

Founded in 1974 as the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble and led by Sylvia Waters for 38 seasons, Ailey II has advanced Alvin Ailey’s vision for more than five decades, providing early career dancers with a bridge from world-class training at The Ailey School to the professional stage. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Francesca Harper, Ailey II dancers bring their technical mastery and emotional depth to the work of the most daring established and emerging choreographers. As Mr. Ailey envisioned, the company continues to develop the next generation of performers and dancers while expanding audiences through global tours and community-based performances.

“This season, Ailey II will delight audiences across the country with mesmerizing new releases, as well as returning favorites and iconic dances by Alvin Ailey,” said Francesca Harper. “The company’s 12 rising stars will ignite, unite and inspire audiences of all ages and backgrounds, while paying tribute to Mr. Ailey’s legacy and creative spirit.”

Houston Thomas’ world premiere Down the Rabbit Hole is a sequel to the choreographer’s Follow the White Rabbit (2022) and expands on its themes, exploring the relationship between humans and technology. Inspired by the Matrix film series, Down the Rabbit Hole examines how technology is interwoven into the fabric of everyday life, changing the way we as humans interact and function. The powerful piece, set to music by Johannes Goldbach and Pomassl, asks: Technological change – do we drive it or does it drive us?

Alia Kache creates a cinematic experience in her new masterpiece Mystery at Sky Square. Based on the mischievous Akan folklore character Anansi the Spider, Kache’s masterpiece takes center stage in a film noir dance piece. Complete with 1940s-inspired costumes, narration from an original script by Ryan Blackwell, a sinister atmosphere, and music by Omari Tau, Mystery at Sky Square combines all the right elements of a classic crime thriller for the stage.

In addition to these exciting premieres, the tour will also feature Alvin Ailey’s Streams, an abstract exploration of bodies in space, danced to a percussion score by Miloslav Kabelac; Ailey Highlights, a collection of excerpts from three classic choreographic works by Alvin Ailey from 1958 to 1972; Baye and Asa’s John 4:20, an extended duet that the choreographers originally created in 2018; Francesca Harper’s Luminous, a work that pays tribute to the 50th anniversary of Ailey II’s birth and the artists who paved the way for future generations; and a solo excerpt from Judith Jamison’s Divining, her first choreography for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1984.

Revelations, Alvin Ailey’s must-see American masterpiece, will also grace the stage. Since its inception in 1960, this groundbreaking work has continued to captivate audiences around the world with its perfect blend of reverential grace and spiritual uplift. In it, Mr. Ailey honors and reflects on the African American cultural heritage, which he considered one of America’s richest treasures—“sometimes sad, sometimes joyful, but always full of hope.”

This season, the four returning company members: Alfred L. Jordan II, Kiri Moore, Corinth Moulterie and Kayla Mei-Wan Thomas, are joined by eight new dancers: Carley Brooks, Meredith Brown, Jennifer M. Gerken, Xavier Logan, Xhosa Scott, Darion Tuner, Eric J. Vidaña and Jordyn White.

Before the exciting 2024-25 Ailey II season begins, the company will perform in Edges of Ailey, the first large-scale museum exhibition to celebrate the life, dances, influences, neighborhoods, and enduring legacy of Alvin Ailey—opening at the Whitney Museum of American Art on September 25. A fifth-floor multimedia exhibition of paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, films, rehearsal recordings, and archival materials place Mr. Ailey in a broad social, creative, and cultural context. These works of art and memorabilia highlight artists who influenced and collaborated with Mr. Ailey, the spaces and stages he visited, and the dynamic themes he explored in his dances. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Ailey II’s ambitious live performance series will present excerpts from Mr. Ailey’s work, as well as workshops, classes, and panel discussions. Tickets for the timed gallery exhibition are available for purchase at whitney.org/tickets. Tickets for the Edges of Ailey performance include same-day admission to the exhibition and are available at whitney.org. Seating is limited in the theater.