"Moonlight x Ailey" — “Moonlight x Ailey”

Barry Jenkins’ film “Moonlight” at this moment has gone past the point of being just an acclaimed film, and onto something much more; a cultural phenomenon we could even say. A film that has become, for many people, a profound, deeply moving testament to the human condition, it is a singular work of art that, in time, will likely be marked as something of a cultural milestone in black cinema, as well as in cinema overall, as audiences continue to discover, rediscover and discuss it for years to come.

And one of the countless who have felt the impact of the film is Robert Battle, artistic director of New York’s Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and who has now choreographed a short modern dance work inspired by “Moonlight,” using three different dancers from the Alvin Ailey dance company and school (Jamar Roberts, Christopher Taylor and Jeremy Villas), to portray the main character at different stages of his life, just as the film used three different actors to do the same.

Directed by Anna Rose Holmer, who garnered critical attention last year for her haunting film “The Fits” (starring Royalty Hightower), the music used in the short is from “The Middle of the World,” composed by Nicholas Britell.

Take a look at “Moonlight x Ailey” below:

Moonlight x Ailey

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