On an icy night in late December, Miami native Robert Battle, the new artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, saw his past and future come together in the heart of New York City.
After a year and a half of public grooming, of working alongside his towering predecessor, Judith Jamison, Battle was finally at the head of modern dance's most famous company, and in programming the troupe's annual five-week season at City Center Theatre, a major event in the New York dance world, he had made his real debut as director.
