Alvin Ailey at City Center in December. It’s as much an N.Y.C. tradition as Balanchine’s Nutcracker at Lincoln Center. The company has named Jamar Roberts to be its first resident choreographer, and December 10 sees the premiere of his Ode, a dance that addresses life in a time of increasing gun violence. On December 6, the premiere of Donald Bryd’s Greenwood, which takes the 1921 Tulsa Riots as its subject. Meanwhile, if you haven’t seen Ailey’s masterpiece Revelations, well, better late than never. —L.J.