XL Arts

Alvin Ailey's beloved masterpiece is still a revelation

By Clare Croft
SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Thursday, February 09, 2006

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs its signature "Revelations" almost 300 times each year. And almost every time, the piece draws audiences to their feet.

"Ailey's danced in many cultures where tradition mandates that audiences barely clap, but at the end of 'Revelations' they're up and screaming," says Ronni Favors, Ailey's rehearsal director and former company dancer.

The company will log the next two performances of company founder Alvin Ailey's masterpiece Tuesday and Wednesday at Bass Concert Hall. Tuesday's program pairs "Revelations" with newer works, while Wednesday features "Night Creatures," another Ailey creation.

In 1960 Ailey, one of the giants of 20th-century American dance at only 29, choreographed "Revelations" to African American spirituals for his infant New York company. A year later he stripped the work to its current form, half an hour long and divided into three sections. The first is bare and bound, the second a celebratory baptism awash in blue and white, and the third an explosion of technique and emotion.

"Ailey essentially told the story of African Americans from slavery to freedom," says Thomas Defrantz, author of "Dancing Revelations." "The dancers emerge in brown tones and do an abstract modern dance to underscore the spiritual yearning of African Americans, then, in the end, they move and pray together in a very specific place in a Texas church."

To create "Revelations," Ailey drew upon childhood memories of small-town Rogers, not far from Temple. Making similar personal connections helps the dancers reinvigorate their interpretations of the work's many roles.

Matthew Rushing, a 12-year member of the company, says he loves his role in "Wade in the Water," part of the baptism section, because it allows him to tap his own spirituality.

He says, "If I continue to bring my life experience to the stage in 'Revelations,' then it will never grow old. I'm not the same person I was last year, so the ballet should feel different too."

While the dancers seek to find personal attachments to the dance, company directors hold them accountable to Ailey's choreography.

"Stick to the man's steps!" says artistic director Judith Jamison in rehearsals, according to Courtney Corbin, who joined the company this fall.

Rushing says the dancers know they have veered too far from the original choreography when Jamison appears in the wings mid-performance. Her formidable six-foot frame, backstage or in rehearsal, serves as a constant reminder of the work's long history. Jamison was one of Ailey's most prolific dancers, assuming leadership after Ailey's death in 1989.

But "Revelations" has changed over time, particularly as dancers' technical abilities have expanded.

" 'Revelations' may look different now, but what's important is that it doesn't feel different," says Defrantz. "Even though the technique is so heightened, the audience still has a sense of a person doing it and not a dancer who's just a technician."

Favors says helping the dancers remember the real people in Ailey's childhood helps keep the work centered on humanity.

"In 'Bosom of Abraham' Alvin was showing the dignified joy that people had in church in the '30s and '40s when he was going to church with his mother," she says. "People behave differently now in church, but we have to keep it respective to that time."

In rehearsals last fall, Asha Thomas learned a new role, the female part in the duet "Fix Me Jesus," directed by Jamison.

"Small things make a difference," says Thomas. "The facial details are important. It's a duet with a man, but he's more like an angel. The woman's not aware of him — just feels his presence. They are breathing together."

Rehearsal days at Ailey often begin with ballet class, but Ailey structured "Revelations" around Horton technique, a style developed by Lester Horton, Ailey's first teacher in modern dance.

"Horton technique tends to be pretty linear," says Favor. "Yet the emotional message of 'Revelations' is very deep and lush. It's a wonderful juxtaposition of seemingly disparate elements — a wonderful training tool."

Ailey dancers are some of the best in the world, constantly lauded for their brilliance, but Rushing says dancing "Revelations" humbles him.

He describes dancing "Wade in the Water" for the first time saying, "I was so secure and confident, but in the moment of performance I was broken in half. The steps took me to a more pure place. I just had to try to let the movement speak for itself."

For all the dancers, coming back to "Revelations" each day never feels like a burden.

"We've been given a responsibility and we take it seriously," says Thomas. "We're dancing a masterpiece."