Alvin Ailey’s ‘Revelations’ is a special work

Los Angeles, CA (News4usonline) – Watching the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) never gets old. Without question, it’s such an incredible experience that I would recommend people go and see the show.

 Absorbing the spectacle of these incredible athletes performing on stage effortlessly is always a mind-blowing phenomenon to me. 

I mean, when you watch the dance ensemble go through their nearly two hours (1 hour, 56 minutes) of performing, by the time the climatic anthem “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham” hits its high point, you’re panting for more. 

“Revelations” has a way of doing that. Just in case for those who have never seen AAADT perform (YouTube is a great place to visit to check them out), you’re cheating yourself out of a real treat. 

During a limited recent run at The Music Center in downtown Los Angeles, AAADT broke down their performance into separate parts to a fast-paced show. 

Of course, AAADT saved the best for last, and that meant setting up the spiritually-driven “Revelations” to close out the spectacular production. Once you place your eyes on “Revelations,” your theater-going experience won’t ever be the same. 

To better explain just what the heck “Revelations” is, I would put it in the context of a hitter coming up to the batter’s box with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning of the World Series with two outs and his team down by three runs. 

Everyone in the building knows that the game is just one majestic swing away from changing the course of history. 

Perhaps the performances that AAADT put together in “Revelations” is not as dramatic, but you better believe it carries the same amount of weight in the dance and theatre worlds.

The anticipation of that first dance number of “Revelations” begins way before The Company engages a well-attentive audience with “I Been ‘Buked.”

It happens long before triple threats Xavier Logan, Ashley Kaylynn Green and Hannah Alissa persuasively perform the uptempo “Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel.”  

By the time Caroline T. Dartey and Yannick Lebrun meticulously execute the harrowing “Fix Me, Jesus” number, “The Pilgrim of Sorrow” part of “Revelations” is complete, but of course, it sets the tone for the next act. 

Before we do that, let’s talk a little about how we arrived at this inflection point of the show. With “Revelations” as the curtain-call closer, AAADT gives a strong build up with well-synchronized  dance routines like “Blink of Eye,” “A Case of You” and “Difference Between.”  

 “A Case of You” is a stunning visual and is super breathtaking to behold thanks to the eloquent performance Lebrun and Jacquelin Harris give.   

I got to tell you that the journey through “Revelations” is almost like having an out-of-body experience as you can feel the essence of these dancers dip into your soul with their graceful and magnetic presentation. 

What makes “Revelations” so powerful a testimony in dance is that it takes on its own interpretation of the plight of the ancestors, many who had to endure trials of sorrow and tribulation, without apology and with dignity. 

When you consider the wickedness of slavery, the denial at one time of Black people in regards to citizenship and the torment and slayings of countless African Americans, the audacity of “Revelations” forces us to remember, to pause and to think, and to evaluate the sacrifices others had to go through in order for their truths to be heard. 

Sometimes, it wasn’t. Thus the need for the Negro spirituals to be birthed, lived out and to be celebrated through song and dance. 

The “Take Me to the Water” chapter of “Revelations” encompasses this with an ode to its spiritual roots with the uplifting “Wade in the Water” that Jessica Amber Pinkett, Solomon Dumas, and Corrin Rachelle Mitchell magnificently captures. 

So when Christopher R. Wilson taps into his inner self to showcase the splendid “I Wanna Be Ready,” the surrendering of the human spirit has been born into fruition. Wilson wonderfully paints a picture in his dance piece of a soul completely allowing the inevitable to take place as he makes a plea with his maker. 

“I Wanna Be Ready” is perhaps the most stirring and moving of all the numbers performed in “Revelations.” If “I Wanna Be Ready” leaves us with a spiritual yearning, then “Sinner Man,” performed in the final act by Sebastian Garcia, Jason Obremski and Mason Evans, gets the audience revved up once more. 

As the show navigates into its Move, Members, Move act, the vibe has considerably transformed from a sorrowful tone to a spiritual quickening manifestation to celebratory revival. 

The Company then takes us home with the numbers “The Day is Past and Gone” and “You May Run On” with “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham” being the closeout dance routine. This is obviously a crowd favorite and the AAADT team delivers the big finale with authentic joy. 

Cover Art/Lead Photo: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Alvin Ailey’s Revelations. Photo by Danica Paulos