"Rocks my sould in the bosom of Abraham!" Sweet Honey in the Rock throws the words up like a tidal wave from the City Center pit, while from a corner of the stage, the voice of Ella Mitchell - which has been heard (both live and recorded) during Alvin Ailey's 1960 Revelations for 37 years - soars above the other singers.
Alvin Ailey fetes 'Revelations,' its singular masterpiece, all season long. Turning 50 is not always cause for outright celebration. Many of us are too depressed. And then that AARP card comes in the mail.
Watching Matthew Rushing and Renee Robinson in Revelations, I was laughing and crying at the same time. I could weep because of his soft undulations in "Wade in the Water," and laugh with the way she flutters her fan at the other women in the last section.
Members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform 'Revelations' nearly as often as ordinary people brush their teeth. This magnificent work, created by Alvin Ailey in 1960, is a dance on land and in water, a journey through African-American spiritual music and, for dancers, an act of reverence for the generations that came before.
The most exciting news I heard this week was that Barack took Michelle and the kids to see the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater for their inaugural night out.
No matter how many times the dancers of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform "Revelations," it evokes tears with its blend of grace and spiritual rapture.