Louder than Words

REVELATIONS IS CONSIDERED one of choreographer Alvin Ailey’s masterpieces, a gripping work that helped establish his modern-dance company as the foremost interpreter of the African-American experience. One segment of the dance begins with the stirring spiritual “I Been ’Buked.” As sculpted bodies move and sway in unison, a choir sings with emotional conviction: “I’ve been ’buked and I been scorned, I’ve been talked about sho’s you’re born.” Hands and faces look downward, then rise up until backs are straight. As the pulse of the gospel music continues, heads and palms rise into the air in a collective testament to faith.

The New York–based Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater first performed Revelations in 1960. The work continues to be staged some 300 times a year under the artistic direction of Judith Jamison, who took over the company when Ailey died in 1989. Critics deemed the piece “splendid and uplifting” when the international touring company performed it here three years ago, and it’s featured in the repertoire when AAADT returns to dance at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido this month. The dancers also introduce Existence Without Form, a new work choreographed by Uri Sands.

“It’s an abstract work, and the style is very modern,” says dancer Matthew Rushing from New York. “Uri talked about images a lot, like how a blowing wind might make debris move together, how it settles and then scurries again. It was challenging, because it’s easy to take something as accessible as a love relationship and try to express yourself, but it’s more difficult representing the abstract. There is a lot of throwing your body, descending to the floor and having to jump right up. It’s very physical.”

If Rushing were watching the show instead of dancing in it, he says he would be most excited about Episodes, a revived 1989 work choreographed by Ulysses Dove. “Episodes is about relationships, and what we would say to our loved ones if it was our last moment on Earth,” Rushing says. “Mr. Dove told us to express ourselves with intensity, and whenever I see that ballet, I always feel like it makes the dancers look like superheroes. It’s incredible to see them jump, turn, spin and execute all these incredible feats. When it all comes together with the music and lighting, it keeps you on the edge of your seat.”

The company is also performing Love Stories, a trilogy of dances accompanied by the music of Stevie Wonder, and The River, first choreographed in 1970 to a Duke Ellington score. But the work Rushing never tires of is Revelations, enhanced by the old Negro spirituals “Wade in the Water,” “Fix Me, Jesus” and “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham.”

“There is so much room for me to express who I am as an artist and as a person,” says Rushing. “What is so incredible about our culture is that it reflects what America is all about. Pain and struggle isn’t race-specific. Everybody understands pain and struggle, victory and joy. When you see those topics expressed through a dancer’s movement, it goes beyond race. That’s something the company has proven over the years.”

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs March 9 and 10 at 8 p.m and March 11 at 2 p.m. in the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. Tickets are $42 to $58. Information: 800-988-4253; artcenter.org.

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