Lost songs from Alvin Ailey’s “Revelation” “Revelation” finds a voice in a new piece – public radio Boise State

When Alvin Eili’s seminar dance work Revelations It was first executed in 1960, it is about twice as long as the version now seen by millions of people around the world. The company, which bears the name of the late choreographer, reviews this story with a new piece, tuned to fresh interpretations of the songs that have been removed.

Du’Bois A’Keen, the music director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, said he was intended not only to raise the songs, but also to “pass them and to create something that would be resonated for contemporary audiences, for more audience -You people you would be given to them an entry point in this world we were creating. Sacred songsS The music is Album Issued in January.

“If you have seen Revelations Or if you have heard spiritual, there is a certain type of language, verbal and sound language. We wanted to stretch them and say, “How can we do this in a hip -hop song? How would this sound in funk? How would it sound like blues? How would this like a rock and roll song sound? “” A’KIn said Morning edition Host Michel Martin.

This is also an echo from the signed genre company, with dances withdrawn from modern, ballet, jazz and African traditions. Dance – and music – deepens in the struggles of the marginalized, raising them on stage as high art.

Aili who died of medical complications related to AIDS in 1989 was only 29 when he created RevelationsBased on his childhood memories where the church plays an important role. Tied to traditional black spiritual, work songs and blues tunes, he reflects the black experience through his story of faith and perseverance from the trials of slavery to freedom. The same topics are at the heart of Sacred songs.

Danica Paulos Photography /

The temporary artistic director Matthew Rushing, a former dancer of the company, said he initially tried to make the two pieces completely different and avoid any parallels.

“As I tried to escape, I just continued to go back to it … So I just gave up and gave up,” Rushing said during the recent stop of the company in Washington, County Colombia, part of a continuing national tour through May in May.

“I actually found a bigger space for creativity after I surrendered,” Hey, I hear from Mr. Eili to take this step or that piece of music reminds me of Wade in the water. ”

He views the piece as a means of reflection Revelations But “I still keep my personality as a creator and choreographer.”

Danica Paulos Photography /

The final moments of Sacred songs quotes another of Revelations Where a couple bends over water and sprays their faces. In RevelationsThis dance is tuned to “Wade in the Water”, a song that served as a coded message for enslaved people in escape to hide in the water to avoid blood.

The idea of ​​cleansing yourself has become a “connecting point” of a kind between the two pieces, Rushing said. “When I worked with dance artists, I was like:” We are currently living in a very challenging time. Sometimes we have to purify the thoughts and feelings that do not serve us, “he added.” So if you see Sacred songsThe last image is the dancers around a pool of water, washed, clearing themselves with thoughts and feelings that they will not serve them. ”

This is a journey that started to rush when he first saw RevelationsHe sat in the front row of Wilter in Los Angeles as a young teenager.

“I was recently baptized on a beach. So if you can imagine a 13-year-old sitting in a theater seeing a concert dance for the first time and what he sees is an image of something that has recently happened to him his own spiritual journey S

While preparing for the company’s 60th anniversary before the coronavirus pandemic, Rushing learned about the extended version of RevelationsS There were live musicians and singers on the stage, and some parts were performed without dancers.

“It is still based on Afro -American experience … Human experience that is fighting and tension and pain, loss and love and triumph and victory,” A’Kain said of the new track. “And so we try, as the conversion, we still hold on to the essence of, yes, there is a struggle, yes, there is pain, yes, there is a complaint, but there is a joy, there is a triumph, there is a resolution.”

Danica Paulos Photography /

During a large part of the company’s current tour, the two pieces are executed – with Sacred songs as an opening piece and stroke of the intestine of Revelations In conclusion.

“I wanted to create music, to be honest, that 100 years would still be resonant,” A’Ken said. “It was the heart and the type of driver for us.”

The broadcast version of this story has been produced by Barry GoremerS The digital version was edited by Maid al-vahadiS

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