Revelations

Through the powerful music of spirituals and dazzling dancing, choreographer Alvin Ailey created a dance masterpiece in his work Revelations, which has moved and captivated audiences since its first performance in 1960. Thomas DeFrantz talks to Judith Jamison, artistic director of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre, and to the dancers about a work which evoked the joy and struggle of the African-American experience in the Deep South and yet had an appeal that was universal.