Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is back at UC Berkeley all week. My review in the Chronicle:
“Dance doesn’t get more soul-stirring than “Revelations,” Alvin Ailey’s triumph and his frequent vexation. He choreographed it early in his career – in 1960, just two years after founding his troupe. How could he ever top it?
And, nearly half a century after its creation, how to adequately explain the dependably rapturous standing ovation “Revelations” received Tuesday, when Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater opened at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall? The standard analysis is cliche now but true: “Revelations” captures the universal pain and fortitude of the African American experience.
It does so with an authenticity that can’t help throwing other efforts into stark contrast. For this year’s annual Cal Performances engagement, the always jaw-dropping Ailey dancers have brought “Go in Grace,” a collaboration between Ailey dancer-turned-choreographer Hope Boykin and the popular a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock. It is well-crafted, inventively staged, gorgeously danced and beautifully sung. It is also, it pains me to admit, a little silly.”
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