Review: Alvin Ailey dance troupe a real revelation

It's kind of like "Thank God for 'Revelations.' " After two brilliantly disturbing acts of drama, the uplifting dance that is the signature of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company is both a comfort and a joy.

The program the dance troupe presented Tuesday night at the Mondavi Center at UC Davis will be repeated -- with some recasting of roles -- beginning at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the theater. "Episodes," a bold, hyper-physical work made more dynamic by its stark white lighting and sharp, percussive music; and "Flowers," a beautiful but tragic cautionary tale about the highs and lows of stardom, preceded "Revelations."

In order:

"Episodes," choreographed in 1989 by Ulysses Dove and restaged by Ailey company associate artistic director Masazumi Chaya, is sometimes referred to as "the diagonal piece." Dancers slash the air, entering the stage space from the back corner and charging to the opposite front spot. In solos, duos and ensembles, they create a dramatic work that is filled with sexual tension and more than a hint of violence. A caress becomes a slap, an embrace disintegrates into a fall.

The insistent percussive rhythm (the original music is by Robert Ruggieri) of the accompaniment only adds to the unsettling nature of the piece.

"Flowers," choreographed in 1971 by Ailey (and also restaged by Chaya), is set to music by Janis Joplin, Blind Faith and Pink Floyd. It's the Janis Joplin/not the Janis Joplin story about an artist's downward spiral. Company member Linda Celeste Sims was scarily good in the role Tuesday, combining vulnerability and raw courage in a captivating characterization. Ballet dancer Alicia J. Graf (Dance Theatre of Harlem star) will dance the role tonight.

According to Jennifer Dunning, in "Alvin Ailey: A Life in Dance," the choreographer described the character as "a combination of Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Bessie Smith and Janis Joplin" -- but it appears to have elements of autobiography in it, as well. Ailey, as a young dancer and choreographer, experienced much the same kind of adulation depicted here. He was a manic depressive, suffered bouts of self-doubt and resorted to the same sort of excesses of alcohol, drugs and promiscuity as those other self-destructive types.

The costumes, designed by A. Christina Giannini, appear time-warpy and somewhat dated -- tie-dyed T-shirts, fringed vests, peace symbols and that kind of sick '60s green color -- and the silvery psychedelic get-ups in the drug-fueled middle section grow more creatively outrageous as each new one appears.

A work that begins with paparazzi frantically snapping pictures of a smiling star soon fades to a woman left lonely, seeking relief first in booze, then succumbing to a charming drug dealer, who sends her off on a hallucinatory dream ballet. Finally, wrecked, ravaged -- and dead -- her body once again draws the cameras of predatory paparazzi.

Is it any wonder Ailey's 1960 masterpiece "Revelations" is such a welcome relief?

The choreographer combined elements of classic ballet, African dance movement and black concert dance in a series of interpretations of Negro spirituals and gospel music. The daring paring is as inspiring today as it must have been the first time it was performed. The entire company -- athletic, elegant, beautiful -- was showcased.

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