By Alissa de Carbonnel

MOSCOW |
Wed Jun 29, 2011 11:07am EDT

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Alvin Ailey dance company, with its roots in the U.S. civil rights movement, opened the American Seasons festival in Moscow this week, electrifying audiences with a 50-year anniversary performance of its seminal, emotionally charged ballet “Revelations.”

After a six-year absence in Russia, the contemporary troupe stayed true to its reputation that an “Ailey dancer does it all” rousing the audience with a range of jazz, classical and street to the soulful vocals of Nina Simone and the Duke Ellington orchestra’s exuberant compositions.

But it was the stirring gospel and powerful story-telling of “Revelations” — reaching arms and splayed hands evoking grief, determination, hope and redemption — that set the Stanislavsky Music Theater clapping in chorus.

“When I think of ‘Revelations’, it speaks a lot to some of our struggles in our own country with racism and discrimination and how we overcame it because of our great faith: That is a story that needs to be told,” Ailey’s newly appointed artistic director Robert Battle told Reuters.

“I think sometimes you learn more about each other through the arts than you do through the history books,” said Battle, who is taking over from Judith Jameson as the company’s third artistic director since its creation in 1958.

“Dancing breaks down barriers that is why it is so wonderful to travel to some place like Moscow.”

Since its debut in New York city in 1960, more people have seen “Revelations” than any other modern dance piece.

Ahead of the Russian performance on Wednesday the Ailey company aired

Article source: Read More