Iconic Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Moves to the Warner Theatre Celebrating with Their Classic “Revelations” and the Premiere of a New Dance Piece Set to Avishai Cohen’s Jazz Trumpet
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Warner Theatre
Jordan Wright
February 1, 2026
Photo courtesy of Alvin Alley American Dance Theater.
A series of short dance vignettes set to inspirational music captures the essence of this renowned troupe of contemporary dancers. They are divided into sections entitled “Embrace”, “Difference Between”, “Song of the Anchorite” (a world premiere) and lastly “Revelations”. In the first series a male soloist takes the stage alternating between power moves and tenderness set to Stevie Wonder’s tender ballad, “Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer”. Balletomanes and, more specifically, Ailey fans are hyper-energized and, no matter where you are sitting in this opulent Neo-Renaissance theater, you can sense their shared excitement building.
Etta James haunting song, “At Last” follows. Performed by four males along with four female partners and a mesmerizing female dancer in a silky bright yellow dress who takes center stage on a raised wooden platform. These platforms will be used in a myriad of ways throughout the vignettes as the dancers configure them to reflect each unique piece.
Pink’s track “What About Us” becomes the background music for a piece about feeling unheard and personal isolation. It is a large ensemble piece that starts off with two males challenging each other to fight, seeming to search for the boundaries of their manhood, while the others endeavor to support them.
In the next piece, Ed Sheeran’s “Photograph” becomes the backdrop music for a haunting dance of desire and remembrance that put me in mind of the upcoming Winter Olympics and the ice dancing teams who perform similarly elegant and daring lifts.
Des’ree’s “I’m Kissing You” is a romantic ensemble piece featuring two lovers in a pas de deux that captures the essence of passionate unrequited love.
Artistic Director Alicia Graf Mack with members of the Company. (Photo/Andrew Eccles)
With Blackberry Smoke’s “One Horse Town” the theme echoes the familiar dilemma of young people aspiring to become more than their heritage and small town affords them. The final introductory piece is a powerful evocative solo by a principal dancer performed against a backdrop of Avishai Cohen’s sultry Jazz trumpet to bring down the house.
In all these pieces the troupe’s free-flowing, elegant, deeply expressive movements captivate. Signature positions such as wide-spread legs in deep pliés, hands flung backwards Egyptian style, coupled with their sensuous, serpentine bodies and awe-inspiring athleticism, all define the company’s ethos.
After the second and final intermission (I’m envisioning the dancers plunging into in ice baths), the ensemble’s iconic masterpiece “Revelations” is performed. Audiences know and love this dance which premiered in 1960 and reflects the life and times of Ailey himself. Its themes of African American heritage and culture resonate through the familiar struggles and challenges of the period.
Set to gospel choir music, familiar spirituals and Southern blues, this extraordinary and identifiable piece explodes with high-powered praise dancing and ground-breaking interpretive movement. A curated trove of traditional songs serves to emphasize the mood from historic struggles to hopefulness. A sassy, Caribbean-influenced opening beat leads to its crescendo in the beautiful strains of “Wade in the Water”, “I Want to be Ready”, “Sinner Man”, and “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham”.
Moving and exhilarating in beauty, excellence and spirit. Highly recommended!
Through February 8th at the Warner Theatre, 513 13th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information visit www.WarnerTheatreDC.com and www.TicketMaster.com