More than 60 Years Later, Alvin Ailey’s ‘Revelations’ Gets a Resurrection at the Whitney Museum

Dancers of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater stretch their arms out wide like wings. At once, their elbows rise from the strength of their shoulders with fingertips pointed out. They’re bathed in amber light as they slowly lift their heads out of the shadows, and upward.This is the iconic image of Alvin Ailey’s Revelations that fans know today. Ailey created his signature work in 1958, consisting of 16 sections packed with dance and a live vocal chorus. When it premiered two yea