CAN THEY REALLY BE FORTY?

CAN THEY REALLY BE FORTY? ALVIN ALLEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER CITY CENTER NEW YORK, NEW YORK NOVEMBER 29-DECEMBER 31, 2000

With its fortieth anniversary this year, Alvin Ailey's Revelations has hit middle age. This modern classic, performed during Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's City Center season, nonetheless looks more timeless than ever, and the company seems to be basking in its own golden age. The troupe ushered in three successful premieres and produced several revivals of note. Seldom have such exceptional dancers handled traditional modern and contemporary styles so seamlessly.

Dwight Rhoden, a former Ailey dancer, is a sensible choice to choreograph for the company because of his firm relationship with athletic movement that delivers uppercuts in a way that appeals to today's audiences. Designed for three couples, his premiere of Chocolate Sessions displays episodes that start and stop abruptly as the dancers gobble space and engage in clashing duets. One of Rhoden's greatest assets (as was true with Ailey) is his understanding of theatricality. By collaborating with lighting designer Michael Korsh, adorning the dancers in the sexy metallic-colored costumes of Ricky Lizalde, and riding the vibrant original score by Antonio Carlos Scott, he drew the audience into a thoroughly engrossing visual landscape. The downside to Rhoden's work is that when he punches the audience in the gut for too long, neither performer nor viewer can take a breath.

There is plenty of breath and feeling, however, in the wonderfully pleasing pas de deux Sweet Bitter Love by Carmen de Lavallade. Never mind that the theme of unrequited love is a common one in dance; de Lavallade is a master at communicating through subtle gesture, and it is a delight that dancers Clifton Brown and the extraordinary Bahiyah Sayyed understand the style of this work so well. Set in a nocturnal garden of emotional regrets, Sayyed, costumed in lavender, languidly connected and disconnected with her would-be lover in simple but effective choreography that underlined the songs of Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack, speaking of "awakened" and "forsaken" love.

Back to the future, Alonzo King's Following the Subtle Current Upstream further demonstrated that today's Ailey dancers command a composite of balletic and modern vocabulary. King's strength here lies in his pas de deux work, a continuous flow of lines and sinuous partnering that Linda-Denise Evans and Benoit-Swan Pouffer executed splendidly. In group sections and solos, King sometimes loses focus and can't hold the stage as can Rhoden, but the sensual, roiling movement in the end won the audience's approval.

Two Ailey works from opposite ends of the choreographer's career were given new productions this season. Blues Suite from 1958, inspired by memories from his boyhood Texas, shows Ailey growing into his recognizable style. Some material, such as the quartet of men in "In the Evening," looks forward to the more mature Revelations. But the antsy dances and bruising blues embodied in the work made for a worthwhile revival, especially the "Backwater Blues" section danced by the sassy Renee Robinson and her bewildered companion, Glenn A. Sims. By the time Ailey choreographed Phases in 1980, he seemed to be running out of steam, although the undulation in "Flight Time" proved to be a delicious loose-pelvised showcase for Linda Caceres and Richard Witter.

Other repertory pieces of note were the repeat of Judith Jamison's ballet from the Lincoln Center Festival, Double Exposure, Ronald K. Brown's Grace, and John Butler's After Eden. Double Exposure may be Jamison's excuse to unleash Dwana Smallwood, Asha Thomas, Matthew Rushing, Sims and Sayyed into a ceremony of passionate dancing, but the spectacle was so wonderful that the gimmicky onstage videocam work seemed unnecessary. The aptly named Grace will be a welcome addition to the repertoire for seasons to come, and After Eden took on a freshly dramatic stature, primarily due to the power of Evans and Rushing's performance.

The programs dedicated to Ailey and Duke Ellington (ending with Revelations) were especially gratifying, not only for the all-too-rare live musical accompaniment, but also for the fact that the dancers understand the company's traditions so well. It is evident that Jamison wants her artists to be able to look backwards and forwards with full-throttle dedication. Ask these dancers to do almost anything and you can bet they'll do it.