A section of “Revelations Reimagined” is current: a socially distant version of the duet “Fix Me, Jesus”. Usually it’s a work of heroic partnership, shared balances, and elevators, but this is where Jermaine Terry and Sarah Daley-Perdomo don’t touch. Instead – as will be explained later in the program – Mrs. Daley-Perdomo’s husband stands as a body double, only visible as a physical perch and lifting limbs. These safeguards subtly change the meaning, making the man less a preacher than an angel.
This is fascinating, although I still prefer the standard version, which Glenn Allen Sims and Linda Celeste Sims danced flawlessly on another program last week. This couple has just retired after more than 20 years in the company and the program was unfortunately their virtual farewell. Aside from “Fix Me,” the repertoire didn’t show her at her best, but it showed her beautiful attunement, her ability to “become a breath,” as Mr. Sims put it. You will be missed very much.
Other of the previous programs have carefully selected excerpts from meaningfully exploring spirituality, the collaboration of Ailey and Ellington, dance and social justice. In them is the artistic director, Robert Battle, a thoughtful, good-natured host as well as a lithe pitchman who invites guests (including Wynton Marsalis, Toshi Reagon, Bryan Stevenson) to say something, even if – like him – you said things, which they had said many times.
Which brings us to the other premiere. If “Jam Session” is an escape from “Revelations”, “Testament” is an explicit homage. It was choreographed by Matthew Rushing, Clifton Brown and Yusha-Marie Sorzano and shows, as described in Ms. Sorzano’s spoken word, an arc of “lament for hope, pain for power” – the form of “revelations”. Better use of the Wave Hill location makes it cinematically more expressive than Revelations Reimagined, although its director is the same.
