Matthew Rushing, Sacred Songs: A Journey of the Spiritual

Floor 3, Theater

Friday, November 1 at 4 pm, 7 pm
Saturday, November 2 at 1 pm, 4 pm*
Sunday, November 3 at 1 pm, 4 pm

*Audio description will be available for the performance on November 2 at 4 pm.

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Presented as part of Edges of Ailey, Sacred Songs is a concert of dance and music dedicated to and inspired by the legacy of Alvin Ailey’s masterpiece Revelations. In its first performance in 1958, Revelations was presented as a full-length dance theater work, consisting of sixteen sections sung by a chorus and danced by the founding members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Revelations was soon commissioned to go on tour and as a result needed to be condensed, hence our present version. In Sacred Songs, the omitted songs from the original production of Revelations will be resurrected and reimagined to speak to our present need of lament, faith, and joy.

Collaborators
Matthew Rushing: Director, Choreographer
Du’Bois A’Keen: Composer, Lead Vocalist, Creative Associate
Jermaine Terry: Costume Designer
Alexandria Johnson: Collaborator/Choreographer’s assistant/Rehearsal Director
Nick Hetko: Pianist/Collaborator, original piano composition
Adriel Vincent-Brown: Drummer/Collaborator, original drum composition
Ian Forde: Bassist/Collaborator, original bass composition
Blake Johnston: Guitarist/Collaborator - original guitar composition
Ken Alston Jr.: Vocalist
Deana Cowan: Vocalist
Danyele Yvonne James: Vocalist

Cast
Stacie Cannon, Alan George, Maxwell Green-Waterman, Mahoko Hikita, Jason Jacob, Alexandra Love Strouse, Amy Lindelof, Renee McGinnis, Catalina Mendiola, Lilliana (Lily) Nishihira, Sherra Pierre-March, Angelique Smith, Josh Torres, Aminah Walton, La ‘ShelleMoneé Wilson, Rebecca Yang (Nov 1 at 4pm, Nov 2 at 1pm, Nov 3 at 1pm) 

Chris Cates, Claire Charvet, Aisha Cohen, Nadine DeNinno, Ja'Michael De'Shawn, Alexis Eldredge, KaVonna Holloway, Ming Infante, Jamia N. Jordan, Imani Kai, Gina Mayers, Nailah Roberts, Allyson Ross, B'ili Scott, T'Keyah Slaten  (Nov 1 at 7pm, Nov 2 at 4pm, Nov 3 at 4pm) 

Matthew Rushing was born in Los Angeles. He was a scholarship student at The Ailey School, became a member of Ailey II and in 1992 became a member of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. During his career he has performed for Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. During his time with the Company, he has choreographed four ballets: Acceptance In Surrender (2005), a collaboration with Hope Boykin and Abdur-Rahim Jackson; Uptown (2009), a tribute to the Harlem Renaissance; ODETTA (2014), a celebration of “the queen of American folk music”; and Testament (2020), a tribute to Alvin Ailey’s Revelations created in collaboration with Clifton Brown and Yusha-Marie Sorzano. Rushing became Rehearsal Director in 2010, was appointed Associate Artistic Director in January 2020, and is interim Artistic Director during the sixty-fifth anniversary season.

Commissioned by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of Edges of Ailey.