Dance in Film · 2020
Revelations Reimagined (2020)
A pandemic-era virtual benefit translated Alvin Ailey's signature Revelations for the screen through location-filmed excerpts at Wave Hill, preserving its struggle-to-salvation arc while documenting how the company adapted its repertory beyond the theater.
Revelations Reimagined is a 2020 dance film centred on ballroom and social dance. For dancers, it's a chance to see the style performed on screen — the phrasing, partnering, and musicality that the same dances carry onto a real floor.
Jump to the 3 indexed dance sequences ↓
Where to watch: No official full-program stream was verified as of 2026-08-08; the original Ailey Forward presentation premiered online on 2020-12-02 and was available for one week.
Featured clip
An excerpt — one number from the full work.
The dance sequences in Revelations Reimagined
3 sequences — what is danced, by whom, and where to find it.
1962-to-2020 dance dialogue
Horton-based modern danceDanced by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater dancers in archival and 2020 footage · Choreography Alvin Ailey
Archival television footage cuts into fresh dancing at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, collapsing sixty years into one sequence.
Editing a 1962 television performance against newly recorded Ailey dancers makes choreographic continuity visible across six decades. The screen construction lets historical bodies and present-day interpreters answer one another in a way a conventional live revival cannot.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. No edition-specific timestamp used. The Chronicle identifies the juxtaposition of the 1962 television performance and new Ailey Citigroup Theater footage; Ailey and Cal Performances confirm the archival/current dance-film construction. The authorized streams have expired. Horton-based modern dance has no exact supplied dance_key.
Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham
Horton-based modern danceDanced by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater ensemble · Choreography Alvin Ailey
The company fills a church-like hall for the jubilant Rocka My Soul finale.
The triumphant Revelations finale survives the film's fragmented locations and historical montage as a forceful communal release. Recording it in a church-like hall restores the congregational atmosphere at the point where the score and ensemble energy peak.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. No edition-specific timestamp used. The Chronicle identifies the finale and church-like setting; Ailey credits Alvin Ailey's choreography and Horton technique for Revelations, while Cal Performances defines this film as running from the processional through Rocka My Soul. The authorized streams have expired. Horton-based modern dance has no exact supplied dance_key.
Wave Hill processional
Horton-based modern danceDanced by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater ensemble · Choreography Alvin Ailey
Ailey dancers process through Wave Hill above the Hudson before the film moves between locations and eras.
The opening relocates the Revelations processional from a proscenium to Wave Hill's paths and landscape, turning pandemic-era spacing into a visual expression of communal movement. The outdoor progression immediately establishes this as dance made for the camera rather than a passive stage record.
Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. No edition-specific timestamp used. The official Ailey release confirms the Wave Hill filming and one-week December 2-9, 2020 stream; the Chronicle identifies the opening processional. The Cal Performances reissue expired September 8, 2021. Horton-based modern dance has no exact supplied dance_key.
Poster artwork and title data from TMDB. This site uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.