Alvin Ailey....
Last night was ineffably fantastic. At the beginning of the night, there was anxiety. We were running late, so I had to suffer through actual and perceived CP-time jokes, setting the mood as a mix of hurried tension and casual disinterest. In the lobby were the various expressions of darker than normal faces for a darker than normal performance. It began with a video, setting the tone and briefly educating the audience on the history behind what they were about to see, but the crowd became restless. It wasn't until the first dancers came out and began to move that silence enveloped the hall, and everyone in it. They moved rhythmically in every uncommon way, mystifying the audience into a deep admiration, a holy receptivity they wouldn't have likely stumbled upon in their empty little lifetimes. These dancers danced, and carried depth and meaning directly to the core everyone there, which rarely is addressed at all. You can't expose yourself to such beauty and return to the mundane unaffected. You can't be silenced and not acknowledge the power behind it. You don't have to recognize the divinity- just accept they danced, everyone voice was silenced in awe, and only when they finished did you realize something was happening. What a performance...