ALVIN Ailey American Dance Theater, one of the world’s most popular dance companies, returns to Bradford with an exhilarating mixed bill.

The New York-based company presents new works as well as beloved crowd-pleaser Revelations.

Ailey’s performances celebrate the human spirit through the African-American cultural experience and the American modern dance tradition. The company grew from a 1958 performance that changed forever the perception of American dance. Founded by Alvin Ailey, recent posthumous recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom – America’s highest civilian honour – and guided by Judith Jamison from 1989, the company is now led by artistic director Robert Battle.

The new programme includes UK premieres of Exodus by hip hop choreographer Rennie Harris; and dreamlike duet After the Rain Pas de Deux by Christopher Wheeldon. Also presented are two Ailey classics – Night Creature, set to Duke Ellington’s Suite for Orchestra, and Revelations, the most widely-seen modern dance work in the world. Ailey’s signature masterpiece uses African-American traditional spirituals, exploring grief and joy in the soul.

Like every dancer in the company, Linda Celeste Sims remembers her first time. Not the day she first walked into the company’s New York headquarters, not even the first time she danced with them on stage – but the night she first performed Revelations.

“We’re the only company who does this piece, and it’s such a powerful work for so many reasons,” says Linda. “If we go back to a theatre after a couple of years and we don’t do Revelations, people get kind of upset.

“You’re not really considered an Ailey dancer until you’ve performed your first Revelations. It’s like a baptism, and when it happens it’s really very special. All the dancers on stage congratulate you at the end, it’s a very nervous but beautiful moment that everybody goes through.”

Set to traditional gospel songs, Revelations is at turns moving and thrilling. Large ensemble sections get the audience jumping, while more intimate, tender duets are filled with emotion.

Linda joined Alvin Ailey in 1996, so has danced the work more times than she can remember. Yet for her, Revelations remains as fresh and exciting as the first time she danced it. “We feel the energy from the audience,” she says. “When you hear that first note, before the curtain has even gone up, there’s applause, so you know you’re getting ready to do something special. When the curtain rises, there’s an intake of breath, as if people are saying. ‘Yes, Revelations! I’ve been waiting all night for this.’ The music is so touching, and the movement speaks for itself.”

As wonderful as it is, Revelations is only one aspect of what the company has to offer. Yet regardless of what repertoire they bring to the UK the reaction is always the same. There is no audience like an Ailey audience in terms of vocal appreciation, something Linda puts down to dance that is both powerful and accessible. “I often speak to people after a performance and they’ll say ‘my husband hates ballet, he really didn’t want to come and thought he would leave halfway through, but he loved it’. We bring a little bit of everything into it, it really changes people’s idea of what dance is. Which is cool.”

lAlvin Ailey American Dance Theater is at the Alhambra on Tuesday, September 27 and Wednesday, September 28. Call 01274 432000.