Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre performs in Sarasota

If there's one work of contemporary dance you should absolutely see at least once in your life, it's Alvin Ailey's "Revelations."

It's glorious, colorful, elegant, transcendent and soulful in every sense of the word.

It's also a load of fun to watch.

You can catch it Tuesday when Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater comes to Sarasota's Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.

Tickets may be hard to obtain, though. None were available earlier this week through the Van Wezel website, but it's worthwhile to keep checking. Often, tickets are released close to the date of the show.

And Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre is quite possibly the best contemporary dance company in the country, and almost certainly the most widely respected, so it's worth making a little effort to get to see the performance. The company has been in existence since 1958. Robert Battle, who grew up in the Miami area, became its third artistic director (after Ailey and Judith Jamison) in 2011.

"Revelations" is the company's signature work, and AAADT performs it virtually every time it comes to Florida. Audiences demand and expect it. But the rest of this year's program should be great too: Christopher Wheeldon's "After the Rain Pas de Deux," which was an instant hit at New York City Ballet in 2005, set to music by Arvo Part; Aszure Barton's "Lift," which features 19 dancers, and the great Bill T. Jones' modern dance classic "D-Man in the Waters," set to Mendelssohn's "Octet for Strings in E-Flat Major (Op. 20) ."

Details: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets: $35-89. Information: 941-953-3368, vanwezel.org.

-- Marty Clear

This story was originally published February 12, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre performs in Sarasota ."