Quit yakking, let us enjoy the dance

Awash in superficiality, “Beyond the Steps” wants to cram everything anyone ever wanted to know about the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater into one hourlong episode of the PBS “Great Performances” series, tonight at 8 on KCET-TV.

There are capsule biographies, replete with clips, of Ailey and current company artistic director Judith Jamison. You’ll also find interviews about the company’s evolution, why its dancers dance and how they deal with injuries, plus footage of the troupe moving into its spacious new home in New York City and making tours of Russia -- all in no particular order.

Punctuating these sequences are dismembered chunks of “Love Stories,” a three-part ensemble showpiece choreographed in 2004 by Jamison, Rennie Harris and Robert Battle. Beautifully shot at the Maryinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, the performance is continually marginalized by voice-over commentaries -- as if the very dancers we’re repeatedly told are unique and spectacular couldn’t hold the viewer’s attention by themselves. Some of the talk does explain what’s on-screen, but mostly it gets in the way of the experience the dance wants to convey.

Similarly, “Beyond the Steps” doesn’t dare simply to show us archival footage of Jamison’s now legendary interpretation of Ailey’s solo “Cry.” No, we have to hear people yammering about how wonderful she is while she’s dancing. Can’t “Great Performances” trust us to know a great performance when we see one?

Since nearly everyone loves the Ailey company, you can understand the enthusiasm of producer-director Phil Bertelsen, but that doesn’t excuse all the cliches and misinformation he includes. For starters, there’s a lot of nonsense about how this modern dance troupe does (or can do) classical ballet. Some of the steps, sure: the ones that jazz dancers everywhere also execute. But ballet starts by remaking the body, and Ailey’s dancing has its technical base in a whole different movement system. Better to celebrate that.

If the telecast frequently crosses the line between documentary and infomercial, there are saving graces -- the most impressive being Clifton Brown’s opening solo in “Love Stories.” Exciting onstage, this superbly refined performance gains even more from the intimacy of the camerawork. And, for once, the talk stops long enough to let us fully enjoy a dancer’s mastery.

*

‘Great Performances

‘Dance in America: Beyond the Steps: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’

Where: KCET

When: 8 tonight

Rating: TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children)