When the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater returns to the Arsht Center this weekend, the revered company will be celebrating Judith Jamison’s 20th anniversary as artistic director. While duly paying homage to Jamison’s accomplishments, Miamians also are thrilled by the naming of a native son as her successor: Liberty City’s own Robert Battle.

Battle began choreographing professionally while a dancer with Parsons Dance, then made his mark on contemporary dance with his own Battleworks Dance Company. He spoke with Knight Arts about how growing up in Miami has shaped his work and about his plans for Ailey.

How has Miami shaped your work? I can’t speak for the entire city, but certainly my great teachers at PAYVAC (Northwestern High School’s Performing and Visual Arts Center) was a wonderful jumping off point into dance for me and a lot of young people from Liberty City. At New World School of the Arts, I had marvelous teachers and access to the dance world; that is one reason there are a lot of us from Miami doing well in the Big Apple. I think also the vibrancy of Miami is a part of what we bring to dance. Certainly that is evident in my work. How do you see Ailey changing under your leadership? The only change would really be me, in the sense that I have my own personal taste. Under Judith Jamison, there has been huge growth: the budget, the audiences, the building, everything has grown. I intend to extend that in my own way. I have my own sensibilities, about where I want to see the repertory go. I intend to honor tradition and to press forward into the future, with different notions. The company is constantly reinventing itself.

Can you give us any specifics on the direction you might take? People will have to wait and see. I don’t think it would be good to suggest choreographers at this early stage of the game. I love surprises, old ideas expressed in new ways. That’s the way I like to choreograph, you see everything from Bach to bongos, as someone once said in the audience. Also the dancers are so versatile and that will be a big part of the way I choose repertory, to challenge the dancers in new ways because they’re capable.

The racial landscape in the United States has changed since Ailey founded the company in 1958. Does that change what the Ailey company means or does now? I think there are more opportunities. That’s evident because of the Ailey company started with a few dancers and now there are 31 dancers. We have Obama in the White House, there’s obvious growth. Yet it’s a statement that still needs to be said unfortunately: we need to celebrate the African American tradition in this country.

Having said that, what the Ailey company has done is express the universality of our experience. Revelations speaks to all peoples everywhere. That’s a part of what the legacy is. We perform Revelations all over the world and people in Bulgaria will still be moved by the expression.

What I’m interested in is the fact that these marvelous dancers, and most are African American, can do anything. To me, that’s the way I was brought up. Bach was relevant to me, as Duke Ellington is relevant to me. That’s the language of dance, the universal language, and that’s what we will continue to express.

Alvin Ailey performs at the Adrienne Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Boulevard. Tickets start at $25; 305-949-6722; www.arshtcenter.org. Here is this weekend’s program: Thursday, May 20 ‐ 8:00pm Best of 20 Years / Revelations Friday, May 21 ‐ 8:00pm Uptown / Dancing Spirit / Revelations Saturday, May 22 ‐ 2:00pm Suite Otis / Hymn /Revelations Saturday, May 22 ‐ 8:00pm Best of 20 Years / Revelations Sunday, May 23 ‐ 2:00pm Uptown / Dancing Spirit / Revelations