Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is reaching another milestone, celebrating its 40th anniversary by crisscrossing the country in a tour that will end with its Pittsburgh Dance Council performances in May.

But tonight audiences can bathe in another celebration, a tribute to the spirit of Ailey, in a new Dance in America segment for PBS's "Great Performances" (10 p.m., Feb. 17, WQED/WQEX). In an art form that is usually reduced to about 20 percent of its normal impact on a television screen, "A Hymn for Alvin Ailey" is a stunner, with movement that threatens to spill out of the tube along with the genuine outpouring of love for Ailey as a choreographer, teacher, mentor and human being.

The hour-long program is built on Judith Jamison's "Hymn," a powerful work that she created shortly after Ailey's death in 1989 at the age of 58. Its 15 sections are skillfully and smoothly interwoven with interviews with company artistic director Jamison, associate director Masazumi Chaya, former company members Carmen de Lavallade and Sylvia Smith, choreographer George Faison and photographer Jack Smith.

Also on hand is archival footage of Ailey. So we hear him spout his overriding philosophy, "I always tell my dancers the most unique thing in the world is you. If you can take these steps and show us yourself through it, then that would be an extraordinary experience for the audience." And while Jamison talks of his unique style of moving, Ailey is shown undulating through "Wade in the Water" from his gospel masterpiece, "Revelations."

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That is a heady contribution in itself, describing Ailey's spiritual, emotional and artistic effect on the people around him. But ultimately it is "Hymn" that truly brings it all home. Lushly filmed by cinematographer Michael Chin, the piece deftly captures the lofty spirituality and remarkable physicality that is an Ailey hallmark.

Two of the segments occur at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, where the company performed and where Ailey's memorial service, parts of which are shown, took place. It also is particularly fitting, because St. John's has been a work in progress for more than 100 years. The church is always under construction, continuously evolving just like Ailey's dream now must in the company's hands.

The rest was filmed on a stage at State University of New York in Purchase. Jean Tsien edits the group numbers with enormous skill, turning a diagonal canon in the first "spirit" segment into a complex and satisfying enhancement of the choreography.

There also are a number of deeply personal and remarkable solos that reflect textual monologues beautifully written and performed by performance artist Anna Deavere Smith. She gleaned the individual memories from hours of interviews with the dancers. Although the solos are not credited, it is easy to spot the legendary Dudley Williams, looking particularly fit after all these years, and the energetic Chaya, who "tells" the story of "Survivors," the Nelson Mandela ballet that brought on several bomb scares from white supremacists and typified Ailey's social conscience.

He always wanted his dancers to be a reflection of the audience. But the glorious memory that is Ailey must now be bathed in reflection of his dancers.