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Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater PDF

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2018 Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater Friday, March 2, 2018 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Chrysler Hall, Norfolk What’s Inside Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater 2 Who Was Alvin Ailey? 3-4 What Is Modern Dance? 5 More Movers in Modern Dance 6-7 Cakewalk to Moonwalk 8-9 Ailey’s Masterpiece: Revelations 10-11 The Music of Revelations: Spirituals 12-13 Modern Dance Movement Glossary 14 Got Rhythm? 15 Resources 16 Education Sponsors Generous support has been received from 2019 Commemoration, American EvolutionTM; Bank of America; Batten Educational Achievement Fund of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation; D. Baker Ames Charitable Foundation; Capital Group Companies; Clark Nexsen; Dominion Energy; Enterprise Holdings Foundation; Friedrich Ludwig Diehn Fund of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation; Nordstrom; PRA Group; Ruth Brown Memorial Foundation; Sandler Center Foundation; SunTrust; Tidewater Children’s Foundation; USAA; Virginia Commission for the Arts; Virginia Lottery; Wells Fargo; and the following cities and counties and/or their Arts and Humanities Commissions: Chesapeake, James City County, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg. Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater. Photo by Andrew Eccles. Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater grew from a Today, Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater has now legendary performance in March 1958 at the performed for an estimated 25 million people in 92nd Street Young Men's Hebrew Association in 48 states and in 71 countries on 6 continents, New York. Led by Alvin Ailey and a group of young plus millions more online and through television African American modern dancers, that performance broadcasts. The company has earned a reputation forever changed the perception of American dance. as one of the most acclaimed international Ailey's choreography was a dynamic and vibrant ambassadors of American culture, promoting mix that grew from his previous training in ballet, the uniqueness of the African American cultural modern dance, jazz, and African dance techniques. experience and the preservation and enrichment of Ailey insisted upon a complete theatrical experience, the American modern dance heritage. including costumes, lighting, and makeup. A work of intense emotional appeal expressing the pain and anger of African Americans, Blues Suite, was an instant success and defined Ailey's style. Source: Adapted from www.alvinailey.org 2 Who Was Alvin Ailey? When Horton died in 1953, Alvin took over the company and began choreographing. Choreography is the art of creating dances by arranging dancers’ movements, steps, and patterns. Broadway producers in New York City heard of the talented young dancer and choreographer. They invited Alvin to appear in their musicals, like House of Flowers, written by author Truman Capote and starring popular African American singer Pearl Bailey (who grew up in Newport News). While dancing in New York, Alvin also trained with other modern dance giants, like Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey. It was a time of great creativity in the dance world, but black dancers were still being discriminated against. They weren’t allowed to join established dance companies. Alvin decided to put together his own group of dancers—what would eventually become the Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater. I believe that dance came from the people They made their debut in 1958. The company’s and that it should always be delivered back fame grew with every remarkable performance. to the people. Before long, Alvin’s dancers were touring nonstop, —Alvin Ailey bringing their eclectic performances to stages around the world. Alvin was proud that his company was multiracial. While he wanted to give opportunities Alvin Ailey was born in Rogers, Texas, on January to black dancers, he also wanted to rise above 5, 1931. Times were hard in segregated Texas. issues of racial identity. His company has always Alvin’s mother made ends meet by picking cotton employed artists based solely on artistic talent and doing housework in white people’s homes. Alvin and integrity, regardless of their race. When Alvin found inspiration at their Texas church; he loved the created dances, he drew upon his "blood memories" exciting gospel music and theatrical worship. He of Texas for inspiration, which included music like also enjoyed the music of local dance halls where the blues, spirituals, and gospel. That inspiration adults socialized. Alvin’s mother wanted a better resulted in his most popular and critically acclaimed life for her son and herself. So in 1941, the two work, Revelations, which premiered in 1960. The moved to Los Angeles, California. There, Alvin was piece became a cultural treasure through its powerful introduced to dance. He saw the Caribbean- and storytelling and soul-stirring music, evoking timeless African-influenced performances of the Katherine themes of determination and hope. Dunham Dance Company and the classical ballet of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Intrigued by this Blues music was important to Alvin, and he self-expression through movement, he began visiting frequently incorporated it into his choreography. the studio of noted dance teacher Lester Horton. Blues is a style of music that originated in African Soon he was dancing with Lester Horton’s modern American communities, primarily in the Deep South, dance company, the first multiracial dance troupe in at the end of the nineteenth century. Blues influences America. include spirituals; work songs; field hollers, shouts, and chants; and rhymed storytelling ballads. 3 Who Was Alvin Ailey? Alvin Ailey was unique in that he did not train What Do You Think? his dancers in a specific technique before they (Grades 2-12) performed his choreography. He approached his dancers more in the manner of a jazz musician, Alvin Ailey didn’t create a specific dance technique. requiring them to infuse his choreography with a Rather, he blended elements of modern dance, personal style that best suited their individual talents. ballet, jazz, hip-hop, and other styles. His dancers Ailey's dancers came to his company with training in reflect this dance diversity in their varied training and a variety of other styles, from ballet to modern, jazz, talents. What do you think might be the strengths of and, later, hip-hop. this approach? The weaknesses? How do you think the dancers’ different backgrounds might affect the Although Alvin created 79 pieces before his death performance? Write down your thoughts or discuss in 1989, he maintained that his company was not them in class. exclusively a storehouse for his own work. Today, the company continues Alvin’s mission by presenting important works of the past and commissioning new ones. In all, more than 235 works by more than 90 choreographers are part of the Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater repertoire. Source: Adapted from www.alvinailey.org Revelations. Photo by Gert Krautbauer. 4 What Is Modern Dance? Modern dance is a style of theatrical dance that developed in the United States and Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It grew as a few pioneering dancers began to use dance as a form of personal expression. Their works often emphasized emotion and took on contemporary, or modern, subjects. This type of dancing was very different from classical ballet, which came from the courts of European royalty and often told fairy- tale stories of princesses, princes, and enchanted creatures. Though modern dance frequently uses movements found in ballet, each of the modern dance trailblazers created his or her own movement vocabulary. Some drew from folk or ethnic dancing of other cultures, or religious dance traditions. Others explored how dancers can work with and against gravity, or how body movements can represent musical rhythms. In contrast to the formal steps, costumes, and shoes of ballet, modern dance pioneers preferred a freer style of dancing. Modern dancers often create their Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater's Akua Noni Parker and own steps and choreography by interpreting their Jamar Roberts. Photo by Andrew Eccles. moods and feelings into movement. Modern dancers regularly perform in bare feet and costumes that What Do You Think? don’t constrict or mask the body. (Grades 5-12) For centuries, ballet was the dominant form of As each new generation of modern dance has theatrical dance. Classical ballet typically told inspired another, the genre has been redefined. fanciful, fairy-tale stories using traditional dance Though it clearly isn’t ballet, it often uses balletic technique, footwear, and costumes. Why would movements. And though it may include elements modern times require a new, modern approach of other dance forms, it can also examine just one to theatrical dance? Write down your thoughts or simple aspect of movement, such as the body’s fall discuss them in class. through space or the contraction of the torso. Today, modern dance continues to grow and What Can You Do? (Grades 2-12) develop as new choreographers add their unique contributions to the field. In modern dance, movement is used to express emotion, mood, or feeling. What movements might you make when you’re feeling happy? Sad? Angry? Surprised? Can you choreograph—or create—a short sequence using that mood’s movements? See if your classmates can guess what emotion you’re expressing. Source: Adapted from Encyclopaedia Britannica. 5 More Movers in Modern Dance Martha Graham - photo by Nickolas Muray Merce Cunningham - courtesy Cunningham Dance Foundation Isadora Duncan Ruth St. Denis Paul Taylor - photo by Twyla Tharp Katherine Dunham - Carl Van Vechten Martin Beck Theatre 1850 Isadora Duncan Ruth St. Denis Martha Graham (1877-1927) (1879-1968) (1894-1991) Duncan rejected ballet’s structure for Inspired by Asian dance styles, Graham’s emphasis on muscular more natural, expressive movement. St. Denis believed dance should contraction and release and Duncan found inspiration in Greek be spiritual, not just entertaining jagged, angular body positions mythology; she danced barefoot or technically skillful. With her became central to modern dance and in a Greek tunic. husband, Ted Shawn, she founded technique. Graham was the first the Denishawn company, which modern dance choreographer to trained other important modern collaborate with modern artists in dance pioneers like Martha other genres, such as sculpture, to Graham and Doris Humphrey. create works that express human emotion. 1900 Doris Humphrey Lester Horton Erick Hawkins (1895-1958) (1906-1953) (1909-1994) Humphrey made dramatic use of Horton learned dances and chants Hawkins was the first man to dance gravity, creating a technique based from Native American performers. with Martha Graham’s company, on a dancer’s motions of fall and These he incorporated into his after an esteemed ballet career. He recovery. She was interested in the teaching and choreographic style, founded the Erick Hawkins Dance idea that movement creates its own which emphasized improvisation Company to explore his theory of meaning. and unusual, exaggerated body movement that focused on movements. Horton formed the first simple, natural, unforced motions. racially integrated American dance company, which included Alvin Ailey. 6 More Movers in Modern Dance Katherine Dunham Merce Cunningham Paul Taylor (1909-2006) (1919-2009) (1930-) One of the first African American Cunningham danced with Martha Taylor went to college on a women to attend the University Graham’s company before swimming scholarship, but soon of Chicago, Dunham earned a forming his own, in which he often discovered dance, which became doctoral degree in anthropology collaborated with avant-garde his passion. He founded his before launching her dance career. composer John Cage. Cunningham own company to explore his Her influential technique blended created “chance” choreography, choreographic ideas that blend African and Caribbean dance where dancers study movement basic, everyday movements with forms. combinations without music, then more traditional technique. learn how the combinations should be put together just before the performance. Trisha Brown Garth Fagan Twyla Tharp (1936-) (1940-) (1941-) Brown uses a geometric yet fluid Jamaican-born Fagan studied with A student of Merce Cunningham style for her experimental pieces. Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey. and former member of Paul Taylor’s Her early works used equipment like His inventive choreography blends company, Tharp is known for her harnesses to support the dancers; Afro-Caribbean, ballet, and social creative, witty, technically precise were site-specific, with dancers dance. style. She blends different movement performing on rooftops; or included forms—such as ballet, boxing, and media like film and photography. more—to expand the boundaries of modern dance. 1950 Mark Morris What Do You Think? (1956-) (Grades 5-12) Once known as the “bad boy of Modern dance continues to evolve as young choreographers learn from modern dance” for his outrageous their mentors, then expand on what they’ve learned to create their own humor and more creative pieces, signature style. View videos of works by both a modern dance teacher Morris is now considered one and student, like Ruth St. Denis and Martha Graham, Lester Horton and of the world’s leading modern Alvin Ailey, and Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham. How are dance choreographers. His works the dances similar? How are they different? What did the student learn showcase his strong musicality and from the teacher? How did the student expand on what was learned technical ingenuity. from the teacher? Write down your ideas in an essay, capture them in a chart, or present them orally in class. 7 Cakewalk to Moonwalk A History of African American Dance connected to their homeland and gave them hope From the era of slavery to 1920s Harlem to the for the future. Bronx streets of the ’80s, African Americans have developed and defined dance styles through the Many plantation owners in North America, however, ages, forms that have been embraced the world didn’t allow slaves to dance. The slaves worked over. Popular social dances like the Charleston, Lindy around that. Since lifting the feet was considered Hop, Jitterbug, and Twist all have roots in African dancing to slave owners, slaves developed different American dance traditions. movements, like shuffling the feet—an early form of tap dancing—and movement of the hip and torso. Before enslavement, Africans used dance as a Plantation dances included the Ring Shout, where celebration and affirmation of life. They danced dancers move in a circle to handclaps or the beat for special occasions, like a wedding or birth, and of a stick on a wooden surface. A stick was used as part of their everyday activities. Starting in the because slaves were forbidden to have drums. 1500s, Africans were brought to North and South America and the Caribbean islands as slave labor, Plantation dances moved to the stage with the and their dance traditions came with them. In the minstrel shows of the 1800s, which included skits, Americas, dance helped enslaved Africans feel music, and dancing performed by black men The Old Plantation (anonymous folk painting). Depicts African-American slaves dancing to banjo and percussion 8 Cakewalk to Moonwalk The Jackson 5 performing on the television program Soul Train - Billboard magazine and white men in “blackface.” Using burnt cork, dancers and choreographers—Katherine Dunham, greasepaint, or shoe polish, the white performers Lester Horton, Alvin Ailey, Garth Fagan—went on would blacken their faces. The performers would to start their own modern dance companies, while sing, dance, or act in ways that borrowed from or others rose to prominence in other dance forms. made fun of the culture of slaves and other people of African descent. In 1960, African American rock and roll singer Chubby Checker popularized the Twist with his hit In 1891, The Creole Show, an all-black musical single of the same name. The ’70s television show revue, toured the country and introduced the Soul Train brought black dance moves into living Cakewalk to white America. This couples dance, rooms across America. During the 1980s, break which came from plantation culture, featured highly dancing emerged as part of the hip-hop culture exaggerated movements and became very popular; that began in the Bronx borough of New York City. the best dancers would win a cake. By the 1900s, Michael Jackson popularized the Moonwalk, part of minstrelsy was in decline due to changing attitudes the “electric boogie” dance movement vocabulary. about race and the rise of vaudeville entertainment. Vaudeville expanded the minstrel show by adding Today, black performers dance in or lead companies acrobats, magicians, and other theatrical performers in a wide variety of dance forms. In 2015, ballerina to a single stage. Tap dancing, a mainstay of the Misty Copeland made history by becoming the first minstrel show, took the spotlight during the age of African American female principal dancer with the vaudeville. prestigious American Ballet Theatre. The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s saw an What Do You Think? explosion of African American literature, music, (Grades 5-12) theater, and dance. In jazz venues like the Cotton Choose an African American dance form and Club and Savoy Ballroom, black dancers showcased research both the dance and the time period it came new styles of couples dancing like the Charleston, from. Why was the dance popular? Did the dance Lindy Hop, and Jitterbug. have particular meaning to people of that era? How did the dance reflect or record the history or culture During the 1930s and ’40s, African Americans of the time? Present your research to the class. View moved into ballet and modern dance. White videos of the dance and try to learn it yourself. Can choreographers began incorporating African you teach it to your classmates? American themes and dance styles into their work and hired black dancers to perform them. Black 9 Ailey’s Masterpiece: Revelations Alvin Ailey's Revelations. Photo by Andrew Eccles. Alvin Ailey created 79 ballets over his lifetime, American musical styles, like blues and gospel, and but his most celebrated piece is Revelations, first “tried to put all of that feeling”—faith, hope, joy, performed in 1960. It’s estimated that more than sometimes sadness—into Revelations. 23 million people in 71 countries have seen Ailey’s signature masterpiece—more than any other modern Ailey divided Revelations into three sections, each dance work. including several dances representing different aspects of African American faith and persistence. To create Revelations, Ailey tapped into what he “Pilgrim of Sorrow,” the first section of the work, called "blood memories" of his childhood in rural, “was about trying to get up out of the ground.” “Take segregated Texas, recollections so powerful he Me to the Water,” the second section, depicts a felt they were as much a part of him as the blood baptism or purification rite at a river’s edge. “Move, running through his veins. He started with the Members, Move,” the third section, brings the church music. As a boy, Ailey was enthralled by the music to life, depicting “the holy rollers, and all that church played in and around the tiny churches he and his happiness.” Along with dance movement and music, mother attended every Sunday. It was “some of the Ailey carefully thought through other elements of a most glorious singing to be heard anywhere in the theatrical production—like costumes, lighting, and world,” he recalled. The choirs, congregations, and props—as he created Revelations. Each section has preachers would sing spirituals “with such fervor its own specific look and feel. that even as a small child I could not only hear it but almost see it.” He added other traditional African 10

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That inspiration resulted in his most popular and critically acclaimed work, Revelations, which premiered in 1960. The piece became a cultural treasure through its powerful storytelling and soul-stirring music, evoking timeless themes of determination and hope. Blues music was important to Alvin, a
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