SchoolTime Study Guide - Cal Performances - University of ...

Alvin AileyAfter Ailey’s death in 1989, Judith Jamison,one of Ailey’s leading dancers, became thecompany’s director. Today, Jamison continuesAiley’s commitment to bringing dance to allpeople.About Modern Dance and Ailey’sChoreographyModern dance developed in Americanearly 100 years ago as a reaction against therules and structure of ballet. In ballet, dancersappear weightless and perform elegant steps thatwere created hundreds of years ago. Moderndancers embrace gravity and create choreographyfrom everyday movements like walking, skipping,running, and falling.Ailey carefully observed ordinary peopleas they moved, then chose movements that hadthe most meaning for him and put them togetherin a dance. His unique choreographic style wasinfluenced by three modern choreographers—Lester Horton, Katherine Dunham and MarthaGraham.• Lester Horton’s dancers used as muchspace as possible while turning, bending, andjumping across large distances.• Katherine Dunham incorporatedCaribbean, African and American cultural dancestyles to create unique movements.• Martha Graham’s dance technique wasbuilt on contraction (becoming smaller and morepressed together) and release—movements thatimitate the act of breathing. In a contraction, thedancer exhales and curves the spine; in a release,the dancer inhales and lifts the chest.About SpiritualsThe songs used in Revelations are calledspirituals. These are folk songs describingpersonal religious experiences. When Africanswere brought to America as slaves, they lost theirtraditional music as well as their freedom. Theyadded African chants, rhythms and harmoniesto the Christian songs they learned and createdspirituals. Today, people sing spirituals to raisetheir spirits, strengthen their faith, and createa sense of community. There are two kinds ofspirituals:• Sorrow songs are sung slowly and sadlyand tell of the heavy burden of slavery and thebelief that better days are coming.• Jubilees are faster, upbeat songs based onBible stories celebrating victory and joy.Spirituals came to serve many purposes forthe slaves:• Work—Singing spirituals made work lessboring and set a rhythm for actions like picking ordigging. Slave owners liked the singing because itmade the slaves more productive.• Worship—At night, after the owners wereasleep, the slaves would go out into the woods(their invisible church) and worship. Spiritualswere a big part of their religious ceremony.• Entertainment—At the end of a long day,slaves would often sing spirituals for relaxation.• Code Songs—Communication throughspirituals, often helped slaves escape. Forexample, a hidden message in the song “DeepRiver” led to a meeting at the river. “Wade in theWater” warned an escaped slave to go into theriver so bloodhounds couldn’t follow his scent.SchoolTime Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater | 3