Transcript Tutorial 4: Cry and the context of Alvin Ailey`s
Return to NSW HSC Online: Dance CRY
AND THE CONTEXT OF ALVIN AILEY’S BODY OF WORK
In this tutorial you will research other works choreographed by Alvin Ailey and consider how they relate to
Cry
.
CRY Return to NSW HSC Online: Dance
AILEY’S BODY OF WORK
CRY When studying a prescribed work it is essential to have knowledge of other works by the choreographer to assist in identifying their choreographic style or choreographic phases throughout their career.
Return to NSW HSC Online: Dance
AILEY’S BODY OF WORK
CRY Whilst many of Ailey’s works premiered to critical acclaim, he spent many years revising them before presenting them in a final format. Works such as
Blues Suite
and
Revelations
were created in this manner.
Read the following excerpts about
Blues Suite
and
Revelations
in order to gain an insight about how these works were received.
Return to NSW HSC Online: Dance
AILEY’S BLUES SUITE
CRY Premiere1958
“Drawing on fragments of his Texas childhood… Ailey’s original program note aligned his dance with cultural roots: ‘The musical heritage of the southern Negro remains a profound influence on the music of the world… during the dark days the blues sprang full-born from the docks and fields, saloons and bawdy houses… indeed from the very souls of their creators’.”
(Ailey Program Note, Kaufmann Concert Hall Dance Centre of the 92nd Street YM-YWHA, 30th March 1958. Cited by De Frantz, 2004).
Return to NSW HSC Online: Dance
AILEY’S REVELATIONS
CRY Premiere1960
“This suite explores motivations and emotions of Negro religious music, which, like its heir, the Blues, takes many forms ‘true spirituals’ with their sustained melodies, ring-shouts, song-sermons, and holy blues - songs of trouble, of love, of deliverance.”
Return to NSW HSC Online: Dance (Ailey Program Note, Kaufmann Concert Hall YM-YWHA, 31st January 1960. Cited by DeFrantz, 2004).
AILEY’S BODY OF WORK
View other works by Alvin Ailey and identify features of his choreographic style that relate to the following: • movement characteristics (genre-specific) • manipulation of the elements of dance • relationship between movement and music • theatrical elements.
CRY Return to NSW HSC Online: Dance
AILEY’S BODY OF WORK
CRY
Activity
Select one of the following essay topics 1. Describe the characteristics of Alvin Ailey’s choreographic style.In your response provide specific examples from
Cry
and one other work.
2. Discuss Alvin Ailey’s contribution to the development of dance as an art form. In your response provide specific examples from his body of work.
Return to NSW HSC Online: Dance