The Life and Times of Alvin Ailey Essay Sample
Alvin Ailey was born on January 5. 1931 in Rogers. Texas to Lula Elizabeth Ailey. Lula was merely 17 old ages old at the clip of his birth. His male parent abandoned the household when Alvin was merely six months old. Because the epoch Alvin was born in was the Great Depression. the Aileys moved about frequently. Turning up during the great depression besides meant that his female parent had a difficult clip happening work. Unfortunately. Alvin besides grew up during a clip of racial segregation. force and lynching against African-Americans. When Alvin was five. he began to fear Whites when his female parent was raped by a group of white work forces. She was merely 22 old ages old when this happened. That was non the lone civilization daze in Alvin’s life though. He besides attended a Southern Baptist church. The church left Alvin with experiences that filled him with a great sense of black pride. That sense of black pride would subsequently be blatantly shown in Ailey’s signature works. Like many other African Americans. Ailey’s female parent moved in the autumn of 1942 to Los Angeles. California.
This is because rumours were heard that there were good paid occupations in assisting with the war attempt. Alvin had stayed back in Texas to complete out the school twelvemonth but finally joined his female parent by train. The first junior high school that Ailey attended in California happened to be located in a chiefly white school territory. This made Alvin uncomfortable because of his fright of Whites and because he was one of the few black pupils. Finally. the Aileys moved to a preponderantly black school territory. Here he foremost attended George Washington Carver Junior High School. and after. Thomas Jefferson High School. During this clip he sang in the hilarity nine and wrote poesy. To go through clip Alvin would go to shows at Lincoln Theater and the Orpheum Theater. In 1949. Alvin met a friend at school by the name of Carmen De Lavallade. Carmen foremost introduced Ailey to the Hollywood Studio of Lester Horton. Before this point. Alvin was ne’er truly serious about dance. At the studio Alvin met Lester Horton who would turn out to be an of import event in his life.
Lester Horton was a major influence in Alvin’s whole calling. Horton became a wise man. learning him how to turn artistically through technique and giving him a foundation. Dance manners and techniques. such as classical concert dance. wind. and Native American dance were all taught at Horton’s school. At first. Alvin was non certain if he genuinely wanted to be a professional terpsichorean. Ailey would even maintain his life as a terpsichorean a secret from his female parent for the first two old ages. Ailey focused more on faculty members. chiefly analyzing linguistic communications and Hagiographas. Alvin took classs at assorted universities in California where he studied the Hagiographas of James Baldwin. Langston Hughes. and Carson McCullers. In 1951 Alvin moved to San Francisco to go on his surveies where he met Marguerite Johnson who goes by the name Maya Angelou now. They would on occasion execute poesy at a nightclub act called “Al and Rita” . To gain a life Alvin worked at the New Orleans Champagne Supper Club waiting tabular arraies and dancing. After a piece Ailey returned to analyze dance with Horton in southern California. Alvin joined Horton’s company in 1953. Ailey began to analyze full clip at Horton’s school when he was 22.
His major introduction was in Horton’s Revue Le Bal Caribe. After his introduction. Ailey performed in several Hollywood movies. Like all of Horton’s pupils. Ailey besides studied other art signifiers. including painting. moving. music. set design. and dress uping. every bit good as concert dance. modern. and cultural dance. When Horton died of a bosom onslaught in November 1953 he left the company without an artistic manager. When no 1 else stepped frontward. Ailey took the function of artistic manager. At this clip Ailey was still merely 22 and had choreographed merely one dance in a workshop. Despite his young person and deficiency of experience though. he began choreographing. directing scene and costume designs. and running dry run. Ailey designed his first piece in memory of Horton. It showcased James Truitte’s physical strength and Carmen de Lavallade’s beauty and dramatic abilities. Alvin and Carmen De lavallade were invited to New York in 1954 to dance on Broadway. They danced on the Broadway show. House of Flowers by Truman Capote. starring Pearl Bailey and Diahann Carroll.
Alvin besides appeared in Sing. Man. Singing in 1956. starring Harry Belafonte and in Jamaica in 1957 with Lena Horne and Ricardo Montalban. Unfortunately the New York modern dances in the 1950ss did non appeal to Ailey. When Alvin watched other modern dance instructors such as Martha Graham. Doris Humphrey. and Jose Limon he felt Graham’s dance was “finicky and strange” and disliked the techniques of both Humphrey and Limon. Not being able to happen a technique similar to Horton’s. defeated Alvin really much. Due to non being able to happen a proper wise man who he liked Ailey began making plant of his ain. In 1958. Ailey formed his ain group. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Ailey focused on a complete theatrical experience. including costumes. illuming. and make-up. The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater was constructed by Tishman Realty and Construction Corporation of New York. Manhattan’s largest builder. On March 30. 1958 the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performed their first concert.
Ailey focused on a complete theatrical experience. including costumes. illuming. and make-up. Noteworthy early plants included Blues Suite. a piece coming from blues vocals. The piece had intense emotional entreaty because it expressed the hurting and choler of African Americans. Blues Suite was an instant success and defined Ailey’s manner. Revelations was another on of Ailey’s signature works. To make this piece Alvin focused on his “blood memories” of Texas. the blues. spirituals. and gospel. All together the consequence was the creative activity of his most popular and critically acclaimed work. Ailey originally intended the dance to be the 2nd portion of a larger. evening-length hearing of African-American music which he began with Blues Suite. Another one of Ailey’s greatest successes was the dance piece Cry created in 1971. The piece was paid court to black adult females everyplace particularly his female parent.
It became a signature piece for Judith Jamison. Ailey ever claimed that his company was non merely him demoing off his ain work even though he had created 79 plants for his terpsichoreans. Ailey’s terpsichoreans came to his company with preparation from a assortment of other schools. from concert dance to modern and wind and subsequently hip-hop. Alvin did non develop his terpsichoreans in a specific technique before they performed his stage dancing which was unique at the clip. He required them to unite his stage dancing with their ain single manner and endowments. This openness of combination brought harmoniousness between concert dance and other signifiers of Afro-american look. Due to his old preparation in concert dance. modern dance. wind. and African dance techniques Ailey’s stage dancing was a lively and energetic mix. Ailey valued assortment so therefore he used combinations of dance techniques that were best tantrum for the theatrical minute. In a manner. Alvin created more of a dance manner than a technique. He said that what he wanted from a terpsichorean was a long. unbroken leg line and dexterously articulated legs and pess “a concert dance bottom” combined with a dramatically expressive upper trunk “a modern top” .
“What I like is the line and proficient scope that classical concert dance gives to the organic structure. But I still want to project to the audience the expressiveness that merely modern dance offers. particularly for the interior sorts of things. ” Today. the company continues “Ailey’s vision” by executing of import plants from the yesteryear but besides including new add-ons to the repertory. In all. more than 200 plants by over 70 choreographers have been performed by the company. Ailey was honored by a committee to make The River for ABT in 1970. The River was based on the music of composer Duke Ellington. With this chance Ailey was able to work with some of the finest concert dance terpsichoreans in the universe. One of the most celebrated terpsichoreans he got to work with was the great dramatic danseuse Sallie Wilson. In 1977. Ailey was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1988. merely one twelvemonth before his decease. In 1977. Ailey was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1988. merely one twelvemonth before his decease. Ailey died on December 1. 1989 at the age of 58.
To save his female parent the societal stigma of his decease from AIDS. he asked his physician to denote that he had died of terminal blood. In 1992 Alvin Ailey was inducted into the National Museum of Dance’s Mr. & amp ; Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs. NY. Ailey is credited with popularising modern dance and revolutionising Afro-american engagement in twentieth century concert dance. His company gained the nickname “Cultural Ambassador to the World” because of its extended international touring. Ailey’s choreographic chef-d’oeuvre Revelations is believed to be the best known and most frequently seen modern dance public presentation. I truly enjoyed researching Alvin Ailey.
I feel as if he was an astonishing American choreographer and militant. What I truly thought was antic was the fact that he started the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. NY. I ever thought that Lester Horton was the lone modern dance laminitis who started his ain theatre. Ailey is credited with popularising modern dance and revolutionising Afro-american engagement in twentieth century concert dance which I adore. Just like I have a great moniker to depict me. his company gained the nickname “Cultural Ambassador to the World” because of its extended international touring. Ailey’s choreographic chef-d’oeuvre Revelations is believed to be the best known and most frequently seen modern dance public presentation. I watched this piece and I have seeking to harness act every dance move since. This is a piece I would ever retrieve.
Plants Cited
“Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. ” Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
N. p. . n. d. Web. 26 Sept. 2012. & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. alvinailey. org/ & gt ; . “Alvin Ailey Biography. ” Bio. com. A & A ; E Networks Television. n. d. Web. 26 Sept. 2012. & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. life. com/people/alvin-ailey-9177959 & gt ; . “Alvin Ailey. ” Alvin Ailey. N. p. . n. d. Web. 26 Sept. 2012. & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. texas-on-line. com/graphic/alvinailey. htm & gt ; . “Alvin Ailey. ” About. com Dance. N. p. . n. d. Web. 26 Sept. 2012. & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //dance. about. com/od/famousdancers/p/Alvin_Ailey. htm & gt ; . “The Kennedy Center: ARTSEDGE – the National Arts and Education Network. ”ARTSEDGE: Maestro Work: Alvin Ailey and Revelations. N. p. . n. d. Web. 26 Sept. 2012. & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //artsedge. kennedy-center. org/students/features/master-work/ailey-revelations. aspx & gt ; .
