This particular programme, filmed for "Lincoln Center At The Movies", was a set of 4 short dances shown together as one evening's entertainment.
The Alvin Ailey Dance Company are a troupe of mostly African Americans and his choreography and ethos has its roots firmly and squarely in the African American culture, but branches out into everything else that contemporary USA has to offer culturally. His works celebrate their identity, ethnicity, but are all-embracing and encompassing, celebrating life and celebrating dance.
The four pieces in this programme were all very different in approach, idea, style, and narrative.
The first, a 20 minute piece called "CHROMA" was choreographed by celebrated choreographer Wayne McGregor. It had a futurustic feel to it, but also a kind of a warning too. There was an urgency throughout, which couldn't be kept down, and punctuated and accentuated by the music. A white box (a padded cell?) with a large two-way mirror (?) to the rear gave the whole a clinical, interrogatory and rather menacing feel. This was not a comfortable place. The dancers all wore the same clothes, albeit in slightly different clolours. But all were female slips and underpants. That agian felt odd, strange, unfamiliar, and it didn't make any sense. Rather than celebrating there was a surrealness and edginess to the entire piece. Many of the dancers' movements were pushing rather than pulling.. ie, trying to rid themselves of something rather than bringing something towards them. Some of the dancers seemed to be acting rather like automatons too at times. There were slower points in the piece where there was a longing, a regret, something that cannot be expressed, and other points where they seemed to be happy simply because they had been told to be happy, the emotional impulse was hollow and therefore more scary. Certainly not a peaceful place to be.
Following this was "GRACE" choreographed by Ronald K Brown. Using Christian Faith songs a female dancer dressed all in white enters. She is happy, at peace. Then as more dancers enter, some dressed in white and others in red, one immediately makes the assumption that this is a battle between Good and Evil. Some "angels" versus some "devils" perhaps. The music is always uplifting and joyous, and interstingly the LX design here sometimes makes it look like the white costumes have turned a shade of pink... are they turning into little devils? Is evil winning? - and then they return to pure white again. However, the same female dancer that started ends the piece, again with another Christian hymn-like song, and as the red dancers have already gone, leaving only white, 'Good' it seems has prevailed and won the day.
The third dance was a very short, 3 minute solo dance piece, performed by Jamar Roberts and choreographed by Robert Battle, "TAKADEME". Wearing nothing but a pair of red trousers, this quite static piece sees Roberts jitter, thrash, jump, contort, and otherwise compete with a strange non-musical vocalisation continuing around him. Sometimes he joins in with it, other times he rebels against it. The vocalising is non-verbal and just a continuous woodpecker-pecking of a sound. Strange.
Finally the showpiece of the evening, "REVELATIONS" choroegraphed by Alvin Ailey. Using traditional music from the African American heritage, songs which when I was a youngster were known as Negro Spirituals, perhaps that is no longer PC, however, I am unaware of what they should currently be called in order not to cause offence so please forgive me. Using a bare stage and lovely lighting and graphic backdrops, this was my favourite piece of all four, and seemed to come much more from the heart and soul of the dancers too. If The Alvin Ailey Company's aims are to celebrate culture, life, dance, happiness, togetherness, harmony etc, then this piece celebrates all of these and more besides. It was a joyous and harmonious ode to all that is wholesome. The piece nicely took us through several episodes of the Spirituals, each dance complementing but never over-sentamentalising, and all the time they were leading up to their showstopping finale. A huge ensemble unsion dance in Musical Theatre style to the song "Rock-a My Soul In The Bosom Of Abraham" which they had to repeat as an encore since the standing ovation went on for so long! There was something in this piece which was all-encompassing. One didn't need to be black, a Christian, or even American to emote to the sentiments and have a lump in the throat. It was just absolute and poignant, and also beautiful and engaging, full of life and joie-de-vivre. I really enjoyed the simplicity and creativity of the 'water' scene too. Excellent!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 6/6/20
Incredible!
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