Alvin Ailey 's Influence On The Landscape Of Modern Dance

Influenced primarily by cultural roots and incredibly opportunity, Dunham had the luxury of studying in the West Indies as well as anthropological study of other cultural style dances. The West Indian experience changed forever the focus of Dunham’s life and caused a profound shift in her career. This initial fieldwork began a lifelong involvement with the people and dance of Haiti. And, importantly for the development of modern dance, her fieldwork began her investigations into a vocabulary of movement that would form the core of the Katherine Dunham Technique. Though many of Dunham’s primary influences lies within her multicultural experiences, Mark Turbyfill also seemed to play a large role in her future dance career, giving her private lessons despite his doubt in the opening of her student company (Kaiso! 187). Katherine Dunham has been list as an influence to “everyone from George Balanchine to Jerome Robbins, Alvin Ailey, Bob Fosse and Twyla Tharp. American dance, including ballet, modern dance, Hollywood and Broadway, would not be the same without her” (Aschenbrenner 226).

“Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance”, and excerpt from Moving History/Dancing Cultures: A Dance History Reader, was written by Brenda Dixon Gottschild. Gottschild is a well-known author, dance historian, performer, and choreographer as well as a professor of dance studies at Temple University. She has also written multiple books including The Black Dancer Body, Waltzing in the Dark, and Digging. In her article “Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance”, Gottschild explores the similarities and differences in the characteristics of Africanist and European technique, and how they draw from each other.

This piece drew inspiration from the African American music of his youth. Years after his death, Ailey continues to be an important figure in the field of dance through the ballets he formed and the organizations he

Alvin Ailey was a Modern Dance choreographer and he blended modern, jazz and ethnic dance styles. He formed the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York in 1958. His company was composed of exclusively black dancer until 1963 when he decided to integrate his company. He choreographed close to 80 pieces, including Cry, Blue suites, Night Creatures and his most famous work Revelations. More people have seen Revelations across the globe than any other modern dance piece. Alvin Ailey died on December 1,1989 at the age of 58.

Alvin Ailey, a well known second generation American choreographer and activist was born in Rogers, Texas on January 5, 1931. Ailey grew up poor in the small Texas town of Navasota. Although he did not have much growing up, it did not stop his drive to succeed. He became inspired by attending black church services and by the music he heard at the local dance hall. Because of this, Ailey left Texas at the young age of 12 and moved to Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles, Ailey excelled in different subjects such as language and athletics. He became inspired to pursue dancing after seeing the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo perform. In 1949, at the age of 18, he began to study modern dance with Lester Horton and joined Horton’s dance company the following year. Horton became Ailey 's major influence, as he was his mentor that gave him a foundation and technique that allowed him to grow artistically. Even though he developed his own style, he still used Horton’s technique that emphasized a strong fluid torso and ease of movement. In his years to follow, Ailey founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York in 1958. Ailey’s dance company became very popular because of its multi-racial modern dance ensemble. Due to his modern, jazz and ethnic dance styles, and extensive world tours, Alvin Ailey became one of the leading figures in the 20th century modern dance, making modern dance popular all over the world. Ailey is a significant artist to me because he paved the way for

In 1969, Ailey established a dance center in New York City. By the late 1970s, his company was one of America’s most popular dance troupes. His members toured all around the world, with the U.S state department behind them. They also were the first modern dancers to visit the Soviet Union since the 1920s. Ailey received many honors for his choreography. For instance, in 1975 he won a Dance Magazine award and the Springarn Medal was given to him by the NAACP in 1979.

From kindergarten until high school, I was a member of the Jean Wolfmeyer School of Dance. Up to 5 days per week, I would be at the dance studio taking classes, rehearsing for shows, and helping out in the less advanced classes. Regardless of skill level, Jean never hesitated to speak the brutally honest truth about students’ performances and she never settled for anything less than perfection. Jean would often preach that she is only the instruction manual and she cannot make us good dancers, we had to do that for ourselves. However, it was not her critique or teaching alone that motivated dancers to perform well, it was her relentless work ethic and commitment to her studio. As a 70 year-old women, Jean held classes as much as 7 days per

“What are you even doing here? I have never seen such flawed technique in all my years as a choreographer.” The words echoed throughout the medical college auditorium. Impelled by the admonishment in front of my peers, I persevered in my endeavor to improve upon my dancing prowess and by the final year of medical school was leading the college dance team. The above mentioned undertaking further spawned an interest for the discipline of Latin Ballroom which lead to participation at the national level. The unwavering focus and persistence even in the face of unfavorable odds is more broadly reflective of my approach towards learning, both academic and extracurricular. This has been instrumental in achieving stellar academic outcomes including being ranked nationally in the top 0.0004 percent in the premedical test and the top 0.6 percent in the common aptitude test for management training.

From the article "I Don't Want to do African … What About My Technique?:" Transforming Dancing Places into Spaces in the Academy by Raquel L. Monroe, the author discussed about problems that currently occur in dance space of a higher institution. The terms ‘technique’ has become problematic when the Monroe pointed the fear of the future dancer if they took dance class that is different from ballet or modern. The article further discusses by using excerpt and interviews from teachers and students on defining what ‘technique’ is. She also touches the topic on racial injustice in dance from the stereotypes of certain movement that denoted a group of people and classification of ‘high’ or ‘low’ art. This further support her argument when she critiques

Many choreographers shape dance into something different and defy certain styles. Alvin Ailey not only did this through dance but changed the racial norms in the dance world. The Alvin Ailey American Arts Theatre has performed for over 25 million people in 48 states, 71 counties and on 6 continents. Throughout his life he made a difference. Ailey himself “changed forever the perception of American dance.” Alvin Ailey changed the views of modern dance and racial acceptance in the arts throughout America.

Fear is paralyzing! When we become fearful we prevent ourselves from growing. In general I wish I could “do-over” every time I let fear get the best of me. A life experience that comes to mind is when I auditioned for the Alvin Ailey summer dance program. I was 13 at the time and my passion for dance was growing exponentially. Auditioning seemed like a great idea, however, by the end of it I wished I would have stayed at home. I was not ready mentally, physically, or emotionally for the pressure of auditioning. I found myself frustrated, hurt, and ultimately embarrassed. Girls younger than me performed at a higher level, and had better technique. On my way home I promised myself I would never audition again.

King’s work with the Shaolin Monks “is renowned for its ability to connect audiences to a profound sense of shared humanity—of vulnerability and tenderness, but also of furious abandon and exhilarating freedom—and for its unique capacity to imbue classical ballet with new expressive potential” (Linesballet.org). King has already made an impact on the world of dance that will surely expand a great deal more in his career, and will undoubtedly continue beyond his lifetime.

“Go within everyday and find the inner strength so that the world will not blow your candle out” (A Quote by Katherine Dunham 1). Once one of the most successful dancers in both American and European theater, Katherine Dunham, a dancer, anthropologist,social activist,and educator, continues to inspire people throughout the world. Named America’s irreplaceable Dance Treasure in 2000. Dunham remains a name heard regularly in dance schools across the world (“Katherine Dunham Biography” 4). She is known for always trying to make a difference and in the process she has become of the world’s greatest humanitarians (Osumare 5). Katherine Dunham’s work in African American rights in the dance world and her creation of new styles of dance makes her an important figure in American dance History.

Sally Banes is an American writer and dance historian and critic. She is also a professor of theater history and dance studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Banes has written multiple books and contributed to many documentaries and films. The book Moving History / Dancing Cultures, which Banes contributed to, includes the article “Choreographic Methods of the Judson Dance Theater”. This book was published in 2001.

A wide array of ideas and concepts are used to determine the categorization for post-modernism, expressionism, and formalism. Post-modernism is typically categorized by everyday movements. It is said by some that one does not even need be a dancer in order to do this style of choreography. It is similar to contemporary dance which is a combination of modern and post-modern dancing. Expressionism is basic movement with the intent of expressing an emotion or feeling behind it. Expressionism originated in Germany and can be easily identified when associated with “story-telling” or the conveyance of an emotion. Formalism is categorized by very structured and specific movement. Its counterpart could arguably be expressionism because formalism is