The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre recently finished a run at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music). Before they left Brooklyn I got a chance to watch a performance.
As soon as the house lights dimmed, I had a flashback to the first time I saw this company. Immediately images of toned women dressed in yellow floor length dresses and sculpted men in gold vests with Black ties and slacks came to my mind. For those of you that are not familiar with Alvin Ailey’s work, the attire that I just described is worn in one sequence that goes along to the song “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham” from “Revelations” portion which was choreographed by Alvin Ailey back in 1960. Something about the music and the jubilation of the dancers in that sequence always makes me feel…well, joyful.
“Revelations” is usually performed at the end, so first I had the pleasure of watching “Mary Lou’s Mass” which was also choreographed by Alvin Ailey in 1971 and then “Dancing Spirit,” a new piece choreographed by Ronald K. Brown just in 2009.
Since I saw Alvin Ailey on a Sunday, “Mary Lou’s Mass”—which was based entirely on scriptures and included old spirituals with words like “For our lack of Faith…For our lack of Hope…Lord Have Mercy”— was appropriately placed at the opening of the program. My favorite sequence in “Mary Lou’s Mass” was done to the Bible story of “a selfish rich man and a beggar man named Lazarus.” The rich man stood tall and proud in his purple robe throughout the sequence always admiring his gold rings and jewels; while Lazarus wore a dark colored cloak and constantly begged the rich man for food or money. By the end of the sequence, the tables had turned. The rich man was begging the Lord and Lazarus for forgiveness when he realized that he would not be entering heaven since he was so selfish to Lazarus. Now it was Lazarus’s time to stand tall and proud. Yes the scripture says that “The meek shall eat and be satisfied, they shall praise the LORD… (Psalm 22:26)
I also enjoyed “Dancing Spirit” which had drum and flute infused music. Or so I thought, the program says that “Dancing Spirit” included music by Duke Ellington, Wynton Marsalis, Radiohed and War. So now I’m a bit confused but the fact remains that the dancers moved to a different beat for this piece. There was a lot more jumping, movement of the waist and use of the hands. “Dancing Spirit” has this great energy.
I loved the entire performance but I couldn’t help to notice that most of the audience did not match the color of the primarily African-American company of dancers. Why is this?
My community has long been associated with the performing arts since the Harlem Renaissance but yet we only represent a handful of the patrons in the audience. This has been my experience whenever I go the theatre. Do you notice the same thing whenever you go to the theatre?
Love This!
ReplyDelete