Summary Of Alvin Ailey's Revelations?

Every company has what is known as a “signature piece,” that is, a work which expresses something about the artistic direction and the spirit of the company. For the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater that piece is Revelations. Choreographed and set to traditional music, Revelations was first performed at the Ninety-second Street YM-YWHA New York, NY., January 31, 1960. The lead dancers were Joan Derby, Minnie Marhsall, Merle Derby, Dorene Richardson, Jay Fletcher, Nathaniel Horne, and Herman Howell and the soloists were Nancy Redi and Gene Hobgood. The music was performed by the Music Masters Guild Chorus of the Harlem Branch YMCA under the direction of Frank Thomas.

In New York, Mr. Ailey studied with many outstanding dance artists, including Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman and took acting classes with Stella Adler. In 1958, Mr. Ailey founded his own company, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In 1960, he choreographed Revelations, the classic masterpiece of American modern dance based on the religious heritage of his youth. Throughout his lifetime, Mr. Ailey created some 79 ballets, many of which have appeared in the repertoire of major dance companies, including American Ballet Theatre, The Joffrey Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Paris Opera Ballet and La Scala Ballet.

In February of 1924 he marries Lil Hardin. She played the piano for the King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band. In September 1924 he leaves King Oliver and moves to New York City to join the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. He records a few songs with them. Finally on November 12th 1925 Louis makes his first recordings as a leader with his own group named the Hot Five.

Dance for Musical Theatre: Robert Louis Fosse *No Works Cited Robert Louis Fosse was born on June 23, 1927 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the son of a vaudevillian and appropriately enough was born into the theatre. As a child, the art of dance wasn’t only used as a past time by young Fosse, but rather as a way of gaining attention from friends and family. From an early age he had already started studying ballet, tap and acrobatic dance. As Fosse grew up, his talented dancing and signature showmanship had began molding his future career.

Resilience: The Story and Lessons of Alvin Ailey As the first African-American to create a multicultural, international concert dance company, Alvin Ailey’s dance company has been dubbed the “cultural ambassador of the world” (Gorman 36). Through his Alvin Ailey Dance Company, he addressed the racism and injustice faced by ethnic minorities across the globe. Ailey clearly revolutionized African American participation in 20th century concert dance as well as revived interest in modern dance. As an extremely talented dancer and choreographer, Ailey’s success is attributed to his dedication and passion for expression through dance, but what is often overlooked is his resilience to the hardships he faced, the mentors he had, and the opportunities

He joined The Martha Graham Dance Company after she saw the 22 year old who had won a dance scholarship to American Dance Festival. He had no training however, his athletic build and way of movement caught her eye. With The Martha Graham Dance Company he had seven seasons as a soloist and continued his work for his own company. Some great roles he danced in with the Martha Graham Dance Company include : Aegisthus in Altyemnesta in 1958, Hercules in Alcestics in 1960, Thesues in Phaedra in 1962. He was invited to the New York City Ballet where George Balanchine created a solo for him.

His school friend in 1949, Carmen De Lavallade, introduced him to Lester Horton. Horton’s multi racial dance school covered a wide range of styles including modern, jazz, and classical ballet. After eventually leaving the college track, at the age of 22, Alvin joined the Horton Dance Company. Ailey participated in different art forms and Hollywood films at this time. Horton died in 1953 leaving Ailey the new artistic director of the company.

When World War II ended, he moved to New York City and found his first job as a Broadway gypsy in Call Me Mister (1948), where he met his first wife, Mary Ann Niles, another dancer. They married in 1947 in Chicago and pu... ... middle of paper ... ...echnical honors (Gottfried). Fosse returned to Broadway in 1986. Fosse presented his last musical, Big Deal, inspired by the 1956 Italian crime caper comedy Big Deal on Madonna Street with his return. Considering to write the book himself and pick the music from 1930s and 1940s standards, Fosse taking full control resulted in failure of the show after only seventy showings (Gottfried).

The fees from this allowed h... ... middle of paper ... ...egan in his early twenties, and his love for theater and cinema has led him to be dubbed "the Noel Coward of modern dance." Born in London on January 13, 1960, Mr. Bourne graduated from the Laban Centre in 1985 with a degree in Dance/Theater, spending a further year touring with Transitions Dance Company. He was a founding member of AMP at its launch in July 1987, and his stage works for the company include "Overlap Lovers" (1987), "Spitfire" (1988), "Buck and Wing" (1988), "The Infernal Gallop" (1989), "Town & Country" (1991), "The Nutcracker" (1992), "Highland Fling" (1994), "Swan Lake" (1996) and "Cinderella" (1997). His television work for AMP includes "Late Flowering Lust" (BBC TV 1993) and "Drip - A Love Story" (BBC TV/Arts Council Dance for the Camera Award 1993), both broadcast in 1994. As well as creating many roles in his own work, he has also worked with choreographers Ashley Page, Jacob Marley, and Brigitte Farges, and was a founding member, in 1988, of Lea Anderson's company The Featherstonehaughs.

Ragtime Dance was completed by Joplin in 1902. This rag was written to act as a type of preliminary sketch for a following ragtime opera composed shortly thereafter named A Guest of Honor. Joplin published one of his greatest operas in May 1911 called Treemonisha. Treemonisha consisted of a 240-page manuscript which was written for the use of eleven voices and piano accompaniment. This piece became the first grand opera composed by an African American.