Alvin Ailey Revelations Analysis

Alvin Ailey is one of the choreographers that come up when we think of 20th century modern dance. Alvin Ailey was born in Texas in 1931 and was raised by his teenage mother. Ailey grew up in poverty but that didn’t stop him to work hard on having his talent and skills to be highly recognized by the dance community. Ailey left his hometown and relocated to Los Angeles at the age of 12 years old. Ailey excelled in school but it was right after watching a Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo performance was the reason he wanted to learn more about dancing. He used his personal experience as an African-American as an inspiration for his dance masterpieces. Ailey performed in various Broadway shows and one of his highest recognition was with his own dance company …show more content…
Just like his masterpiece Cry, Revalations is sectioned into three sections. Revelations was a homage to his African-American heritage that debuted in 1960 but it has been performed continuously all over the world. The masterpiece were based on his upbringing in Texas where church played a big influence in his life. In the time code 0:07, the performers formation begins with a triangle shape but with very little space in between each other. They are all in sync with the routine– from looking up the “sky” by tilting their heads back while their arms extended straight up with their palms facing forward with their fingers spread apart from each other as if they were reaching for Jesus.The dance move and the dancers expression is so meaningful even without saying a word. Being African-American in America didn’t start off as a great experience for many in the early years but yet they still have faith in god, and the moves with looking up the sky and reaching up to the sky gives you the feeling that they found faith in god even if they are going through hardships as an

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Alvin Ailey Revelations Analysis