I've been meaning to post about this for a while, but I haven't had a chance to. Back on Apil 5th, Carson .jpg)
and I went and saw the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for their 50th anniversary tour. Oh My Gosh! So amazing! If you don't know who they are, you're missing out. The company is made up of mostly African Americans and was started in a time when that wasn't really popular. They do a little of everything from modern to hip hop to ballet to jazz. The cool thing is that while they do have pieces that adhere to only one genre, many of the pieces are a mix of everything which really shows to virtuosity of the company members. Their transistions from one style to the next are seemless thus making the performance more enjoyable. Nothing ruins a performance more than a ballet dancer trying to do modern of hip hop without the skill to back it up.
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So you know how everyone has their 'list'? Things to do before they die if you will. Well, cross one off my list. Ever since I heard of Alvin Ailey during my freshman year of college in Bethany Hansen's class, I have wanted to see them. And now I have. The performed three pieces. One called The Golden Section which was choreographed by Twyla Tharp, who I love and respect. It was awesome and so athletic. They did some of the most creative partnering work that I had ever seen up to that point. The second piece was called Episodes by Ulysses Dove. Amazing! It was actually like watching a series of disfunctional relationships. Again, amazing partner work. And finally, the only piece that really cared about seeing is their hallmark piece, Revela.jpg)
tions. Talk about a spiritual experience. The piece is done to African American spirituals and is based off of Alvin Ailey's own experiences in the Southern Baptist churches that he grew up in. I have to say that it definitely lived up to the hype. If any of you watch Dancing With the Stars, they performed the Tuesday before they came to Denver and they did an excerpt from Revelations. It's funny, I'm not black and have never been to the south, but I can totally relate to the message of the piece. AMAZING!
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and I went and saw the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for their 50th anniversary tour. Oh My Gosh! So amazing! If you don't know who they are, you're missing out. The company is made up of mostly African Americans and was started in a time when that wasn't really popular. They do a little of everything from modern to hip hop to ballet to jazz. The cool thing is that while they do have pieces that adhere to only one genre, many of the pieces are a mix of everything which really shows to virtuosity of the company members. Their transistions from one style to the next are seemless thus making the performance more enjoyable. Nothing ruins a performance more than a ballet dancer trying to do modern of hip hop without the skill to back it up.So you know how everyone has their 'list'? Things to do before they die if you will. Well, cross one off my list. Ever since I heard of Alvin Ailey during my freshman year of college in Bethany Hansen's class, I have wanted to see them. And now I have. The performed three pieces. One called The Golden Section which was choreographed by Twyla Tharp, who I love and respect. It was awesome and so athletic. They did some of the most creative partnering work that I had ever seen up to that point. The second piece was called Episodes by Ulysses Dove. Amazing! It was actually like watching a series of disfunctional relationships. Again, amazing partner work. And finally, the only piece that really cared about seeing is their hallmark piece, Revela.jpg)
tions. Talk about a spiritual experience. The piece is done to African American spirituals and is based off of Alvin Ailey's own experiences in the Southern Baptist churches that he grew up in. I have to say that it definitely lived up to the hype. If any of you watch Dancing With the Stars, they performed the Tuesday before they came to Denver and they did an excerpt from Revelations. It's funny, I'm not black and have never been to the south, but I can totally relate to the message of the piece. AMAZING! So next on my list is actually taking class their studio in NYC. It's actually the largest free standing building completely dedicated to dance. Talk about my own personal Mecca! They also showed a really cool video about the history of the company, which was only fitting for their 50th anniversary tour!
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