Alvin Ailey Dance Review

Alvin Ailey's revelations was a rather interesting experience. I enjoyed how, in the beginning, they did performed a series of "mini-performances" to keep the audience entertained and engaged. I greatly enjoyed how the movement synched up with the dancing almost perfectly, like in the one-man performance, Takademe, and in the main, full cast performance as well.

In the first piece, Night Creature, the performer's outfits were very plain yet colorful. Spectrally, this sort of simple costuming lets one focus on the piece without being distracted, while still adding to the work as a visible element which generally matches the pace of what was a more lively segment to the dance. The costumes during Revelations never seemed to deter from the dancers' ability, but they added much to the whole spiritual vibe.

The dance company foucuses on the styles and forms of African like dances that root of a situation that delt with some type of racism or discrimination or pure hatred and turns it into a beautiful display of art.  There were many songs that were made around the slave times that sang of freedom, brotherhood and love.  The dancers created a almost perfection version of that through various movements.  There was also a song or two that was pure and fun that very much enjoyed.  The whole thing was quite amazing..


It is amazing to see the changes between the movements of Revelations, and it creates a fun task of deciphering the messages that can be drawn from each one. For example, the earthy brown hues used in the first movement, the pure white and blue shades of the second, and the yellow and black of the third.




There was a lone dancer who truly stood out from the rest. His name was Michael and he has been in the company for three seasons.  He had a solo performance to a song that was in an entirley different language in which I assume is some type of African thing going on. But in all seriousness the way he would move with the words was simply amazing.  He was so loose and into the song it almost looked as if he was taken over by the music and it really briught an element to the dance that was very professional.  He was a very expressive dancer and the piece he performed was perfect for him.
 

Review of Girl Walk All Day

Girl Walk All Day, for those of you who don't know, is a compilation of videos, and "is a feature-length dance music video and tale of urban exploration that follows three dancers across New York City. They turn the city's sidewalks, parks, and architecture into an evolving stage as they spread their joy of movement." This is perhaps an understatement of the incredible choreography and talent exhibited in this series of music videos. The raw power of these dancers is seen clearly, from the first instant to the last. Video one, which can be seen here, is merely a prelude to a mind-blowing world of emotion and dance.

  As you can see, the cast of Girl Walk All Day is made up of incredibly talented dancers. Despite the obviously modern movement and soundtrack, each dancer almost impecably demonstrates their particular baseline style of dancing.The "Girl" clearly utilizes a style based heavily on ballet, which can be observed both from the beggining scene and throughout. as the video continues, the changes become more and more drastic, butthe underlying ballet themes are unmistakable.
The "Gentleman" has a style that has very strong roots in swing and tap-dancing. we can see a very heavy influence of Fred Astair and Bob Fosse in his moves. the quick, light footmovements also gives light to his tap dance roots, especially as it can be seen that he is putting ona pair of tap-shoes in the beggining.
Lastly, the "Freak" has the most interesting dance style of the trio. His style is almost completely derived from a singularly unique dance-style knwn as tutting, of which the "Creep" is clearly a master. It can be seen that his tutting is so advanced, that at times it almost seemsas if video editing was involved, or that the video was lagging. When one realises the truth,it drives home the skill of this cast.


As the videos continue, the dancers noticably develop their style to reaches far beyond their baseline styles. This change is reflected by a noticable change in costume. Additionally, as the three dancer dance their way across the landmarks of New York, others begin to join in and out, causing rather humorous and inexplicable moments. The climax of this video series is quite something to behold, and puts a very satisfying finish to the developing story, as vague as it is. This is a very legitimate rendition of what cnonly be described as art, and i recommend it highly.

This is my blog for Art Writing and Criticism. Enjoy.