Opening Agenda

1. Opening Agenda • Things to Get: • Handout from the table in the front of the room • Notebook paper (2) • Things to Do: • Opener: Modern positions • Class work: Modern Dance • Closure: Alvin Ailey

2. openerThe “Dance Vocabulary/Basic Positions” video on the DanceSense Enhanced DVD. • Write down five similarities or differences between modern dance and ballet. • Try it out… plie style

3. Modern Dance- History Preview • While watching this clip, be prepared to answer the following questions in a discussion after the video: • Who was the “father” of modern? • How did Modern dance reflect ideas from the Women’s Rights movement? • Why is modern dance considered a family tree? • Who are three important people in modern dance?

4. Modern dance • Notes Title

5. Modern Dance • Free flowing, creative dance style • One artist is usually both dancer and choreographer • Participation or Performance dance • Modern dance was originally part of the woman’s movement.

6. Martha Graham“Martha Graham was to modern dance what Pablo Picasso was to modern art.” • May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991 • Technique includes: the fierce pelvic contractions, flexed feet, contorted cupped hands, and the rugged "floor work" , spare and abstract stage settings • Trained or influenced every important modern dancer--José Limón, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, and Twyla Tharp --and made America the center of modern dance. • Martha Graham created a series of choreographies related to periods in American history—American Document, American Provincials and Frontier. • In a career spanning 70 years, Martha Graham created 180 dance works using a variety of motifs including: • Fusion of abstract gestures to psychological symbols (Primitive Mysteries) • American mythic heritage (Appalachian Spring) • Classical tragedy (Medea, Clytemnestra)

7. Appalachian Spring • Appalachian Springis crafted around an American theme related to frontier life. It supports Graham's choreography about the wedding of a young couple, who are about to begin their married life settling the land and building a home in the untamed wilderness of the early American frontier. • Music was composed by Aaron Copland at the request of Graham

8. Summary • The narrative of Appalachian Spring centers around the early 19th century wedding of a young pioneer couple embarking as homesteaders in the Pennsylvania frontier wilderness. • The cast of characters includes: the bride, the Husbandman, the Pioneer Woman, a Revivalist preacher, and four girl Followers. • The participants enter slowly, one at a time- with considerable space between them- almost as if they are being formally introduced. The young couple and guests, except for the Revivalist, dance in celebration. • The husbandman and Bride then each dance a soliloquy- the Bride

9. Summary Cont’d • expression visions of joy, but also anxieties and fears; the husbandman expressing anticipation of and pride in the challenges ahead. During the soliloquies, there are brief intervals when the two interact, affirming their belief that together they will prevail. • The Pioneer Woman, who knows what lies ahead, dances reaffirmation belief in the couple’s future. The Revivalist delivers a fanatic hellfire and brimstone sermon. His points are underscored by frenetic Revival meeting-type dance responses of the Followers and the Revivalists interactions with them. • The wedding takes place; the visitors depart. The young couple is alone in the vast wilderness, ready to face future challenges together.

10. When Watching the ScenePay attention to the following aspects • body contours of the dance movements; • diverse rhythms and pace of the interlocking segments; • way transitions are handled as the different scenes come to the foreground and fade out; • way specific elements of the set are used; • spatial alignments of the dancers; and • integration of movements with the music score

11. Appalachian Spring

12. Dance Theatre of Harlem • Arthur Mitchell, the first black dancer to perform with the New York City Ballet, founded the Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1971 • Began with 30 children in a church basement--two months later, 400 children were attending classes • The interracial company won a new audience for ballet and opened opportunities for young black dancers • Repertory expanded to encompass classical, modern, and ethnically oriented works • "Dancing Through Barriers" is designed to make children worldwide aware of dance.

13. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsOBXQV04sk Dance Theatre of Harlem

14. Alvin Ailey • Born in Texas in 1931, Ailey spent his formative years going to Sunday School --see Revelations • Trained with Lester Horton, Katherine Dunham and Martha Graham, Stella Adler among others • 1958, Ailey founded his own company, the Alvin AileyAmerican Dance Theater, company dedicated to enriching the American modern dance heritage and preserving black cultural expression. • a dance company for African American dancers to perform stories from African American history • First American dance company invited to the Soviet Union. • 1969, Ailey founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center now training 3500 students a year

15. Revelations Viewing Guide • Choreographer: Alvin Ailey • Music: Traditional Gospels and Hymns • Date: 1986 • Performers: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (company) • Style/Context: Modern Dance/African American History (slavery to freedom)

16. Alvin Ailey • At what age did Ailey start dancing? • Who was Lester Horton? • What style of dance did Alvin Ailey study? Who was one of his teachers of this style of dance? (Hint: We just talked about her) • What was Ailey’s goal in creating his modern dance company? • Describe the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. Who is it composed of? What style of dance do they perform? What dances do they perform?

17. Closer • Yesterday, most of you mentioned that it was easier to understand “Revelations” than “Appalachian Spring.” • Think critically about the differences between the two dances. • What made “Revelations” easier to understand than “Appalachian Spring”?