Alvin Ailey - changing modern dance

Alvin Ailey is a professional dance company committed to furthering African American heritage and culture through dance. The New-York based company has a school and multiple levels of training programs to introduce students to the style, which tries to be a bold response to traditional styles and even other pioneers in the field of modern dance. 

There are so many definitions and branches in dance that every discipline has unique aspects, and Alvin Ailey’s main bold take merges creative choreography with strong dancers. Some pieces tell stories, but there are always clear elements of solid foundation in technique, which is evident even to an audience member with little dance background – many combinations involve intricate balances and all extensions (the legs that are stretched out) have strength and energy.

Through this platform, dance is able to bring audience members, performers, and other creative workers together. The work of Alvin Ailey is accessible on multiple levels, through artistic merit as well as cultural interest. Making this available, where there is a receptive public, is a sign of progress in the U.S.

This is a selection from "Revelations," one of Alvin Aliey's signature pieces

Ballet in the Media

Ballet made an entrance into the TV world via a few avenues, causing excitement because of increased exposure for a somewhat less mainstream artform, and some worry about how it would be portrayed. The sitcom Bunheads, named after the typical ballerina hairstyle, was cancelled after a short run – the plotline centered on a former dancer who was trying to help a small ballet studio by teaching classes and becoming a new mentor for the girls. As with any drama, the daily lives featured very heavily in the story, and the dance aspect that drew the show’s niche audience was sometimes lacking.

Following the reality TV trend, one professional company allowed film crews in to document the stories of dancers. Ballet West is featured in Breaking Pointe, which has run for two seasons on the CW. Because there are so many unknowns about the inner workings of careers in dance, time is dedicated to explaining basic daily processes that equate an artistic life to any other job – hiring, training, promotions, projects, etc. Typical to a reality TV show, producers tend to focus on the emotional parts of featured characters’ lives, highlighting relationships and how personal time is spent. Even though dancing wouldn't take up all of a dancer's day, the added "confessional" aspect allows the production crew to have characters tell backstories directly to the audience. 

unnatural confessional scenes

One scene in the second season addressed the lack of racial diversity that is typically found in the ballet world. Joshua Whitehead is a new African-American member of the company, at the level where it is often difficult to get cast in large roles. He is upset to be passed over for a more inexperienced member of the trainee company, and takes his case to the company director. The primary reason he is given is that the part he was hoping for is a sort of court jokester in Cinderella, and the company didn’t want to feature their only minority member in a role that would be laughed at. While Joshua is upset about the decision and reconsiders his commitment to the company and ballet as a whole (which developed from a young age despite teasing), he decides that he does have a family in the Ballet West company and needs to keep working hard to show his potential and earn more recognition.

The influence of media in both instances gives the public a specific view of the ballet world, and these lenses need to be treated with care. Sometimes these perspectives are good in opening up new avenues to more general audiences, but production companies have a very specific view of the message they want to portray.

Holiday Consumerism

American holidays have become overrun with consumerism – Thanksgiving barely has a place with Christmas advertising springing on TV earlier and earlier every fall and taking over stores. Black Friday now begins on Thursday evening, so it not only takes away from the holidays of those who choose to shop (and say that they can be thankful any day), but means that retail employees are forced to forgo their own holiday in exchange for a paycheck and a job. The media plays a real part in the destruction of traditional culture, and encouraging people that the correct way to bring in the next set of holidays is by shopping and fighting crowds, possibly braving cold temperatures to try to score deals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYGE3JsAEg8&feature=youtube_gda

Commercials show us that shopping should be the upbeat part of the holiday – but ignore the families who are left at home while some people shop, and the workers who have to deal with angry customers, frustrated by the busiest shopping day of the year. One simple solution is to take traditional holidays back to their roots and look past media hype, focusing instead on family. Even my family managed to pull off Thanksgiving dinner after my cousin and I (two young women) tried to ruin mashed potatoes, a dish my dad said was impossible to mess up! Even when some skill sets are limited, you can make do.

Lulu App - the Problems with New Media

In a slight tangent from the dance theme of the blog, I want to discuss the new app “Lulu.” I heard about it from a friend, and it has gotten some press because of the potential controversies that it brings.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/02/07/lulu_app_for_rating_men_it_s_just_as_creepy_as_rating_women.html

My understanding, not having used it myself, is that after signing in through Facebook, female users rate their male friends. It restricts based on the selected gender on Facebook. There is a resulting database of comments and reviews of men that is searchable to users.

The justification for the program seems to be that it is only women using it, and those who are rated should never see. Some say that this is payback for the objectification that women regularly receive, and others realize that two wrongs don’t make a right. Beyond the simple fact that retaliation doesn’t help those who have been hurt, this system is extremely demeaning, and connects comments to names in (electronic) print. There are fill-in-the-blank questions to answer, with snarky answers, with responses ranging from rude to vulgar and downright insensitive (someone’s jokes make you vomit or slit your wrists).

Considering the implications of how new technology affects our entire culture is important to ensure progress in society, or we are sure to risk larger rifts between social groups.

My Views

I dance for a reason – I’ve kept this up for such a long time because I feel like I’ve gained community as well as personal growth. I’m currently taking a class at college, where students come from a variety of backgrounds and some people have more experience than others; there are dance majors adapting to the structure of the school’s dance program and non-majors (like me) who have previous experience and want to continue dancing. For the most part, everyone wants to be in class – even though it is a class taken for credit, we like what we do and are happy to learn together. Often, the difference in abilities can be an asset, because students with higher levels of proficiency can help explain concepts to students who are newer. At the student stage, it is possible to adapt exercises in class so that everyone is included – this is a difference between the learning and professional stages.

We had a practical exam (graded based on performance) a few weeks ago, and this is the best example of how everyone can work together, despite having individualized evaluations. We all work to our personal best, and can feed off of each other’s energy – ideally our movements are synchronous, but there is a sense of solidarity in going through the same thing together.

Looking forward, I'm planning to shift my focus more towards the way dance can be a means of inclusion. I believe that overall, this is a good, safe realm, and will try to reflect that more in my writing. Join me on my continued journey!

Performance vs. Competition

Like many children, I began dancing at a young age, but I continued past creative movement classes and transitioned to a structured ballet studio in Elementary School. I continued dancing throughout most of my school years, taking classes primarily in ballet with modern added for diversity of technique. Based on my foundation, I have always personally viewed dance from an artistic perspective, as a form of art – not something that should be subjected to judgment, since there is no objective measure. In a typical performance, audience members can form individual opinions, based on what they know about a piece and sometimes in discussion with other patrons, but this should not influence the dancers.

The typical performance structure features choreographed pieces that have been set for the dancers, in styles which the dancers have training in. This allows deeper development into a style of dance, and oversight in choreography – one artistic vision that typically stays steady throughout a work.

With competition shows on TV, the exploitation of artistry and performance seems to go a step further. No matter what their background is in, the contestants are trained in a few steps of an unfamiliar style, coached until they will look good enough for the contest, but never having a full repertoire. This leads to mismatched groups of people, and the line-ups may not be the best qualifies in certain styles. While the tactic of seeing how individuals do at adapting to new skills is interesting, it is arguably not the best way to find the best dancer overall, or certainly not the best in any one individual category.