CRY Dedicated to "all black women our mothers." everywhere especially
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CRY
Dedicated to…
“all black women
everywhere‐especially
our mothers.”Originally performed by
Judith Jamison
(considered the archetypal Ailey woman)
Accompaniment
• Alice Coltrane’s “Something about John
Coltrane”
• Laura Nyro’s “Been on a Train”
• The Voices of Harlem “Right on. Be
Free.”
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 2The Choreographer
Birth: Alvin Ailey was born in Rogers, Texas, USA
th
On the 5 January 1931. Raised by his mother Lula
Elizabeth Ailey after his father (and namesake)
deserted them before Alvin Ailey turned one.
Ethnicity: African American
Nationality: American.
st
Death: 1 December 1989 in New York (blood
disorder‐ AIDS)
Judith Jamison
In her autobiography “Dancing Spirit” Judith
Jamison states:
“ Exactly where the woman is going through the
ballet’s three sections was never explained to
me by Alvin. In my interpretation, she
represented those women before her who
came from the hardships of slavery, through
the pain of losing loved ones, through
overcoming extraordinary depressions and
tribulations. Coming out of a world of pain and
trouble, she has found her way‐ and
triumphed.”
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 3Session One: Socio Historic Context
Slavery is defined as
Origins
Slavery has existed for thousands of years. Its origins exist in the earliest
civilisations of the ancient world such as ancient Greece, Egypt and Rome. As
man went to war in search of dominance of land and its resources he took
prisoners. These “slaves” became the labour force of growing empires. Slaves
came from two main sources: men and women who were captured as a result of
war and citizens who fell to the status of slave due to unpaid debt.
Slavery in African Society
Slave ownership has been recognised throughout history as a symbol of wealth.
African society was not immune to this and throughout history there is evidence
of conflict between African tribes and as a result slaves were acquired through
war within Africa.
“The subject of slavery within Africa, and of the active participation of Africans in
the export of slaves, is one that has aroused considerable controversy and is still
the subject of both academic and political dispute. At the time of the slave trade
European apologists for the exploitation of Africa argued without troubling to
explore any evidence that slavery was the natural condition of African
labour.”(Clarke, 1998)
It is the link between the early slave trade and the American slaves that needs to be
established
Between 800 AD and 1500 AD countries of Europe began to trade with the
nations of Africa in particular the Portuguese, Spanish, English and Dutch.
Even before Columbus’s voyage in 1492 – the discovery of the continent of
America, the Slave trade was thriving.
As nations were developing the demand for resources increased, as did the
markets for trade of goods. African rulers would sell or trade their slaves for
goods such as rifles. It was in the early 1500 that the first slaves were taken from
Africa to America.
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 4The Trade Triangle
(Sometimes referred to as the “Slave Triangle”)
www.historyonthenet.com.au
The trade route had three distinct legs. The first leg was known as the “Outward
Passage”. On this leg of the voyage trade merchants would transport
manufactured goods from Europe to Africa to exchange for Slaves.
The second leg was known as the “Middle passage”. This was the most notorious
as it was here that Slaves were taken from African across the Atlantic to the
Americas. The length of time in which slaves were kept aboard the ships varied.
Average time would be approximately three months whilst cargo was collected
then a further six to ten weeks as they crossed the Atlantic. Slaves were stored as
human cargo on racks lying down (like book shelves) stacked high in unsanitary
conditions.
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 5The third leg was known as the “Inward Leg” in which Europeans would take
raw materials such as cotton back to their place of origin.
The Middle Passage
The slaves (men women and children) were transported lying down often
chained at the ankles for months at a time. These ships were known as “Slavers”.
Activity/Teaching Strategy:
In order to help students empathise with this method of transportation ask them
to lie on the floor shoulder to shoulder, with their feet against the wall. Whilst in
this position describe the conditions on the ships to the students (based on
documents you have found through research). The students should not be able to
move from this position during the activity.
Discuss how it felt. This was the position the slaves were kept in (on the open
sea) for months at a time.
“ It was said by numerous sailors of the eighteenth century that ‘one could smell
a slaver before (one) could see it’. Why might this be true?”
(Cantwell, 1994)
19th Century America
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 6America was a divided nation between the North – “Yankees” and the South
“Confederates”.
The Northern states of America had a booming population and had a very strong
economy based primarily on industry. It was considered a modern society based
on ‘free labour’. With the expansion of its industrialised economy came the birth
of the trade union movement – for the protection of workers rights. The North
was Anti‐slavery
In contrast the southern or confederate states were based on an agrarian
economy (Agricultural) and thus slavery was deemed essential to the survival of
the South, as the need for a labour force was great. Therefore, the South was pro‐
slavery.
Slaves arrival in America
If they were “lucky” enough to survive the middle passage slave were then sold
at auction mostly to those plantation owners of the South in search of labour.
Work on the Plantations
Slaves were taken work on plantations such as cotton and tobacco. They worked
from sunrise to sunset and were at the constant mercy of their white masters.
Activity / Teaching Strategy.
Students could research the life of a Slave working on the Plantations in the
South. Including working, living conditions, and culture.
(Research the origins of Jazz music and Jazz Dance)
This information could be the beginning of discussion about the development of the
“African American Identity”
In 1861 America went to war. Known as the American Civil War in which the
Yankees of the North and the Confederates of the South battled for supremacy.
One of the underlying causes of this conflict was Slavery.
In 1862 the American President, Abraham Lincoln gave the “Emancipation
Proclamation” in which he gave slaves their freedom. When the Civil War ended
in 1865 this proclamation was enacted.
Prior to the emancipation proclamation millions of people had been sold into
Slavery and as a result there were millions of people of African decent all over
America.
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 7African Americans Post Civil War era
Whilst Abraham Lincoln had emancipated the Slaves the abolitionist’s work was
far from over. Many Slaves fled their masters for the Northern states of America
and others chose to stay in the South. As American society moved forward,
“The Civil Rights Act of 1875 required equal accommodations for blacks and
whites in public facilities (other than schools), but this legislation was effectively
voided by the Supreme Court in1883. By 1900, 18 states of the North and West
had legislated public policies against racial discrimination, but in the South new
laws eroded the franchise and reinforced segregation practice (see Jim Crow
Law), while the US Supreme Court upheld “separate but equal” facilities for the
races…thus legitimising the segregation of blacks from whites”
http://search.eb.com/blackhistory/micro/129/80.html
The Turn of the Century
At the turn of the century, America was coming to terms with modernisation and
when WW1 broke out in 1914 the World was a going the change forever.
American did not enter the war until 1917 and with their support the Allies were
victorious. With the celebration of victory American society was flung into a
period of great prosperity. The ‘Roaring 20’s’ or the ‘Jazz Age’ as it was known
was a time of mass consumerism and high employment. It was also a period of
“Prohibition” and the “Ku Klux Klan” particularly in the Southern States, which
is evidence that racism was alive and well.
In the mid 1920’s depression had hit the rural areas of the United States with the
dust bowl. The land could no longer be farmed and depression hit rural areas.
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 signifies the beginning of the Great Depression.
The next decade saw mass unemployment, people lost their homes and even
banks closed down. Families were living on the streets and Shantytowns sprung
up – one in Washington was known as “Hooverville” after the American
President at the time.
The 1930’s
When Alvin Ailey was born in 1931 in Texas, he was born into poverty. A strictly
segregated community, Ailey would be exposed to the horror that was racism of
this period. Ailey grew up with an understanding of a life that was governed by
‘political domination by anonymous bands of whites’.
“I heard about lynching’s, Having that kind of experience as a child left a
feeling of rage in me that I think pervades my work” Alvin Ailey.
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 8He references his works as his “Blood Memories” pieces that were inspired by
fragmented memories of his childhood. One such memory includes the rape of
his mother by a white man when he was only five years old.
Deserted by his father three months after he was born Ailey was raised by his
mother who’s “fierce determination would rule her life and that of her son”.
“Black lives were as peaceful and secure as racism and poverty would allow.
The number of lynching’s had dropped steadily during the second half of the
decade…there was muted talk among the grown ups of murders, the Ku Klux
Klan and imprisonment, all of which were feared realities in the lives of most
black males.”
(Dunning, 1996)
Family Life with his mother.
In small groups read the excerpt provided and provide a summary to the
group of Ailey’s early life with his mother
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 9Create a timeline of Ailey’s life – 1940’s and 1950’s
The 1940’s
1942/43: Move to Los Angeles.
Education: George Washington Carver Junior High School and Thomas
Jefferson High School.
Interest in dance sparked by a high school sponsored excursion to an all‐
white company, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and Ailey’s solitary visits
to Katherine Dunham’s all –black 1943”tropical Revue”.
“ I first became aware of dance by going to the movies…I became very
impressed with Gene Kelly – the glamour of it all”
(Ailey cited by De Frantz)
Ailey indulged his artistic interests at school.
Discovery of his homosexuality
Introduction to modern dance through Lester Horton’s flamboyantly
theatrical studio in 1949.
“Modern dance was still in formation as a local art in California, and
dance technique taught at the Horton School was idiosyncratic and
experimental.”
(De Frantz, 2004).
College years
The influence of Lester Horton on Alvin Ailey
The 1950’s
Lester Horton’s death in 1953.
Ailey’s changing role in the Horton School.
Early choreographic works with the Horton Company.
Late 1950’s Ailey studied technique sporadically with Martha Graham,
Hanya Holm, Anna Sokolow and Charles Weidman.
1958 – The beginnings of the ‘Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre.’
Early Company – touring.
Establishment of the ‘Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre’.
“From his roots as a slave, the American Negro – sometimes sorrowing,
sometimes jubilant, but always hopeful – has created a legacy of music and
dance which have touched, illuminated and influenced the most remote
preserves of world civilisation. I and my dance theatre celebrate in our
program, this trembling beauty. We bring you the exuberance of jazz, the
ecstasy of his spirituals and the dark rapture of his blues.”
(Alvin Ailey, Program Notes, 1964 cited by De Frantz)
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 10A Compositional Analysis of “Cry”
SECTION ONE: MOVEMENT SEQUENCE ONE
NB: Prior to doing this activity with students it would be highly beneficial to
generate a word bank. E.g. action verbs.
What is your feeling towards this movement?
What is the most notable aspect about the movement?
What body parts do you see moving?
How does Ailey shape the dancer?
Can you identify and describe a movement vocabulary?
Discuss Ailey’s use of stimulus in relation to this movement.
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 11MOVEMENT SEQUENCE TWO
How can you see the dancers attitude change through the use of movement?
How does the dancer react to the fabric?
How does the dancer use movement in reaction to the fabric?
Identify the use of representational and symbolic movement.
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 12MOVEMENT SEQUENCE THREE
Activity: Use the images provided and complete the following description by
adding two sentences.
“She rises again to wear the cloth as a shawl, then steps on its
ends as if bound by it to the ground…”
1.
2.
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 13SECTION TWO SPATIAL ELEMENT ONE
SPACE
What type of lines/ shapes do you see?
How does Ailey use direction and level?
Describe the pathway of the moving body parts. E.g. Torso and arms.
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 14SPATIAL ELEMENT TWO
Describe the relationship between the dancer and the space.
How does Ailey contrast the use of shape? Comment on the following aspects:
Dimension of the body.
Direction of gaze.
Elevation of the dancer.
Body design.
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 15SPATIAL ELEMENT THREE
“The final posture mirrors the opening posture of the dance,
suggesting a cyclical inevitable progression of frustration and
despair…”
Comment on Ailey’s use of repetition of spatial elements
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 16DYNAMICS
Watch section Three
Use the following descriptors as a tool to identify the dynamic qualities exhibited
by the dancer.
*Energy expended by the dancer. *Modulation of energy.
*Heavy to light use of weight. *Free flowing release of energy.
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 17AURAL ELEMENTS
Examine the lyrics of section 2 Laura Nyro’s “Been on a Train”.
Been on a train, baby did you hear the whistle blow?
Been on a train north, baby did you hear the whistle blow?
I saw a man, take a needle full of hard drug and die slow
Been on a train and I’m never gonna be the same
There’s a bright light in the north wind, gonna bring you home
Mister there’s a bright light in the north wind, its gonna bring you home
He said, “Sweet darling woman, leave me alone”
Been on a train and I’m never gonna be the same
You got more tracks on you baby than the tracks of this train
You got no guts, no gospel and you got no brain
He said “I got just one thing, gonna soothe my pain”
No, no, damn you Mister and I dragged him out the door
No, no, damn you Mister and I dragged him out the door
He died in the morning sun and I ain’t going north no more
I suspect there’s a train going north in a month or two
I still hear his words he said, “There’s nothing left to say or do”
But Mister you were wrong and I’m gonna sing my song for you
Been on a train and I’m never gonna be the same
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 18Summarise the narrative of the woman portrayed.
Ailey has abstracted this narrative to portray the woman’s
despair.
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 19Using Nyro’s 12 bar blues score for piano and voice analyse the
relationship between movement and music by completing the following:
The use of the percussive piano accents in relation to movement. For example,
the dynamic emphasis of the gestures Ailey uses.
The relationship between the movement phrases and the rising contours in the
music.
The significance of pitch and duration of the singers voice in relation to
movement.
The placement of the sudden stop in the piano interlude (tempo).
The use of “pungent” silence between verses.
The use of duration in the ending slow release
The pattern of movement sequences in relation to verses.
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 20MOTIF
Identify and describe three movement motifs.
Motif Section/ Variation 1 Variation 2 Variation 3
Description Repetitions
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 21Session Three
“CRY”
Definitions of Cry:
Cry relates to grief, sorrow and pain.
Cry is a call out an utterance of emotion.
It’s an Appeal.
To proclaim, to implore
Religious significance of Crying: Quotes from the Bible
“ Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry unto the”
“Oh the most piteous cry of the poor souls”
“There shall be a great cry throughout all the land”
Why do people Cry?
Crying is a form of communication. It’s a device used pre‐language to
communicate desires.
Why do you think Alvin Ailey named his work “Cry”?
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 22Interpretation
Subject Matter, Meaning and Significance.
“The power of Cry emanates from its defiantly shifting images of
identity in its first section, the bottomless abyss of sorrow
approached in its second section and the transcendent quality of
ecstatic faith engaged in the third section.”
How does Ailey portray identity in Cry?
What tools does he use to incite sorrow?
How is Ailey’s religious faith and values explored in Cry?
What is the spiritual significance of the work?
How is gender represented in Cry i.e. what is the dancer a symbol of?
How does Ailey convey the African American experience?
What is the expressive meaning of the work?
What position has Ailey taken about the situation portrayed in Cry?
What symbols and clues does Ailey employ to portray the subject matter?
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 23“ Cry became emblematic as an act of simultaneous defiance and
release. As a depiction of contemporary African American
identity, the dance liberated audience and dancer in its
modernistic layering of movement genres, especially its
conspicuous use of neoAfrican body part isolations.”
What is Ailey’s viewpoint and how does he create this line of thought?
How is Cry evidence of Ailey’s social, political and cultural influences?
What is meant by the term emblematic?
How does Cry “Liberate” the audience and dancer?
How does Cry portray the history of the African American struggle?
How does Cry portray the contemporary African American identity?
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 24EVALUATION
How effective is the work in its depiction of the African American experience?
How would you evaluate the work according to the principals of design?
Was the work meaningful to you? How?
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 25References
Anderson, Keese and Lowe. 2001. Challenge, Change and Continuity. John
Wiley and Sons, Australia Ltd
Cantwell, John. 1994. A Brave New World: An American History. Thomas
Nelson, Australia.
Clarke, Duncan. 1998. History of American Slavery. PRC Publishing Ltd.
De Frantz, Thomas.F. 2004. Dancing Revelations Oxford University Press,
New York.
Dunning, Jennifer. 1996. Alvin Ailey: A Life in Dance DA CAPO Press, United
States.
WWW.historyonthenet.com.au
http://search.eb.com/blackhistory/micro/129/80.html
www.noteablebiographies.com/A‐An‐Ailey.html
www.kennedycentre.org
CRY New Course Prescriptions 2010 Workshop 26You can also read
