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Lauren Stewart 1 Form Question

Form Question: Alvin Aileys Cry


By Lauren Stewart
It was the year of 1971 that Alvin Ailey, founder of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, first released the now-renowned dance piece Cry. Created as a birthday present for his mother, Cry pays homage to the many generations of African Americans who, founded in slavery, fought so hard to be free. In particular this dance pays respect to the African American women who were forced to endure many years of slavery and segregation, oppressed by white society. This dance piece is performed in a narrative form, with each of its three sections depicting a different era of the history of these proud people, showing in a linear timeline their struggle from slavery to segregation and then finally freedom with the civil rights movement.

Section 1:
The beginning section of the dance Cry depicts the struggle of those who were dragged from their homeland and forced to become slaves for a white dominated society. The movement vocabulary in this section shows much bound movement to portray the oppression and tyranny they faced. This is evident in the contracted movements, which are evident throughout this section as it reflects the pain and fear that were apart of their every day life. Some of the movement phrases in this section show clear symbolism to the domestic duties that were forced upon African American women especially. This is strongly shown when the dancer uses abstraction to depict in a very literal representation, the scrubbing of the floors. The dancer uses small dimensions when performing the floor work, to show the force of oppression, which is crushing her spirit. This section makes much use of repetition to show the monotonous and tedious duties of a domestic slave. A phrase, which demonstrates this, is where the dancer depicts the making of a bed, using the scarf as symbolism of the bedding. This phrase is repeated twice during this section, reflecting in a historical context the fact that many slaves were forced to perform the same domestic duties, over and over again for the duration of their life. Throughout the first section, the scarf serves as a physical representation of the many obstacles the African American people faced as slaves. At times the scarf is used to reflect the chains that bound her on her journey to America, as shown when she uses a locomotive phrase to travel forward, with the scarf held across her wrists. Another phrase makes use of bound movement and barely restrained force, when she rests the scarf on her shoulders and neck with her feet stamped on the ends, pushing against the cloth as though pushing against the oppressive weight of her captors cruelty and tyranny.

2 Lauren Stewart Form Question

Section 2:
Following in a linear progression of events, the development section of the dance Cry, depicts the era of the early to mid 20th century, in which the African American people are fighting to overcome segregation and racism, despite slavery being abolished almost a century earlier. In contrast to the first section, the movement vocabulary for this section portrays the more emotional and internal battle they faced rather than the physical hardships shown in the first section. This is evident in one of the most iconic movement phrases of this section in which the dancer mimes a scream in time to the music before spiraling to the ground. This movement reflects the pain and anger that is bottled up with no outlet, as there is no resolution to be had in fighting violence with violence. In accordance to this, this section makes use of locomotion and turning phrases, which demonstrate the frustration and despair they feel at the seemingly unending fight for their civil rights. There is another message within this section which is very much a reflection of the lyrics of the song it is danced too, Been on a Train by Laura Nyro, tells a story of depression and inevitable addiction to drugs or alcohol as evidenced by the lyric Take a needle full of hard drug. and die slow. The dancer demonstrates this in an abstracted gesture, where she slowly raises one arm, bringing it down in a suspended flowing movement before beating her other wrist with the raised fist. This depicts a more personal struggle that the African American people went through as some turned to drugs and alcohol as a way to escape the hopelessness of their plight for equality. This message is shown throughout this section in gestural movement, such as that when she rubs her wrists together while circulating her upper body.

Section 3:
The resolution section of this dance acts as the final chapter of this narrative as it depicts the joyful and celebratory solution to the generations of conflict. This section tells of the freedom and liberation of the African American people in finally gaining equal rights. The music and movement vocabulary reflects this celebration of freedom through its fast tempo and lively, strong movement phrases. This is shown through locomotion, where the dancer travels from one side of the stage to the other, demonstrating the complete lack of societal restraint or boundaries. Throughout this section, the dancer makes movement reminiscent to that of a bird, symbolizing absolute and total freedom. This is shown in a one phrase through the use of the ruffled skirt, which flicks back and forth while she travels on the diagonal, symbolic of a bird in flight. The movement vocabulary of this section contrasts against the first two sections as it is predominately made up of free flowing movement and makes much use of

Lauren Stewart 3 Form Question

locomotion and turning at a high level, using larger dimensions to show the lack of oppression and tyranny. The song this dance is performed to reflects the meaning of the section with the title Right on be free. This song is a celebration of not only their African heritage but also expresses the importance of their religion through the gospel style vocals. The dancer demonstrates this faith and belief in God throughout the dance of Cry but where as in the first two sections, the references to her religion are like cries of help, the third section contrast this in the phrase where the dancer drops to the grand in a prayer of thanks and joy. This gesture is extremely significant as it symbolizes an end to the hardships she has faced and acts as the hopeful start of a better life.

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