The dance Revelations

The dance Revelations

The dance Revelations was created in 1960 and made its debut in the same year with its first performance in Mount Olive Baptist Church, Texas. It is a masterpiece that incorporates African American cultural heritage as well as paying homage to the culture. According to Ailey, the African American culture is by far the richest in America—it has dynamics that other cultures do not have, thereby making it a very elusive. A couple of months ago, I attended a live performance of Revelations in New York. Well, it might not be the original version, but the execution was outstanding, with a lot of messages portrayed in each scene. It was sorrowfully, sometimes happy, but it exhibited hope throughout the performance.

Revelations is performed with a maximum of nine dancers, each wearing a costume. Since the dance is set to explore human emotions from the saddest to the happiest parts, it was chronologically formulated in line with the African American culture. The ballet can also be described as a classical tribute to the determination and resolve of the African Americans. The main message in the ballet is “moving on from a situation.” At the beginning of the dance, the dance steps portray a struggle by people who later on fall and try everything possible to dust themselves and move on with life. The ballet has a robust historical message that is centered on its producer. The reason why many people love this dance is that it is very relatable.

In this performance, the first part has a brown theme for both the set and the costumes. Well, the brown color could have a vast meaning in this case. For instance, it could represent the people from whom the culture is derived—African American. Besides, it is an earth color that signifies the land in which we live. In terms of the message being relayed in the ballet, the brow color could bean birth and death. For instance, when a child is born and when a person is dead, he is going into the earth. The second part of the ballet is a very intimate moment where Ailey tries to bring out an essential aspect of life into live performance. This part includes baptism and purification rites. The colors here are white and pale blue. As far as colors are concerned, Ailey did a great job. He knew which colors would match which part to portray which message. The third and final part highlights earth tones, yellow, and black colors to signify the spiritual concept of the whole dance.

From the dance, I could tell that Ailey used a couple of other techniques to create an incredible dance that has been played so many times around the world. A good example is the Horton technique that is noticeably intertwined with his outstanding choreographic skills to bring out the best performance that has remained people’s favorite since its debut in 1960. Over the years, the dance has remained as perfect as it was. The only thing that has changed so far is the dancers. As time goes by, the choreographer has had to alter dancers from time to time to keep the ballet alive and to maintain its originality. Therefore, the uniqueness of the piece has had a significant impact on its following, as it is loved by many.

Revelations is a jazz-style dance that incorporates ballet as well. It consists of three parts, each having a different occasion. For instance, the first occasion is the pilgrim of sorrow. Here, the color, the dance style as well as the music depict a sorrowful moment. It featured all the songs that deal with the pains of people of color. This part had three songs, including I been ‘Buked by Mahalia Jackson, Didn’t my Lord Deliver Daniel by Paul Robeson and Fix me, Jesus. The second occasion is baptism and purification, which carries a light mood with a particular moment. It had songs such as Wade in Water by Ella Jenkins, Honor, Honor, and I Wanna be Ready. The last section had a very outstanding performance with songs such as Sinner Man, the Day is Past and Gone, You May Run On, and Rocka My Soul in the Bossom of Abraham. All the songs correspond to the section that they had been assigned, making the whole performance relevant.

The dance is professionally choreographed with the dancers making patterns and relative movements throughout the dance. There is a constant formation of circles, trios, straight lines as well as starbursts. I could tell that the dance incorporates movements like sliding, skipping, and stretching throughout the performance. The music, on the other hand, makes it easy for the dancers to execute these movements in order to achieve the patterns. One most striking pattern that caught my eye was how the dances slide to form a starburst pattern from another intricate pattern. The choreography of this dance is done and executed so well that it makes the dance look so natural.

In my opinion, the performance was a great success. At first, when I got to the theater, there were long queues of people waiting to go in for the performance. This was an indication that many people love dance performance. The choreographer did an excellent job by choosing the best color themes to match the entire dance. In addition, his choice of music was exquisite, thereby bringing a sense of sophistication to the whole set.

Furthermore, in his bid to achieve the storyline behind the dance, he made tremendous efforts into creating it exactly the way he had imagined it. One could tell that the set was well thought of, and the dancers well trained. Therefore, Ailey was able to achieve his primary intention for creating the dance. His message was relayed clearly and straightforwardly that depicted the emotions that African Americans go through and how they manage those emotions. All these were incorporated throughout the dance and came out so well, specifically in the dance steps, patterns, and formations.