Carnegie Hall

PART 1: Moving with Black American Song

Have your students form a circle, facing away from each other so that they cannot see anybody else. Let them stretch and limber up their bodies.

Tell the class that when you put on the music, they should move in any way that feels appropriate to the song’s style. Start with a minute or two of “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham.” Without warning, switch to the Spiritual “I Wanna Be Ready,” and encourage students to improvise new movements based on this different type of song. Discuss this question as a class:

• How did each of these selections make you want to move?

Let a few volunteers demonstrate a gesture or a movement that felt appropriate for each excerpt. Play the music and try these gestures as a group in unison.

PART 2: Alvin Ailey’s Revelations

Share the following Alvin Ailey biography and introduction to Revelations with the class.

• Alvin Ailey (1931–1989): Alvin Ailey was one of the leading figures in American modern dance during the 20th century. After training and working as a dancer in California, Ailey moved to New York City, where he founded Alvin Ailey’s American Dance Theater. (AAADT). Revelations, widely regarded as a masterpiece, is a work born out of the choreographer’s memories of his childhood in rural Texas and the Baptist Church, using dance and spirituals and gospel music. AAADT still performs this work many times each year, and it is the most widely seen modern dance work in the world.

Revelations is split into three sections with the following songs in each.

• Part 1: Pilgrim of Sorrow
  • “I Been ’Buked”
  • “Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel”
  • “Fix Me, Jesus”
• Part 2: Take Me to the Water Processional
  • “Honor, Honor”
  • “Wade in the Water”
  • “I Wanna Be Ready”
• Part 3: Move, Members, Move!
  • “Sinner Man”
  • “The Day is Past and Gone”
  • “You May Run On”
  • “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham”

View the second part, “Take Me to the Water,” which begins with gospel arrangements of spirituals to create the celebratory atmosphere of an outdoor ceremonial baptism at the river. After this section, a soloist dances to the Spiritual “I Want to Be Ready.”

After viewing this section, discuss these questions as a class:

• How did the dancers move to the music?
• What kind of a story did each section tell?
• How did the story of the dance seem to correspond with the stories being sung in the songs?
• How did the dancers work together to create the scenes? What role did props play?

View the third part, “Move, Members, Move” which uses gospel music to create the atmosphere of a Baptist church service in the South.

After viewing this section, discuss these questions as a class:

• How would you describe the mood of this section?
• How are the dancers interacting?
• What story does this section seem to tell?
• How does the movement of this gospel-inspired section compare to the spiritual-inspired “I Want to Be Ready”?

CREATIVE EXPLORATION

Choreograph a spiritual or a gospel song from the Perelman American Roots curriculum. Discuss these questions as a class:

• What motions capture the rhythm or lyrics of the song?
• What story could we tell through movement as this music plays?