Alvin Ailey and Sociology

Jerry Tarn Professor Douglas Kierdorf Social acquaintance 102 April 18th, 2013 Alvin Aileys Revelations and Sociology As the world begins to modernize, beau monde develops into what sociologist Ferdinand Tonnies calls a Gesellschaft nightspot. In a Gesellschaft society, people concentrate only on themselves and build relationships mostly base on the possible monetary gains. Because people are so focused on money, matters that do not have any monetary appreciate tend to be discarded as in manseifi tidy sumt or un worthy. Subjects much(prenominal) as the wiles are often seen as unnecessary, excess, and impractical.However, what people hand out to realize, is that art is in fact an integral part of humanity. Art can provide deep insights into our society, revealing both its positive and negative aspects in the most genuine form. bounce? a physical expression of art? is one of the umpteen methods people uses to portray the various characteristics of society. Alvin Aileys ski n understandings work Revelations, produced in 1960, is a prime example that reflected and exposed the companionable stirs that were occurring during that era. The 1960s was marked as a time of great change as it was the era when the States began to transform into an increasingly modern society.There were material improvements in science (and technology exemplified by the start of the space exploration), which greatly changed how people lived and viewed the world. However, the most grand changes were in all probability societal ones, namely the well-bred rights movement. The genteel rights movement was categorized by African Americans expressing their dissatisfactions with the injustices that they had to endure in past century. Although African Americans were liberated from slavery after the Civil War, they settle down had to deal with the inequality of racial sequestration.Under those laws, African Americans had to face disadvantages such as (but not limited to) lack of v oting rights, inferior quality of facilities, and short treatment under law. In sociological terms, there was little favorable mobility, institutionalized discrimination, and communities were racially stratified. It was not until the 1960s that the nonviolent protests and public civil disobediences of African Americans began to gain prominence and produce effect. In 1960, one of the many famous acts of civil disobedience, the Greensboro Sit-Ins occurred.The sit-ins consisted of multiple instances of nonviolent protests at the Woolworth Store in Greensboro, labor union Carolina by local African American students. After perennial protests and growing tensions, the store finally desegregated its services. Coincidently, Aileys Revelations was produced in the same division that the protests occurred. Although there wasnt a direct correlation between the Greensboro protests and the humanity of Aileys dance, the production of Aileys dance was nevertheless a sign of hearty change.Whe n Aileys dance friendship first performed, they changed the entire high-octane of American Dance Theater as African American representation of life was finally represented by African Americans instead of by proxies of Caucasian dancers. The ability of African American dancers to represent their own glossiness shows the well-disposed change of the transfer of authority (of the dance theater industry) from the dominant group to the minority group. other way that Aileys dance company signified fond change was its integration of different ethnic groups.Following in the footsteps of his mentor, Lester Horton, Ailey decided to include dancers of different races into his dance company in 1962. Aileys practice of what sociologists termed ethnic pluralism was another sign of social change. Besides evidencing social change, Revelations also reflected the various elements of American society. The dance itself was able to show these elements by means of the contents of the p trade, whi ch was divided into three sections Pilgrim of Sorrow, Take Me to the Water, and go along Members, feign.The first section, Pilgrims of Sorrow is about the sufferings of African Americans during the slavery era. The degree depicts African Americans toiling by dint of hard labor as slaves and laborious to use song as an outlet for relief. Ailey also incorporates the song Ive been Buked, by Hall Johnson, to accentuate the agony and frustrations of African Americans. The reason why Ailey brought back stories of extreme hardship is perhaps he wanted to incite Americans how much pain African Americans had to go through.He wanted to emphasize how important it was for people to realize the need for the abolishment of segregation. Ailey also probably mat that because Americas history of racial inequality has existed for such a long time, African Americans have become what William Wilson calls the permanent underclass. full stop after the Civil Rights Act passed, like W. E. B du Bois described in The Philadelphia Negro, African Americans fluent face financial disadvantages due to the situations they were puke in before the passing of the bill.With the coexistence of peoples constant just-world guess and stubbornness of their cognitive schema, the disadvantages of African Americans allow never receive the merited attention as people will just assume that their misfortunes were brought upon by themselves. This is probably why Ailey recognized the bitter truth that racism will always exist. Slightly different from Pilgrims of Sorrow, Take me to the Water and scratch Members, Move conveys a more positive atmosphere as it portrays scenes of baptism and perform service. Take me to the Water depicts a woman by the riverside, ready to belong baptized while Move Members, Move depicts a celebratory church scene. These dances are also reflections of American society as it shows the functions of religion. One role of religion was providing comfort to those underg oing hardship. When African Americans went through slavery, they sought comfort in God and practicing Christianity. Another role of religion in American society was providing solidarity. Emile Durkheim believed that religion brought unity amongst people and connection between individuals.This is reflected in American society as Christianity, Americas largest religion, underlies the many values in American culture. Another important aspect of Aileys dance that is worth mentioning is Aileys own life. When he was working on Revelations, a lot of the content was the result of his upbringings. Ailey grew up in rural Texas in the segregation era. At that time, especially in Texas, African Americans lived under constant danger as they not only faced discrimination, but also force play and risks of random lynching.All of these atrocities combined are probably what allowed Ailey to have such sozzled feelings towards the suffering of the slaves in the first part of his dance. Another influ ential signification in Alvin Aileys life was his exposure to literature. When he studied at universities in California, he learned of the writings of famous African American writers such as Langston Hughes and James Baldwin. In addition to his meeting with Maya Angelou, he perhaps became influenced and meant his performance to be an act to promote civil rights. Another influence of Aileys life was his exposure to religion.When he was young, he be a Southern Baptist church. The songs and hymns that he heard when he went to church was probably influential to his other two dances Take me to the Water and Move Members, Move. This goes to show that what people experience in their childhood greatly influences their social identity as an adult. From Aileys background and dance piece, it could be seen that America during the 1960s was dominated by the Caucasian race, had a strong sense of religion (specifically Christianity), and had an unequal society.It was also beginning to advance in to a developed society, which explains the rapid social change. To a certain extent, America today still possesses some discrimination towards certain ethnic groups, and equality isnt incisively fully established in every aspect of the country. Nevertheless, as society progresses, so will its values. There will come a point in the future when all of the negative aspects that society used to possess will change for the better. However, it is important to be aware of the need of social change. One way that social change can be exercised is through art.Art is a highly human expression, and is one of the many methods that can assist social change. Works Cited Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre Origins to 1979,International cyclopaedia of Dance, vol. 1. Oxford University Press, innovative York 1979. 54-57. Dunning, Jennifer (1996). Alvin Ailey A Life In Dance. New York Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, INC. ISBN0-201-62607-1. Foulkes, Julia L. raw bodies Dance and American moderni sm from Martha Graham toAlvinAiley (Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press, 2002), 179-184 Kowal, Rebekah J.How to Do Things with Dance Performing Change in Postwar America (Middletown, CT Methodist University Press, 2010), 1-6 Mitchell, Jack. AlvinAileyAmerican Dance Theater (Kansas City, Mo. Andrews and McMeel, 1993), 1-25 Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-Ins, library of Congress. Retrieved April 15, 2013. 1 . Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-Ins,Library of Congress. Retrieved April 15, 2013. 2 . Kowal, Rebekah J. How to Do Things with Dance Performing Change in Postwar America (Middletown, CT Wesleyan University Press, 2010), 1-6 3 .Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre Origins to 1979,International Encyclopedia of Dance, vol. 1. Oxford University Press, New York 1979. 54-57. 4 . Mitchell, Jack. AlvinAileyAmerican Dance Theater (Kansas City, Mo. Andrews and McMeel, 1993), 1-25 5 . Ibid. 6 . Foulkes, Julia L. Modern bodies Dance and American modernism from Martha Graham to AlvinAiley (Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press, 2002), 179-184 7 . Dunning, Jennifer (1996). Alvin Ailey A Life In Dance. New York Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, INC. ISBN0-201-62607-1.