Sunday, September 14, 2008

Elena Albright: Contemporary Art

Fix Me Jesus from Alvin Ailey's Revelations

This piece was choreographed by Alvin Ailey in the 1960s and is still performed after Ailey's death by the Alvin Ailey Dance Company 300 times per year. I chose this piece not because it is probably the most well-known and well-loved modern dance works, but because each and every time it is performed, it has a serious impact on the audience, bringing them to their feet. Although I am not a spiritual person, I chose this particular segment because I think it embodies a very honest spirituality. I think dancers are the most honest and vulnerable artists. For me, dancers like the two in the video can express human emotion in a way like no other type of artist. Besides, modern dance is one of the very few purely American art forms.

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