Taylor Denny, Feb 22, 2021 -snip- This is a portion of Alvin Ailey's production entitled "Revelations". A YouTube video of that complete dance production is given as "Showcase Video #2 in this post.
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents information about the African American Spiritual "Wade In The Water" and showcases a YouTube video of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre performing "Wade in The Water", a piece from that company's production entitled "Revelations".
Information about Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre is included in this post along with a YouTube video of the complete production of "Revelations".
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the unknown composers of "Wade In The Water". Thanks to Alvin Ailey for his cultural legacy and thanks to all past and present members of Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of these videos on YouTube.
-snip-
This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on the African American Spiritual "Wade In Water" and songs that are based on that Spiritual. Google "Wade In The Water Pancocojams or click the "Wade In The Water" tag below for other pancocojams posts in that series.
This post replaces a 2015 pancocojams post on Alvin Ailey's "Revelation".
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL "WADE IN THE WATER"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade_in_the_Water
INFORMATION ABOUT ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATRE
From http://www.alvinailey.org/about
"Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater grew from a now-fabled performance in March 1958 at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. Led by Alvin Ailey and a group of young African-American modern dancers, that performance changed forever the perception of American dance. The Ailey company has gone on to perform for an estimated 25 million people at theaters in 48 states and 71 countries on six continents – and has reached millions more online and through television broadcasts.
In 2008, a U.S. Congressional resolution designated the Company as “a vital American cultural ambassador to the world” that celebrates the uniqueness of the African-American cultural experience and the preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance heritage. When Mr. Ailey began creating dances, he drew upon his "blood memories" of Texas, the blues, spirituals, and gospel as inspiration, which resulted in the creation of his most popular and critically acclaimed work, Revelations. Although he created 79 ballets over his lifetime, Mr. Ailey maintained that his company was not exclusively a repository for his own work. Today, the Company continues Mr. Ailey's mission by presenting important works of the past and commissioning new ones. In all, more than 235 works by over 90 choreographers have been part of the Ailey company’s repertory. Before his untimely death in 1989, Alvin Ailey named Judith Jamison as his successor, and over the next 21 years, she brought the Company to unprecedented success. Ms. Jamison, in turn, personally selected Robert Battle to succeed her in 2011, and The New York Times declared he “has injected the company with new life.”
****
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents information about the African American Spiritual "Wade In The Water" and showcases a YouTube video of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre performing "Wade in The Water", a piece from that company's production entitled "Revelations".
Information about Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre is included in this post along with a YouTube video of the complete production of "Revelations".
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the unknown composers of "Wade In The Water". Thanks to Alvin Ailey for his cultural legacy and thanks to all past and present members of Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of these videos on YouTube.
-snip-
This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on the African American Spiritual "Wade In Water" and songs that are based on that Spiritual. Google "Wade In The Water Pancocojams or click the "Wade In The Water" tag below for other pancocojams posts in that series.
This post replaces a 2015 pancocojams post on Alvin Ailey's "Revelation".
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL "WADE IN THE WATER"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade_in_the_Water
"Wade in the Water" (Roud 5439) is an African
American jubilee song, a spiritual—in reference to a genre of music
"created and first sung by African Americans in slavery…W. E. B. Du Bois
called this genre of songs the Sorrow Songs. "Wade in the Water" is
associated with songs of the Underground Railroad.[5][6][7]
Fisk Jubilee Singers
John Wesley Work Jr. (1871–1925)—also known as John Work
II—spent three decades at the historically black college in Nashville,
Tennessee, Fisk University, collecting and promulgating the "jubilee songcraft"
of the original Fisk Jubilee Singers—an African-American a cappella Fisk
University student chorus (1871–1878),[8] known for introducing a wider
audience to spirituals.[9][10] In 1901, Work II co-published New Jubilee Songs
as Sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers with his brother, Frederick J. Work, which
included "Wade in the Water."[2][11][12] Trademarks of the John Work
II's Fisk singers included the "closing ritard that showcases the beauty
and blending of the voices", the "solo call and unison response,
overlapping layers, and spine-tingling falsetto humming."[13]...
INFORMATION ABOUT ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATRE
From http://www.alvinailey.org/about
"Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater grew from a now-fabled performance in March 1958 at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. Led by Alvin Ailey and a group of young African-American modern dancers, that performance changed forever the perception of American dance. The Ailey company has gone on to perform for an estimated 25 million people at theaters in 48 states and 71 countries on six continents – and has reached millions more online and through television broadcasts.
In 2008, a U.S. Congressional resolution designated the Company as “a vital American cultural ambassador to the world” that celebrates the uniqueness of the African-American cultural experience and the preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance heritage. When Mr. Ailey began creating dances, he drew upon his "blood memories" of Texas, the blues, spirituals, and gospel as inspiration, which resulted in the creation of his most popular and critically acclaimed work, Revelations. Although he created 79 ballets over his lifetime, Mr. Ailey maintained that his company was not exclusively a repository for his own work. Today, the Company continues Mr. Ailey's mission by presenting important works of the past and commissioning new ones. In all, more than 235 works by over 90 choreographers have been part of the Ailey company’s repertory. Before his untimely death in 1989, Alvin Ailey named Judith Jamison as his successor, and over the next 21 years, she brought the Company to unprecedented success. Ms. Jamison, in turn, personally selected Robert Battle to succeed her in 2011, and The New York Times declared he “has injected the company with new life.”
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2: Revelations Alvin Ailey
Rhys Connolly, Published on Jun 6, 2015
Using African-American spirituals, song-sermons, gospel songs and holy blues, Alvin Ailey’s Revelations fervently explores the places of deepest grief and holiest joy in the soul.
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INFORMATION ABOUT ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATRE'S "REVELATIONS"
From http://www.alvinailey.org/about/company/alvin-ailey-american-dance-theater/repertory/revelations
"About Revelations
Using African-American spirituals, song-sermons, gospel songs and holy blues, Alvin Ailey’s Revelations fervently explores the places of deepest grief and holiest joy in the soul.
More than just a popular dance work, it has become a cultural treasure, beloved by generations of fans. Seeing Revelations for the first time or the hundredth can be a transcendent experience, with audiences cheering, singing along and dancing in their seats from the opening notes of the plaintive “I Been ’Buked” to the rousing “Wade in the Water” and the triumphant finale, “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham.”
Ailey said that one of America’s richest treasures was the African-American cultural heritage —“sometimes sorrowful, sometimes jubilant, but always hopeful.” This enduring classic is a tribute to that tradition, born out of the choreographer’s “blood memories” of his childhood in rural Texas and the Baptist Church. But since its premiere in 1960, the ballet has been performed continuously around the globe, transcending barriers of faith and nationality, and appealing to universal emotions, making it the most widely-seen modern dance work in the world...
All performances of Revelations are permanently endowed by a generous gift from Donald L. Jonas in celebration of the birthday of his wife Barbara and her deep commitment to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Music
PILGRIM OF SORROW
I Been 'Buked - Music arranged by Hall Johnson*
Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel - Music arranged by James Miller+
Fix Me, Jesus - Music arranged by Hall Johnson*
TAKE ME TO THE WATER
Processional/Honor, Honor - Music adapted and arranged by Howard A. Roberts
Wade in the Water - Music adapted and arranged by Howard A. Roberts
"Wade in the Water" sequence by Ella Jenkins / "A Man Went Down to the River" is an original composition by Ella Jenkins
I Wanna Be Ready - Music arranged by James Miller+
MOVE, MEMBERS, MOVE
Sinner Man - Music adapted and arranged by Howard A. Roberts
The Day is Past and Gone - Music arranged by Howard A. Roberts and Brother John Sellers
You May Run On - Music arranged by Howard A. Roberts and Brother John Sellers
Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham - Music adapted and arranged by Howard A. Roberts
* Used by arrangement with G. Schirmer, Inc., publisher and copyright owner.
+ Used by special arrangement with Galaxy Music Corporation, New York City.
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