Unit 3
working in the performing art
UAL performing arts and production arts L3
The national theatre
UAL performing arts and production arts L3
Induction project- Alvin Ailey critique
Issue date: 15/09/16
Tutor: Shelley Wilson
Alvin Ailey born, 1931 was an African American boy, at the age
of 11 he began his dance training, dancing in (the style of) classical, social
and folk dances and learnt new techniques of modern dance. Alvin Ailey began
his career during a period where dance training was limited for African American
dancers. Ailey wanted to create a company that gave African American dancers opportunity’s
to express their talents and who they are and their heritage through dance.
Ailey created his own company in 1958 and in the 1960s (Ailey) took his company
on the road. The US state department sponsored his tour, which helped create
his international reputation. While in residence at 51st street
YWCA’s Clark centre for the performing arts, Alvin Ailey choreographed the
piece ‘revelations’ which resulted into the company’s international
acclaim. Ailey drew inspiration from the
black church services he attended when he was a child as well as the music he
heard at his local dance hall. At the age of 12 he left Texas to go to Los
Angeles where he proved himself to be a gifted student in the performing arts.
Alvin Ailey’s work ‘revelations’ shows the cultural heritage
and history of African Americans (which is) thoughtfully portrayed through
dance and movement. This piece portrays to the audience the type of life an
African American had during the 1960s where slavery and racism was a very
current and ‘normal’ thing to hear about it expresses the hardship and pain
people went through but also shows how the church and baptism was they’re way
of ‘escape’ from the painful life people had and how god and they’re faith kept
them strong while everything around them was falling apart. Revelations is a piece which expresses to the
audience how African Americans felt the only place they were accepted was the church
and how everyone supported each other and cared for one another. The clever use
of lighting, music costumes and choreography helps tell their story to the
audience
The show is split into 3 sections; ‘pilgrim of sorrow’ which
is about slavery and wanting to be saved throughout this piece they keep
resorting back into a pyramid formation which suggests how they are very close
and supportive of one another and how they perhaps fell safe and secure when
all together as when they fall out of this pyramid formation it’s only a few
seconds apart before they come back into this formation. Also in this piece their
hands and arms are very elongated towards the ceiling which suggest how they
are reaching and relying on God to save them and to keep them strong as their
hands when reaching up towards the ceiling are completely stretched out and
their fingers are spread apart which suggest how they are strongest when
communicating with God which also shows how important their faith is. The
second section ‘take me to the water’ is about being baptised and after being
enslaved, African Americans saw this as god saving them from their cruel life.
Unlike the first section where there was no props or anything like that to
symbolise how they had a minimalistic life whereas the second section consists
of various props to show how they now are being treated with more respect by
having more in their life. A cloth was used to create water and other objects,
like an alter you might find in a church which also added to the atmosphere and
the feeling of their appreciation towards God for saving them. The movements
again in this is very elongated especially when looking at the hands and arms
this suggest how thankful and appreciative they are that God has saved them.
The last section is called ‘move, members, move’ is a celebratory piece about
how African American people are now living happily and free they celebrate this
by going to church, certain aspects such as lighting in this piece suggests
it’s a hot day which adds to the happy atmosphere, the movements in this piece
are much more energetic which fits well with the music and also suggest how
African American people feel much more alive now.
The music for pilgrim of sorrow is very sorrowful and sombre
which makes the audience feel immediate sympathy for the dancers on stage as
they dance through the most toughest and challenging events most people will
ever go through in their life, the words in this song are very strong and deep
as a lot of personal pronoun words such as ‘I’ are sung this makes the piece a
lot more personal and meaningful as it reveals how true and honest the piece is
and conveys to the audience the emotional journey African American people went
on. The second section the music complete contrasts with the first as the music
is much more upbeat and strong and sounds like typical music you would hear in
a church which suggest how thankful people are that their faith in god has now
saved them this music sounds very emotional which also fits perfectly with
dancing. The last section the music is 20th century gospel music,
which again is very upbeat to suggest that this is a celebratory piece, the
modern music fits well with the context of this piece as its shows how the
slavery and discrimination is all in the past and how African American people
feel much more accepted and the place they feel most comfortable is the church.
The common denominator throughout all three pieces is the music which is very
church like music which just explains to the audience very clearly that if they
didn’t have their faith in God and the church then they wouldn’t have been
strong enough to get through the toughest part of their life.
The clothing and costumes play a vital role throughout the
shows as each item of clothing represents the value African American people had
in that time of their life. The first section the costumes were very simplistic
the women wore long simple dresses and the men just wore trousers all of the
same colour this conveyed to the audience how African American people at this
time had nothing and it also separated them from the rest of society. The
second section the women wear long white dresses and the men wear white
trousers the colour white suggest purity which again takes the audience back to
the idea of the church and their appreciation. The last section the women wear
long yellow short sleeved ruffled dresses and are fanning themselves and the
men’s costumes complement this well with white long sleeved shirts and yellow vests
the clothing in the last sections contrast with the first as before they had
simplistic clothing and now they have fancy clothing which tells the audience
how they have more in their life now.
Finally the lighting in the first section is very dim which sets
a negative atmosphere which fits well with the story in the first section, the
lighting then changes to the colours blue and purple in the second section
which replicates water and the idea of being baptised, and lastly the lighting
in the second section is red to show how hot the day is and as the women fan
themselves it is then revealed to the audience the worth African and American
people now have which then completes the journey of having absolutely nothing
to then having a normal life just like everyone
else.
The national theatre
The national theatre first opened on 22nd October
1963.for the first 13 years it was based at the old Vic theatre, until 1976
when the national theatre finally moved to its current location at London’s
South Bank. The British architect Denys Lasdun designed London’s national
theatre which was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II our current Queen it
is generally recognised as his best known work. There has been in excess of
over 800 performances at the national theatre its first ever performance was
hamlet at the old Vic theatre. Up to 30 productions are held at the national
theatre. The building consists of 3 auditoriums; the Olivier which can seat
1100, the lyttelton which can seat up to 900 and the dorfman which can seat up
to 450, as well as rehearsal rooms and
spacious dressing rooms for the performers. The national theatre stands next to
Waterloo Bridge and is made out of bricks which were designed to be the same
colour as the bridge in order to be aesthetically pleasing to the public eye.
There are 3 auditoriums that make up the national theatre.
One of the 3 auditoriums is called the Olivier which is the largest of the 3 it
has an open stage with fan shaped seating with two levels, stalls and circles.
The seating is designed so that when an actor stands directly in the centre of
the stage every person in the audience is visible to the actor and sits in the actor’s
provisional vision. The second auditorium is called the lyttelton which has an
adjustable proscenium that supplies for a variety of performances and offers
the best possible view for the audience and also can hold up to 20 musicians. The
third auditorium is called the dorfman and is the smallest of the 3 its
rectangular room holds up to 450 people. The seating can be lowered and raised
to create a completely flat floor for performances were the actors interact and
speak directly to the audience. Performances can be staged end on, traverse of
in the round. Seating is adjusted to fit best for each and every performance.
Performances that are currently being shown at the national theatre are
Amadeus, Peter pan, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, The Curious Incident Of The Dog
In The Night Time
The national theatre provides £5 tickets to be bought for
under 25s using its entry pass scheme this allows customers who use this scheme
to get front row seats. Performances like “Amadeus” and “peter pan” are shown
in the Olivier theatre as specific changes can be made underneath the stage.
The “red barn” performance was shown in the lyttelton theatre as proscenium
arch can be adjusted to create different performance spaces. The seating varies
for almost every performance that is held in the dorfman theatre currently
being shown in the dorfman theatre is “a pacifists guide to the war of cancer”
and “love” as its flexible seating allows the floor to be raised and lowered to
either a steep or shallow format or for the seats to be folded away completely
to leave you with a completely flat floor. The national theatre was designed
not to be a prestige place to go but to be a very public facility where u can
just go in without having a ticket to go and see a show to go and see the
building and learn a bit more about the history of the national theatre, the
theatre also offers backstage passes to the public where you can see the other
facilities that make up the national theatre. Each auditorium has wide target
audience that is opened to all ages of the public I think the Oliver theatre is
probable best for younger children as it’s the biggest stage and more
performances are shown there like peter pan which I think younger children
would enjoy but maybe for the older audience a smaller performing space would
be better as they might have hearing or sight problems.
On the backstage tour I went on, at the national theatre I
was shown the different facilities around the building, every wig that they use
on stage is created in there wig room where each individual strand of real hair
is sewn into a wig, real hair is used as the wigs are used multiple times for
each performance for large amount of time so the quality of the wig needs to be
kept to a high standard which can only be met using real hair. The national
theatre also creates its own costumes for the actors that are hand crafted I
saw one piece for peter pan currently being made and the lady was hand painting
red stripes on a piece of material. I also got to see there woodworking area
where they build all the scenery for the performances and I saw the making of
ship for peter pan which they were making out of skips. They recycle a lot of
their props and material they use for other performances. They keep well known props
specifically for the backstage tours so people can see and feel them. I also
got to see the dressing rooms each performer is supplied with their own cubicle
so they can get changed and also comfy seating and some rooms have a bed so
that actors can have nap between performances if they have several in one day.
bibliography
health and safety
working in the performing arts
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