In the early 1960s; the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was a small; multi-racial company of dancers that performed the works of its founding choreographer and other emerging artists. By the late 1960s; the company had become a well-known African American artistic group closely tied to the Civil Rights struggle. In Dancing Revelations; Thomas DeFrantz chronicles the troupe's journey from a small modern dance company to one of the premier institutions of African American culture. He not only charts this rise to national and international renown; but also contextualizes this progress within the civil rights; women's rights; and gay rights struggles of the late 20th century. DeFrantz examines the most celebrated Ailey dances; including Revelations; drawing on video recordings of Ailey's dances; published interviews; oral histories; and his own interviews with former Ailey company dancers. Through vivid descriptions and beautiful illustrations; DeFrantz reveals the relationship between Ailey's works and African American culture as a whole. He illuminates the dual achievement of Ailey as an artist and as an arts activist committed to developing an African American presence in dance. He also addresses concerns about how dance performance is documented; including issues around spectatorship and the display of sexuality; the relationship of Ailey's dances to civil rights activism; and the establishment and maintenance of a successful; large-scale Black Arts institution. Throughout Dancing Revelations; DeFrantz illustrates how Ailey combined elements of African dance with motifs adapted from blues; jazz; and Broadway to choreograph his dances. By re-interpreting these tropes of black culture in his original and well-received dances; DeFrantz argues that Ailey played a significant role in defining the African American cultural canon in the twentieth century. As the first book to examine the cultural sources and cultural impact of Ailey's work; Dancing Revelations is an important contribution to modern dance history and criticism as well as African-American studies.
#1197628 in Books James W Laine 2003-02-13Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 5.60 x .70 x 8.40l; .75 #File Name: 0195141261144 pagesShivaji Hindu King in Islamic India
Review
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Nitin PurohitExcellent book1 of 6 people found the following review helpful. A good way of knowing Indian premodern historyBy Miguel Angel OrtizBeing recently in India for the first time; many doubts invaded me during the visit and after it refering to the characteristics of Indian different races.All the people I asked there couldn't give the answers to my questions ( probably linguistics troubles affected the comprehension because my original language is Spanish and Idian people speak English non understandable to me and my companion)so I started to investigate after the trip and found this book about Shivaji a heroe and king of Maharashtra Region who represent (I'm starting to know now) an unavoidable reference to the modern society of India.I'm starting to read this book and I expect to fill many lagoons I have in my mind about this "rich" country.4 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Shivaji was at least never communal as the Congress Party wasBy Thinker WriterI wish Laine had gone beyond the legends and myths and stuck to the actual history. He has not done that. He has failed to point out with emphasis that Shivaji like so many other Kings wanted power and territory which he was successful in doing. He was never against Muslims although he may have been agianst Muslim Kings. Even if it was some other Hindu if not Afzal Khan; Shivaji would have still gone with tiger claws to a peace meeting and tore him in the embrace. We cannot judge his deeds now. His top officials were all Muslims even his commander in chief and the court language was Persian and definitely never Marathi. In his time Hindu Muslim was never an issue.It was only when the British took over they exploited the religious differences and followed the policy of divide and rule and most unfortunately The Congress party did the same and introduced communalism that was the cause of so many problems. The major problems have been partition of the country; invasion of Hyderabad and the Kashmir problem all based on The Hindu Muslim issues. Laine unfortunately could not do justice to history.
