TABLE OF CONTENTS
How To Use The Curriculum Guide and Lesson Plans......................................................
GUIDE TO The Ailey Project Video ........................................................................................................................3
Heritage/Blood Memories .............................................................................
Introduction ...............................................................................................................................................................5
ANCESTORS LESSON PLAN ................................................................................................................................6
I Am From LESSON PLAN ......................................................................................................................................8
LOSS AND FOUND POEMS LESSON PLAN .....................................................................................................14
Civil Rights ..........................................................................................
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................16
EYES ON THE PRIZE .............................................................................................................................................17
WARRIORS DON’T CRY......................................................................................................................................18
TIME LINE 1955— ................................................................................................................................................20
CIVIL RIGHTS INTERVIEW LESSON PLAN.....................................................................................................22
DOROTHY COUNTS LESSON PLAN .................................................................................................................24
Responding to Prejudice................................................................................
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................26
OPPRESSION! IS THERE A HIERARCHY OF OPPRESSION? LESSON PLAN..............................................27
CONNECTING TWO RACES LESSON PLAN ....................................................................................................28
Images through Dance, Music, and Art ...................................................................
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................29
SPIRITUALS LESSON PLAN ...............................................................................................................................30
SYMBOL COLLAGE LESSON PLAN..................................................................................................................31
LOOKING AT DANCE LESSON PLAN...............................................................................................................33
DANCERS DANCE! LESSON PLAN ...................................................................................................................34
GESTURE LESSON PLAN....................................................................................................................................37
A CLASSROOM MOVEMENT PHRASE inspired by Revelations LESSON PLAN ...........................................38
Alvin Ailey FINAL PROJECT................................................................................................................................41
How To Use The Curriculum
Guide and Lesson Plans
We have assembled the curriculum to involve you in thinking about Alvin Ailey, his times, his
influences, his creative expression, and the themes that run through his works. We are creating
the guide for high school, middle school, and elementary school teachers and expect it to be used
in a variety of content areas: language arts, social studies, and performing arts classes.
The teachers’ guide begins with a short narrative encapsulation of Ailey’s life. We urge you to
read this piece and think about excerpting it for students. To educate those of you who are dance
novices, we have included a vocabulary of dance and background material on dance
choreography and music. Taken together, these can add to you and your students’ appreciation of
the works they will see.
We believe that tying Ailey’s work to student experience is the best way to motivate students to
engage. You will find literature, non-fiction, writing activities, visual expression, and
possibilities for movement throughout these activities. We urge you to use the wide variety of
activities and to especially get your students moving, be it through gesture or choreographed
dances. Don’t forget to include suggested video-tapes. They include not only excerpts of works
by Ailey, but also dances created and performed by students right here in Portland.
Please peruse the lessons described here to find those that fit your particular needs or fancies.
You may need to adapt a lesson to your content area or grade level. You may find that you can
slot lessons into a novel unit (for instance, Pam Hooten at Benson is developing a unit as she
teaches Warriors Don’t Cry, a story of African-American children integrating Southern schools),
or you may choose to use several stand-alone lessons. You might also develop new lessons to
enrich your unit. We only ask that you create enough context for your students so that when they
view Ailey’s company they will be engaged.
We are excited by the breadth of connections you can make through using these lesson plans. We
look forward to hearing about your experiences in the classroom and at the Schnitzer. Enjoy!
GUIDE TO The Ailey Project Video
Whether it is watching The Ailey Company’s scintillating opening of Judith Jamison’s Hymn to
Alvin Ailey, Lincoln High School Senior Jessica Wyatt dance the stout and hauntingly beautiful
role of Dorothy in Dorothy Counts, listening and watching members of the Jefferson Dancers
share their lives in choreographer Josie Moseley’s I am From, or listening to Mr. Ailey speak of
his “blood memories,” the Ailey Compilation tape is designed to give you a glimpse of Ailey’s
personal and professional life.
Outlined below are the selections as they appear on the tape:
Ailey Project Compilation:
Hymn to Alvin Ailey —Judith Jamison (opening)
Revelations – Alvin Ailey
(excerpt from First Movement: Pilgrims of Sorrow)
I Am From —Josie Moseley
a. Opening
b. Bo John Disciple
c. Kristen McCollom
d. Kasia Wilhelmi
e. Jonte Moaning
Blood Memories – Interview with Alvin Ailey
Revelations —Alvin Ailey
(excerpt from Third Movement: Move Members Move)
Hymn to Alvin Ailey —Judith Jamison (St. John the Divine)
4 minutes
4 minutes
6 minutes
4 minutes
4 minutes
4 minutes
Other Works:
Eyes on the Prize
o Part 1: “Awakenings (1954-1956)”
Introduction (first 5 minutes) – an outstanding overview of the civil rights
movement. It gives a contextual baseline to Ailey’s work.
The Lynching of Emmett Till (15 minutes) – discretion advised.
Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, with Rosa Parks and Martin Luther
King (20 minutes) – excellent footage.
o Part 2: “America at a Racial Crossroads (1965-1985)”
Boston Busing – the ramifications of Brown vs. the Board of Education
(enforcement of school busing, highlighting the inequities of public
education).
Blackside Inc. (Boston, MA) has exclusive rights to the footage and we are not allowed to
reproduce the “Eyes on the Prize” series for classroom use. However, copies are available at the
public libraries and could be shared by nearby buildings. I highly recommend that students view
at least the first five minutes of “Awakenings.”
Dorothy Counts—Josie Moseley. A young black girl enters an all white North Carolina
high school. Choreographed for the School of Oregon Ballet Theatre in 1998, from
events that took place in 1963, as described in a voice over interview with Julian Bond.
The role of Dorothy Counts is performed by Lincoln HS senior Jessica Wyatt.
Approximately 8 minutes in length.
I am From—Josie Moseley (see Lesson Plan). Choreographed for The Jefferson Dancers
1999-2000 season. Approximately 10 minutes.
Heritage/Blood Memories
Introduction
Much of the creative urge emanates from our sub-conscious memories. We only know what we
have experienced and yet we can re-arrange those experiences in striking ways. Some believe
that memories run deep through our veins, generation to generation. Alvin Ailey speaks of
finding much of his work in his “blood memories.” The memories become images and images
become movement; movement becomes visual and auditory poetry. We, too, students and
teachers, can reach into our pasts to find our own words/images/ illustrations/music/
gestures/movements. The following lessons derive from dances, poems, and vignettes which can
compel us to delve into our blood memories, thereby connecting our creative energy to that of
Ailey and all artists who speak from their hearts.
ANCESTORS LESSON PLAN
Prepared by Dawn Joella Jackson, Rosemont School
Much of Ailey’s work is deeply personal and is centered around his own history and what his
ancestors as individuals and as a people gave him. The following lesson is meant to connect
students to their own history – their ancestors -- and have them create a piece of writing and art
from it.
As a class define what ancestor and descendent mean.
Have students get into small groups and on a large piece of cardboard answer the
following questions:
o What is an ancestor to you?
o Who are yours ancestors?
o What have your ancestors given you? What do you wish they had given you?
o What do you hope to give to your descendents?
After students are done have a class discussion and assign a recorder to make one list
from what the class has developed.
o If it does not come out in student brainstorming I mention that ancestors can be
blood or they can be spiritual, creative, intellectual. I always use Frida Kahlo as
an example of someone who has passed lesson and inspiration down to me
although she is not a blood relative of mine.
Students take 3-5 minutes on their own to list five people that they consider ancestors.
Then have students choose one ancestor they feel the most connected to or able to write
about. Many of the students I work with have no contact with any family members and I
give them the option of either using a non-blood ancestor or imagining themselves as an
ancestor writing from the perspective of their descendent.
Introduce the Ancestor poems (see readings packet.
o Read them as a class or in small groups.
o Have students notice the imagery – metaphors, similes, rhyme, rhythm, etc.
Do guided visualization as a class (attached).
Do a 10-15 minute fast write.
Have students use their fast writes and the sample poems as inspiration to create an
ancestor poem for or to the person they choose to write about.
Extension Exercises:
Have students create an art piece to go with their poem. Suggestions include:
o Water color wash (water colors layered on a piece of paper) with a silhouette
image cut out of black paper glued onto this wash. The image is a symbol for the
subject of the poem.
o A small collage that represents the relationship the writer had to the subject of the
poem.
o A mandala traced on black paper and then colored in with colored pencils with
poem surrounding it.
Have students conduct research projects through interview with family members or
through official references on their own ancestors prior to writing their poems.
Have students find other ancestor poems through research and present them to the class.
Poetry reading where students are required to read their poem with the addition of one of
the following:
A small dance or movement phrase
Music
Pictures
I Am From LESSON PLAN
Prepared by Frederic W. Locke, Jr., Jefferson High School, Dawn Jackson, Rosemont & Linda Christensen,
Portland Public Schools
Dances emanate from experience. Whether you see Alvin Ailey’s Blues Suite or Cry, you will
be learning more about where he “is from.” Last year (Spring, 2000), the Jefferson dancers
performed I Am From. Choreographer Josie Moseley’s piece consists of photographs, spoken
poems, and movement. To create the piece students worked with Linda Christensen in
composing “I am From” poems. Each dancer then choreographed movement to accompany their
poem. From the work the students produced, Ms. Moseley selected the poetry, movement,
photographed the dancers with their families, and then shaped the entire piece. You, too, can
create poems with the power of those presented in the dance.
Learning activities:
1. View the complete 10 minute dance I Am From by Josie Moseley included on
accompanying videotape
Have students write their own I am From poem:
Read “I Am From” by George Ella Lyon.
Notice how Lyon uses repetition of the phrase “I am from” to “hook,” or push, the poem
forward. This allows the poem to develop a momentum. When you write your own “I Am From”
poem, you may consider using “I am from” or another phrase to build that momentum.
To notice the details Lyon remembers about her past read the poem line by line again.
You will now make lists of your own memories. Come up with 3-4 or more of each of the
following:
Items found around your home (for example, bobby pins, stack of newspapers, Lysol)
Items found in your yard or around your apartment building (for example, broken rakes,
hoses coiled like
green snakes)
Items found in your neighborhood (for example, the corner grocery store, Mr. Tate’s beat
up Ford Fairlane)
Names of relatives, especially ones that link you to the past (for example, Aunt Topsy,
Grandpa Eli)
Sayings (for example, “If I’ve told you once…”; “Little pitchers have big ears.”)
Names of foods and dishes that recall family gatherings (for example, tamales, blackeyed peas, egg rolls)
Names of places you keep childhood memories (for example, Red Wing boot box, family
Bible, diaries).
Work on your list. Share it with others. Make it sound like home
Now, get specific. You mention shoes, what kind of shoes? Red Converse high tops? You
mention little kids’ toys? What kind? Power Rangers? Legos? Malibu Barbie? Work on making
your list specific.
Play around with comparisons. You mention salsa. Salsa as hot as the Arizona desert. Lemon
meringue pie so tart it makes your lips pucker up as if you are looking for a kiss.
Once you have your lists of specific words, phrases, names –WRITE! Find some kind of phrase
to build the momentum (such as “I am From”).
End your poem with a line or two that ties present to past, your personal history to family
history.
Write your draft. We will do a read around. Then you can work on another, or final, draft.
I Am From
by George Ella Lyon
I am from clothes pins and Clorox
and carbon tetrachloride.
I am from the dirt
under the back porch.
Black, glistening,
it tasted like beets.
I am from the forsythia bush,
the Dutch Elm whose long gone limbs
I remember as if they were my own.
I’m from fudge
and eyeglasses,
from Imogene and Alafair.
I’m from know-it-alls
and pass-it-ons,
from perk up and pipe down.
I’m from “He restoreth my soul”
with a cotton ball lamb
and ten verses
I can say myself.
I’m from Artemis and Billy’s branch,
fried corn and strong coffee.
From the finger my grandfather lost to the auger,
the eye my father shut to keep his sight.
Under my bed was a dress box
spilling old pictures,
a sift of faces to drift
beneath my dreams.
I am from those moments
snapped before I budded,
Leaf fall from the family tree.
High School Student “I Am From” Examples:
Where I’m From… by Traci Adair
I am from eight houses,
YMA nametags,
and old jazz shoes,
all with holes in the same place.
from pets with cute matching names,
and a room like a closet with a closet.
I am from my mom’s latest yard projects,
overgrown bushes with cats peeking out,
and people fixing cars to loud music at
one o’clock in the morning.
from little kids trying to sell me their old comics
that cost them a nickel,
and would cost me two dollars.
I am from the nice lady at the coffee shop
who always makes Italian sodas just right.
the teenage boys who never stop playing basketball in the park
and the girls who never stop watching them.
from apartments that block our view,
and the bus stop where I meet old friends.
I am from “you know you owe me,
I shouldn’t even do this”, “Disneyland smiles”,
and “can I just borrow five dollars?”
I am from afternoons of boxed pasta
and German chocolate cake that I’m not allowed to eat.
hasty meals snatched from Taco Bell,
and cream cheese frosting
I am from the Adairs and the Sharpes,
Portland, OR and the Bay Area.
I’m from people who don’t take
less than your best,
who say
“you know you could do better...”
I am from the long row of photo albums
in the front hall bookcase,
and the dusty boxes underneath my bed.
I am from these things and more,
I am from all the memories I hold close around me
and the memories are from love.
I am From…
(an excerpt)
by Anna Lescher
I am from cozy clutter,
chilly mornings and soft lit nights,
painted walls and powdered donuts.
I am from lavender, roses, and bleeding hearts.
Leaves and cats and acrobats.
I am from grace and mercy.
God’s specific plan.
Some immigrants and aliens
From origins unknown.
I Am, I Am From
Bojohn Diciple
I am from the accomplishments of my mother and the dreams of my father.
I am from a Virgo and Capricorn whose lives came together and so I was born.
I am from parties and late night rendezvous
I am from my niggas with mean muggs much love and tatoos.
I am from failure to success; I am from being the worst to striving for the best
I am from my own world, which no one else can see a place in my mind I wish was reality
I am from pasta and lasagna to corn bread to collard greens
I am from Adam to Eve to the serpent that deceives
I am from a woman who raised a man.
I am from my parents' hearts that always lend a hand.
I am the light, the dark, the black and the white. Which do you see?
I am the orange growing from the red apple tree.
I am the fallen angel whose wings only my mother says she can see.
I am the rose that blooms when no one is looking.
I am what makes you do a double take.
I am the wink in a glare.
I am from the voice of reason that's not really there.
I am from corns, blisters, and stubbed toes.
I am from Afros, hair picks, and corn rows.
I am from the loaded weapon that I keep on me at all times; this loaded
weapon is what I call my mind.
I AM FROM… by Kristin McCollom
I am from trying to sing the blues
wild cute hair do’s
furry leopard shoes
and midnight rendezvous
I am from the smell of a white rose
hurry up and strike a pose
please no more turns I have a runny nose
and in my closet there’s never enough clothes
I am from who you want to be
hurry up and drive I have to pee
a big Jonny apple seed tree
and a wild imagination running free
I am from sit down dinners
lots of face shimmers
and I always play hard even though I’m a beginner
I am from faith and love
but most of all from god up above
Where I Am From... by Kasia Wilhelmi
(an excerpt)
I am from the glowing green stars
that cover my room,
The clothes on my floor
I should pick up soon,
The loud ticking clock
that I no longer hear,
In my light yellow house
with a porch in the rear.
I am from the pear tree in the yard
(our neighbors chopped down their side),
Two dead cats
and a slip and slide…
Where am I from?… by Jonte Moaning
I am from candy, shoes, socks and draws, tampons, love cats and dogs.
I am from torn down roses, sawdust a blur,
Dried up grass and old cats fur. Dropping remain from neighborhood
Dogs and cats,
Red and blue feathers from my dads stylish
Hats. A deflated waterhose surrounded by dead
Crows. Where they come from nobody knows.
I am from a neighborhood where hoes walk up and down the street,
Cars rolllin by keeping a steady beat. Granma’s next door watering her
Plants, she grabs a can of Raid to spray down the ants. “did you drop
This candy on my sidewalk,”
She says with a gawk, “speak up boy for I slap you, then you’ll talk.”
“Demarcus!!,” yeah that’s my middle name, it’s only called when I’m in
trouble, isn’t that a shame.
“Jonte’ Demarcus Moaning!,” my mom says with a frown, do you ever
stop dancing? Please sit yo self down.
My grandma replys with a rhyming phrase, I recite it in my head and
Laugh for days. “Your eyes may shine and your teeth may grit, but none
Of this peach cobbler you gon git.
Thanks for the good mom, my face in disgust, her chicken taste like
Plastic, I’d rather eat a hairbrush.
I’ll go next door to grandma’s and eat something good, maybe apple pie
Or 7up cake or Bar-B-Qued ribs made fresh from the hood.
I am from the groanings to the moanings, yeah those are my roots. I am
From the Vietnam war to torn down combat boots. My roots flow
Everlasting and never shall die, whoever told you no had told you a lie.
I am from hard labor in the cotton fields, to whip gashes on my back, I
Am Jonte’ Moaning, and I came from a strong black family and I shall
Never turn back.
Dancing I Am From:
1. After seeing the dancers’ photographs in the videotape, what photographs would students
select to represent themselves to the public?
Have students select photos and bring them to class.
In a 15-20 minute free write, have students write about the significance of
their choice.
2. Have students make up 8 to16 counts of movement that reflects what they have written in
their poems.
Have students share their movement with two other students.
Note: Remind students that there are no right answers in movement exploration and
expression. The challenge is to choose movement that conveys their ideas, they feel
comfortable performing, and to select movement that seems to be the most successful.
Developing and sharing material (suggestions):
In pairs or threes, use poems, movement and photos to create a collaborative piece. The
photos could be part of a collage. Have each group share their piece with the rest of the
class.
As a class, create a piece.
Using Looking at Dance, write a self-evaluation or critique of the created work.
LOSS AND FOUND POEMS LESSON PLAN
Prepared by Dawn Joella Jackson, Rosemont School
1. Loss is a Part of Life (Intro)…
Script:
What does loss mean to you? --brainstorm on overhead.
How many people in here have lost something?
Sometimes losing something is a small thing, like a hat that you really like
or some lipstick. Other times loss is bigger, such as losing a friendship or a
job you love. And sometimes what we lose changes our lives, such as
losing our innocence, someone we love dying, or having to leave the
country we grew up in, or seeing a friend addicted to drugs.
I have lost a lot things and people in my life:
(list)
We can also lose things that we can’t see – can you think of something that you
could lose that you can’t see:
o Innocence
o Trust
o Love
o Sobriety
o Dreams
2. Poetry Examples (see readings packet):
Waters, Anne
“Journeys of the Mind”
Mirikitani, Janice “Prisons of Silence”
Mora, Pat
“Elena”
Hogan, Linda
“Heritage”
Jackson, Dawn “To Lose and To Find: Truth Speaks in Many Tongues”
Rosemont Student Examples
3.
When I have lost something it makes me sad, angry, alone. But it also brings gifts
like strength, perspective, and experience, and if I express it somehow, it helps me
to learn from it.
Read Poems as examples of this expression:
o Discuss the poems – how they worked.
4. List Exercise
You will now make a list of your own memories of what you have lost and what
you have found;
o Items in your life that you have lost (shoes, cds, coats)
o Items you have found.
o Places you have lost or miss because you can’t go back or because they
have changed and will never be the same (a house that has been torn
down, a town you no longer live in, a hang-out that has change)
o Places you have found or now love (a new town, school, restaurant)
o Activities you did that you have lost (running, playing guitar, doing drugs,
etc.)
o Activities that you have found that you now love – they can be completely
new or you can be rediscovering them (dance, music, reading, writing,
basketball, taking care of yourself)
o People you have lost because they live far away or because you aren’t
friends anymore or because they are dead.
o People you have found as new friends, girlfriends/boyfriends, stepparents,
etc…
o Things you have lost that you can’t see (dreams, love you heart, etc. …)
o Things you have found that you can’t see (dreams, a sense of yourself,
love, peace)
Read over your own list.
Make sure that every item on your lists is as specific and detailed as it needs to be.
You mention a friend – what was that friend’s name, what was s/he like?
Play around with comparison or simile/metaphor – such as “A place so peaceful it
made my heart feel at home.” “My friend Serena’s laugh was a wild wind clearing
out a place for her to live in the world.”
Now write using the poems provided. You make use the form provided by the
loss poems or you can just go for it.
Civil Rights
Introduction
As Alvin Ailey entered his mid twenties, disenfranchised citizens were uniting as the civil rights
movement gathered momentum. Supported by the Supreme Court’s 1954 landmark decision to
end segregation in schools, African Americans openly responded to the cultural inequities that
permeated their everyday lives. Understanding that the “inalienable” rights of the United States
Constitution included all citizens, and that “liberty and justice” ensured them and their children
of “equal” opportunities, individuals mobilized committed to change.
The lessons in this section provide a lens into the world in which Alvin Ailey lived and worked.
Knowing about civil rights and its effect on individuals from Rosa Parks to the nameless
protesters to students’ own family members provides an opportunity for students to live in that
world. “Eyes on the Prize” contextualizes the injustice of prejudice and documents the tenacity
needed to overcome the obstacles of fear and repression. The boldness of Rosa Parks and those
who joined her, swept Montgomery, Alabama, until the concerted bus boycott forced the city to
amend its’ segregated busing law. After reading her interview, students will have the chance to
frame their own probing questions as they attempt to unearth the key issues. Warriors Don’t
Cry, and Dorothy Counts, allow students to read, see, listen, feel, and explore in movement the
experiences of Black children as they were asked to be among the first to bridge the barriers of
segregation. As students explore the reality and loneliness of isolation and rejection, they will
have the opportunity to experience the choices necessary to create a healthy, safe and nurturing
school climate that supports outstanding learning and achievement for all.
EYES ON THE PRIZE
Prepared by Pam Hooten, Frederic W. Locke, Jr. and Peter Thacker
The only thing we did wrong,
Stayed in the wilderness a day too long.
Keep your eyes on the prize,
Hold on, hold on.
But the one thing we did right
Was the day we started to fight.
Keep your eyes on the prize,
Hold on, hold on.
From the traditional freedom song “Keep your Eyes on the Prize”
We strongly recommend that to understand the context within which Ailey lived and worked,
you view the first five minutes of the Eyes on the Prize Episode 1, “Awakenings.” This
introduction serves as an excellent baseline to understand the passion, pain, and determination
that united Black Americans to stand up against the institutional injustices that they had endured.
In that five minutes, you hear the voices of those who struggled for integration and justice.
Singing the above lyrics as you watch the tape will bring and your students closer to this
important struggle.
Note: Due to archival copyright law, we were not able to secure permission to copy any of this
series. However, the series is available in most public libraries and we can share copies
throughout the district. We have listed other powerful footage in your Teacher’s Guide.
WARRIORS DON’T CRY
A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock’s Central High School, by Melba Pattillo Beals, 1994
Prepared by Pam Hooten, Benson High School, Peter Thacker and Fred Locke, Jefferson High School
You’ve gotta learn to defend yourself. Never let your enemy
Know what you are feeling.
--The soldier assigned to protect Melba
Please, God, let me learn how to stop being a warrior.
Sometimes I just need to be a girl.
--Melba’s diary, on her sixteenth birthday
Synopsis
Melba Patillo Beals looks back at an infamous moment in contemporary history: the integration
of Central High School – Little Rock, Arkansas – 1957. She and 8 other African American
adolescents, surrounded by federal troops, joined the Central student body. The response from
white students was frighteningly violent. Beals examines her experience with utter frankness.
Kirkus Review suggest that the violence “is unrelenting…making a reader wonder how human
beings can harbor so much hatred.” At the same time, Beals was able to persevere and succeed,
going on to college at San Francisco State University and Columbia University, working as a
reporter for NBC, and returning to Little Rock in 1987 to be greeted by then-governor Bill
Clinton and a black Central High student body president. Hers is a story of courage.
Background
After the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, the Little Rock school board
accepted the fact that it had to integrate and began working on an integration plan. The school
board was not particularly happy about having to integrate, however, and it took three years to
work out a minimalistic plan. The plan called for integration in three phases. In the first phase,
during the 1957-1958 school year, the senior high schools (grades 10-12) would be integrated.
The junior high schools (grades 7-9) would be integrated after successful integration at the senior
high level, followed by the elementary schools (grades 1-6).
As the 1957-1958 school year drew near, the board began to plan for integration at the senior
high level. It opted to continue operating Horace Mann, the black high school, while admitting
only a few blacks to all-white Central High. The board selected 17 black students who had
volunteered to attend Central, based mostly on their grades. As the end of August drew near, the
number dwindled down to nine.
These nine students faced adversity well before the opening of the school year. White went to
court in an attempt to acquire an injunction which would delay the start of integration. On
August 27, 1957, Mrs. Clyde A. Thomason filed suite in Chancery Court. Mrs. Thomason, a
member of the anti-integration Mothers League of Little Rock Central High School (a group that
included few actual parents of Central High students), testified that “She had been told that the
mothers were terrified to send their children to Central because of a rumor that the white and
Negro youths were forming gangs and some of them were armed with guns and knives.
Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus backed up Mr. Thomason’s claims, although neither cited their
source. Judge Murray O. Reed granted the injunction, but Federal Judge Ronald N. Davies later
overruled it, ordering the school board to continue with integration.
The students faced opposition from not only the white community but the black community as
well. Melba Pattillo, a 15-year old who was one of the nine, remembered a confrontation with a
black adult at church one Sunday:
“I was startled when a woman I’d seen often enough but didn’t really know began
lecturing me. For a moment I feared she was going to haul off and hit me. She was beside herself
with anger. I could barely get my good morning in because she was talking very loud, attracting
attention as she told me I was too fancy for my britches and that other people in our community
would pay from my uppity need to be with white folks.”
Despite the opposition, the nine students prepared to enter Central High on September 3, 1957.
Lesson Plan suggestions:
Looking at the history surrounding the confrontation between federal authority and
southern resistance to school desegregation can be painful, unpleasant and embarrassing.
We are looking at historical institutional racism and discrimination. Today we still face
issues of racism and injustice. In our classes there are people of all races and colors.
Therefore it is important to address squarely the discomforts that come with topics so
close to students.
o Begin by having students brainstorm about the following two questions:
why do we look at this time in history?
why is this still uncomfortable or difficult?
o Use the results of the brainstorming for an honest discussion.
View the Eyes on the Prize episode, Fighting Back (available from the Central or branch
library under the call number video 323-1196). This video details the fight for integration
of the schools and shows students of the same age as our high schoolers fighting for
justice. Students who have seen this segment have related to history in a new, personal,
way.
o Begin by having students react as if they were back in time 43 years:
What would you have done in this circumstance?
What would motivate you to action?
o Use the results of the brainstorming for an honest discussion.
Ask students to discuss the selection from the Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader.
Editors: Carson, Garrow, Gill, Harding, and Hine @ 1991: “The Long Shadow of Little
Rock,” by Daisy Bates.
o What relevance does the first school integration effort have to education plans
today?
o What is Portland Public Schools’ integration plan?
TIME LINE 1955—
1955 Rosa Parks defies a Jim Crow law, followed by Montgomery bus boycott led by Martin
Luther King, Jr., and local NAACP leaders
1957 The Civil Right Act of 1957; Little Rock school crisis; Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ralph
Abernathy help form Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); first march on
Washington
1958 King writes book STRIDE TOWARD FREEDOM; assassination attempt made on King’s
life
1960 John F. Kennedy wins presidential election; Robert Kennedy appointed attorney general;
first sit-ins held in Greensboro, North Carolina
1962 Freedom rides; Vote registration drives; students for Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
formed (SNCC); nonviolent peaceful protests throughout southern region
1963 Birmingham confrontation with Bull Connor; march on Washington; Birmingham church
bombing; President John F. Kennedy Assassinated; Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president
1964 President Johnson pushes for passage of the Civil Rights Bill; Martin Luther King, Jr., wins
Nobel Peace Prize; Malcolm X breaks from Elijah Muhammad’s Muslim sect; Lyndon Johnson
is elected president.
1965 Lyndon B. Johnson and Hubert H. Humphrey sworn in as president and vice-president;
Black Muslims assassinate Malcolm X in New York; Selma to Montgomery protest march;
Voting Rights Act signed by President Johnson; Race riot in Watts district of Los Angeles
1966 Miranda v. Arizona, Supreme Court rules that an accused person must be told his/her rights
before being held or questioned by police authorities; Major
rioting in northern cites;
Demonstrations against American involvement in Vietnam; Edward Brooke, Republican, is first
black senator from Massachusetts (Reelected in 1972)
1967 Thurgood Marshall, great-grandson of a slave, becomes the first black Supreme Court
Justice; Carl Stokes and Richard Hatcher are first blacks elected mayors in large, northern cities;
Blacks elected to legislative positions in Georgia, Mississippi, and Virginia.
1968 Martin Luther Kings, Jr. Assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis, Tennessee; Robert
F. Kennedy assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan in California; Shirley Chisholm is first black woman
to be elected to House of Representatives; Student militancy against “the Establishment” rises
along with a white middle-class backlash.
1969 Richard Nixon sworn in as 37th president, and Sprio Agnew as vice-president; Neil
Armstrong walks on the moon; Seventy-eight Native Americans seize Alcatraz Island in San
Francisco
1970 Four Kent State University students are killed by national guardsmen during anti-Vietnam
protest; Two black Jackson State College students killed during a demonstration.
1971 Supreme Court validates the use of busing to achieve racial balance in public schools.
1972 Shirley Chisholm runs for the presidency to highlight concerns of blacks and women;
Former Alabama governor, George Wallace, a states’ rights candidate, is shot and partially
paralyzed while campaigning for the presidency; Richard Nixon receives overwhelming victory
over Democratic candidate, George McGovern, but his second term is clouded by “Watergate”
1973 Nearly three hundred members of the American Indian Movement take over Wounded
Knee, South Dakota, to protest the ineffectiveness of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; Vicepresident Spiro Agnew resigns and Gerald Ford fills the vacancy; Congress passes the War
Powers Act, restraining the president from sending troops into foreign countries without
approval of Congress; Vietnam War ends and troops removed in stages
1974 Impeachment proceedings begin against President Nixon; Nixon resign and Gerald Ford
becomes president; President Ford pardons Nixon of all involvement in the Watergate break-in
and cover-up; Rioting in Boston and protests throughout the country concerning busing
1976 James (Jimmy) Carter becomes the first southern president since Reconstruction
1977 President Carter appoints tow blacks to important positions: Andrew Young, ambassador to
the United Nations, and Patricia Harris, secretary of Housing, Education, and Welfare (HEW)
1978 In the Bakke case, the US Supreme Court rules that affirmative action with strict racial
quotas is illegal
CIVIL RIGHTS INTERVIEW LESSON PLAN
Prepared by Gloria Canson, Roosevelt High School and Peter Thacker, Jefferson High School
Rationale: To better understand the life and times of Alvin Ailey, it is important to hear from the
many people who experienced the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 60’s. Ailey lived
through segregation and into a time of increasing integration. In fact, Ailey was a leader in the
integration of the cultural arts world. He started his dance career with Lester Horton, a white
choreographer who, even when it was unfashionable, created an integrated dance company.
Ailey consciously continued in Horton’s tradition. It took years for Ailey’s dance company to
gain prominence, but Ailey never gave up on his commitment to a primarily African-American,
yet integrated company . Even during the late 60’s when many black activists found it important
to work solely within the African-American community, Ailey, like Martin Luther King, kept his
vision of a multi-racial world.
Most of your students’ older relatives participated in one way or another in the ferment created
by the attempt to integrate U.S. society. Whether they simply watched the news or joined hands
in protest, they participated in one of the most difficult, yet hopeful times in U.S. history. This
activity encourages students to learn in an intimate way of this struggle for justice.
To begin:
1. Show the first five minutes of the “Eyes on the Prize” segment in the Ailey tape.
2. Have students focus on the interviews of participants. What do they say? How do they
elucidate the civil rights movement? What questions do you think the interviewer asked
that elicited their responses?
Read the enclosed interview of Rosa Parks. Before the reading, have students write their
recollection of her story. After reading the interview, have students write a new summary. How
does the story change after reading her view of the events? (For an interesting extension, have
students read Herb Kohl’s “The Politics of Children’s Literature: What’s Wrong with the Rosa
Parks Myth.” found in Rethinking Our Classrooms (1994, Rethinking Schools), then discuss
further Rosa Parks’ story) What has Rosa Parks done since civil rights days? What are her hopes
for our society today?
To get ready for the student interview ask: What questions did the interviewer use which got
Parks to tell her story well?
Student Instructions for Civil Rights Interview
Choose a relative or friend who remembers the civil rights movement.
Create a set of questions that help them to tell their story of that time.
Share those questions with three other students in class. Feel free to “steal” questions
from one another.
Remember the object of an interview is to make the person being interviewed comfortable and to
learn information in detail.. Don’t simply go question to question, but listen for the beginnings of
stories. When those come, try “tell me more about that, “ or “what happened next?”
The interview should last between a half hour and hour. Either tape record your interview or take
detailed notes. Write up your interview verbatim (in full), including questions and answers and
be ready to share your new understandings of the civil rights movement with your classmates.
Hand in your tape or notes with your write up.
The Rosa Parks Interview can be obtained on the web (it is also in our readings packet):
Rosa Parks
“Pioneer of Civil Rights”
June 2, 1995 Williamsburg, Virginia
http://www.achievement.org/autodocpar0int-1
http://www.achievement.org/autodocpar0int-2
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/par0bio-1?rand=11717
DOROTHY COUNTS LESSON PLAN
Prepared by Frederic W. Locke, Jr. and Peter Thacker, Jefferson High School
Dorothy Counts:
Choregraphy by Josie Moseley
Performed by Students of The School of Oregon Ballet Theatre
Jessica Wyatt dances Dorothy Counts
Rationale:
Alvin Ailey experienced both segregated and integrated schools as he grew up. He knew what it
was to be an outsider. Dorothy Counts is a piece about a girl moving to a new situation where
she is rejected by those around her. It is a powerful, emotional dance. Students, too, can
experience a sense of the group dynamic which either accepts or rejects others. This role play
provides students with the opportunity non-verbally to experience the range of emotions humans
feel when someone enters their previously exclusive world.
Activities:
Students will have already read the Ailey Narrative
Part I:
1. See opening Segment from “Eyes on the Prize”: Awakenings (5 min)
2. Write down 5 key words that are suggested by the video
3. In pairs, share your words, and try to come up with a gesture or movement that suggests
or depicts each of your words. Each individual picks a gesture to share with the rest of
the class
Part II:
1. Watch Dorothy Counts (8 min)
2. What do you notice? How does watching the piece make you feel?
3. Brainstorm with your partner the gestures or movement that you remember
4. How did the gestures help tell the story and the emotions?
5. Describe what works for you in Dorothy Counts:
Where does the piece leave you?
How did the composition of the piece, lighting, costumes, music, text, and
movement contribute to the whole?
What are the different emotional, physical, and cognitive layers of the piece,
and how do they affect you?
Part III: (Improvisational Role Play)
Make certain that your classroom has desks pushed back so that there is room for students to
perform.
Divide the class into groups. While one group performs, the others watch. Then exchange roles.
If Dorothy Counts, a lone girl, was entering your school today, and you were on the student
greeting committee, how would you greet her? Greet her with gestures, body language, not
words.
1. Create a grab bag activity to provide students with a variety of emotional responses.
Each student will pick a role and create gestures that reflect their emotion.
Possible emotions: Anger, acceptance, welcoming, uncertainty, fear, apathy,
indifference, toleration, hatred, consternation, paternalism, false acceptance
2. Choose one student to become Dorothy. Her responsibility is simply to respond on
a gut-level to the messages she is receiving non-verbally. She will improvise gestures or
movements based on her emotional reaction to those around her.
Each group takes 10-15 minutes for students to create their gestures and figure
out their placement in relation to each other and Dorothy on the performance
floor.
Once the group sets up, each person expresses his/her emotional reaction,
while interacting with every other member of the group. This interaction
develops naturally until Dorothy is accepted, rejected and/or chooses her own
response. (1-2 minutes)
Note that the gestures might all take place at once or might happen one at a time.
The idea is to have the group become aware of, and begin to resolve, its internal
dynamic.
After each group’s presentation, have the audience respond:
What did you observe? What did you feel during the improvisation?
Have the performers respond:
What thoughts and emotions were prevalent as you played your roles?
For those of you who chose an emotion different from your natural response,
what was it like to follow that through?
Have everyone respond:
Based on the climate and environment she experiences in each improvisation,
would Dorothy drop out or stay at your school after one week? Why or why
not?
What did the gestures or body language add to the performance?
Responding to Prejudice
Introduction
Alvin Ailey lived at the intersection of two races. As a gay man, he also knew the condemnation
of a society which, for much of his life, saw homosexuality as an aberration. Whenever students
confront an individual’s life, it is important as teachers to help then understand not only their
contributions, but also the challenges they faced. Students know challenges in their own lives.
They have a strong sense of justice and can find ways to respond positively to injustice. In the
following lessons, students are asked to examine the intersections of race and sexual orientation
through an essay by Audre Lord and poetry by Langston Hughes and William Stafford. Through
these lessons, students will have a chance to live in the shoes of an “outsider” and create in their
own voice a response.
OPPRESSION! IS THERE A HIERARCHY OF OPPRESSION? LESSON PLAN
Prepared by David Colton, Madison High School
Alvin Ailey was an African-American, male dancer who died as a result of HIV infection. He
was a gay man who made enormous contributions to the world dance scene in spite of the
barriers of racism and homophobia. Ailey was simply a gay, black dancer but a multidimensional, multi-dimensional human being whose life experiences informed his art and left a
legacy of remarkable works of dance to the American people and the world.
Audre Lorde, a Black woman, describes herself as a lesbian, a feminist, a socialist, a poet, a
mother and a partner in an an interracial relationship. Ms. Lorde died in November 1992 as a
result of a long fight with cancer. In her essay, There is No Hierarchy of Oppression (see
readings packet), Ms. Lorde speaks eloquently of the oppression that exists equally for all people
who are members of a particular minority group.
Please read Ms. Lorde’s essay and respond in discussion and writing to the following:
VOCABULARY
Hierarchy, oppression, heterosexism, homophobia, proselytizing, racism, sexism
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Why does Ms. Lorde believe that there can be no hierarchy of oppression?
How does Audre Lorde respond to people who say that being Black is “normal”?
Does Audre Lorde believe that being gay, lesbian or bisexual is a choice?
Explain how Audre Lorde explains homosexuality using right or left-handedness?
Why is the Black community hostile to homosexuals comparing being black to being
a homosexual?
OPPORTUNITY TO WRITE
Audre Lorde’s essay speaks to the issue that “no one should be oppressed for their ‘condition of
being.’” Explain what this means to you and give examples from your own life where you have
experienced oppression based simply on something about yourself that you cannot change.
From what you have learned about Alvin Ailey, how might oppression in his life impact his
creative and personal life? You could write from the point of view of Mr. Ailey putting you in
his dance shoes and make this a creative exploration of Ailey’s life as a Black man who also
happened to be gay.
CONNECTING TWO RACES LESSON PLAN
Prepared by Peter Thacker, Jefferson High School
Connecting Two Races through Rendering Two Poems, “Theme for English B” by Langston
Hughes and “Serving with Gideon” by William Stafford
The two poems “Theme for English B” and “Serving with Gideon” (see reading packet) were
written before the civil rights movement. Hughes’ poem speaks about being the only black
student in a class at Columbia University; Stafford’s speaks of a white boy sticking up for the
only black man in a small town during the 40’s. The poems share themes which ran through
Alvin Ailey’s life: isolation due to race and a willingness to join forces across racial boundaries
to expand our society’s view of what is possible. Through reading, discussing, and rendering
these two poems together, students can step into the shoes of the protagonists in each poem,
understand Ailey’s context, and begin to re-envision their own place in the world.
Activities:
1. Read both poems, one at a time. Read each twice, once for “feel” and once for interpretation.
After reading each have students underline striking words, phrases, images, lines. Have them
jot question marks next to phrases or images they don’t understand
2. Have students discuss what strikes them about each poem. Explain that this exercise is not to
critique the poem, but to elicit personal interpretations of the poem’s meaning, mood, language,
images. Make sure to give time for students to ask what particular phrases might mean. In
“Serving with Gideon,” many students don’t know “the legion,” or the biblical allusion in the
title. I am, after many readings, still uncertain of the reason why “my mother folded her
handkerchief.” Have students explore the possibilities.
3. Do an oral rendering (see accompanying description from Portland’s “Reading Strategies”
packet) of the two poems together, having students read round-robin for several times around the
class, then encouraging students to read a word/line/phrase as the spirit moves them.
2. Debrief the rendering, then have students create their own written rendering of the two
poems together. Remind them that they can add words of their own.
3. Have students read their renderings to one another (reading them twice helps listeners gain
meaning). To encourage listening have listeners title each poem.
4. Have students choreograph movements to the poems, then perform them while another
person reads the poem.
Note: While doing all of these activities together would be quite gratifying, you can also do some
and still enjoy the experience.
Images through Dance, Music,
and Art
Introduction
The imagery in Alvin Ailey’s work finds its way into our body and emotions, often resting where
words can’t reach. Most creative work seeks this intuitive impact. In this section we challenge
you and your students to discover the creative in Ailey and to create imagistic, non-verbal
responses yourselves.
Spirituals inhabited Ailey’s mind as he created images in Revelations, his most acclaimed work.
We begin with a lesson on spirituals which speaks to the variety of interpretations possible with
any expressive art. Most of us have learned that, for African-American slaves, spirituals existed
on two levels: homage to the Christian story and coded instructions for escaping slavery. Pam
Hall’s lesson takes us another step, analyzing several essays which expand our view of their
function.
Next we move to a lesson on symbols, which roots itself in the images from Revelations. Can
students make meaning from dance and then express that meaning in their own symbolic terms?
Can students also learn dance terminology and apply it to an Ailey dance? Try “Looking at
Dance” with Fred Locke. How are athletes and dancers alike? Is it possible that dance is as
physical as basketball? Take a look at Fred’s piece on Dancers Dance.
Our last lessons ask students to create through movement. For the class daunted by dance, we
suggest starting with Pam Hall’s Gesture Lesson Plan. Fred’s lesson which incorporates three
simple movement sections from Revelations works! We did it at a district workshop with
teachers in street clothes -- fun to dance and fun to watch. What a great way to end your unit and
be ready to watch Revelations on stage.
In conclusion, you will find suggestions for a final creative project to be done after the
performance. See you there!
SPIRITUALS LESSON PLAN
Prepared by Pamela Hall, Lincoln High School
Alvin Ailey chose spirituals as the music for his most famous dance, Revelations:
I Been Buked
Daniel
Sinner Man
Fix Me Jesus
I Want to be Ready
Wade in the Water
Rocka My Soul
What did spirituals communicate?
Make a list of ideas from three of the sources below:
An encyclopedia entry about spirituals.
“Railroad Songs” by Jim Haskins (see readings packet)
“Slave Resistance and Rhetorical Self-Definition: Spirituals as a Strategy” by Kerrance L
Slanger (see readings packet)
“He Still Wid Us – Jesus” by Yolanda Y. Smith (see readings packet)
“From Preface to the Books of American Negro Spirituals” (1925) by James Weldon
Johnson (see readings packet)
A book or article of your own selection
Assignment: Write an article to be included in the dance program explaining what spirituals
communicated. Direct the article to the audience attending the dance performance. Include at
least five ideas of what spirituals communicated in a concise three paragraph article.
SYMBOL COLLAGE LESSON PLAN
Prepared by Dawn Joella Jackson, Rosemont School
This lesson is to introduce symbolism both in art and writing and to create a finished collage that
symbolizes the concepts in one of Ailey’s dance pieces.
Objectives:
Students will:
- be able to identify and define symbols in writing and popular culture
- identify the historical meaning of widely used symbols
- find the meaning of different symbols using a Symbolism Dictionary.
- Be able to identify symbols used in Ailey’s work
- Create a collage, possibly accompanied by a poem, using a symbolic image to
represent an Ailey movement/image/ emotion.
Introduction:
We use symbols to stand for broader ideas all the time in our culture
Have students brainstorm (i.e., hearts, wedding bands, etc….make a list for
student reference)
We also use symbols or symbolism in art, including paintings, poetry, and dance
(i.e., the owl in Bless me Utima, the streetcar in Street Car Name Desire)
Ask students the following questions:
1. What do we know about symbols in our daily lives?
2. Where do symbols come from?
3. How are symbols used in poetry or other writing?
4. How do symbols enhance your writing or expression?
Make brainstorm list of symbols in reading that you have experienced
Dance symbols in Ailey:
Start with readings and poetry
Read Langston Hughes
-excerpt from “Slave on the Block” in The Ways of White Folks:
1. Students identify the symbolism and identify what they think the symbols
represent.
2. Students break into groups (or alone) identify what other words or symbols could
be used for those they identified.
3. Choose from the other readings and go through the same process.
4. Students look up these words on the online symbolism dictionary and discuss
traditional means and connotations of these symbols.
5. Watch Wade in the Water – try and guess at the symbolism behind the movements
and song.
a. white costumes
b. umbrellas
c. water
6. Students create a symbolic collage related to one of the images in Wade in the
Water. Allow students to find their own symbolic references.
7. Students write an explanation of the images they use and how they reflect their
experience of the dance.
LOOKING AT DANCE LESSON PLAN
Prepared by Frederic W. Locke, Jr., Jefferson High School
1. Have students choose one or two dance elements (see below). Select a movement from
the Ailey videos (e.g., “Wade in the Water” from Revelations or the opening of A Hymn
to Alvin).
2. Watch a selection as a class, then discuss the different elements that students notice.
3. Have students write a paragraph describing each element as it is expressed in the dance.
4. As a class, have students share their writing, or describe their learning.
When you watch different pieces of choreography, what stands out and why?
About the dancers: what do you like about how a particular dancer moves?
o What movement shapes do you recognize?
o Are their lines clear?
o What movement(s) do you like the best? Jumps, turns, shapes, slow, fast,
group or solo?
o What gestures are prevalent? which are repeated?
o What adjectives or “key words” would you use to describe the movement you
see?
About the choreography: what different elements do you recognize?
o How Ailey use group movement versus solo or juxtaposition dancing?
o What emotions are conveyed by unison work? Solo work? Juxtaposition?
o How does Ailey use work near the floor? In the air?
o How do the costumes help communicate Ailey’s message?
o Describe the different ways dancers use their bodies (legs, arms, torso, head):
o More specifically, study how dancers and choreographers use dancers hands:
Ballet—fingers are separated slightly letting air pass through. This
gives the hand definition without distracting the overall line.
Jazz—fingers are outstretched, bold.
o What are the different ways that Ailey dancers use their hands?
• What do the hands communicate to you?
• Are they expressive? If so, why?
DANCERS DANCE! LESSON PLAN
Prepared by Frederic W. Locke, Jr., Jefferson High School
Dance and Team Sports
Athletics can be about participation, but winning or losing remain the focus for most. The
exhilaration of winning a playoff basketball ball game at the buzzer is arguably for some as good
as it gets. The drama of dance is different, because it often depicts the events of peoples’ lives in
a theatrical setting. The tension is not unlike the shot at the buzzer, but it can be even more
compelling because the outcomes affect us beyond the reach of a sporting event. When you
watch Revelations, or the new Broadway hit musical Rent, it is hard not to be drawn into the
lives of the people on stage. The success of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Company
over the years has been the ability of the team of dancers to not only entertain, but to inform and
educate audiences.
Odds as long as other Professional Athletes
Like professional athletes, to be accepted into a world class company (the equivalent of the
NBA), takes years of training, dedication, and sacrifice. Ailey demanded his dancers study all
styles of dance (ballet, jazz, modern, and ethnic). For Broadway shows like Bring In Da Noise
Bring In Da Funk or Rent dancers would also be expected to have include outstanding skill in tap
and hip hop. For dancers to secure jobs, they have to be strong, versatile, and quick studies.
Auditions usually start with between 150-300 dancers, and the artistic director may be looking
for a group of dancers to do a new Broadway show, or just a few dancers to replace company
members who are leaving. The chance of being hit by lightning is greater than the likelihood of
getting into the NBA, and although the odds for dancers may not be that steep, company
positions are extremely competitive, and American dancers often start by getting jobs overseas.
However, unlike mainstream athletes who are relatively well paid for their talents, dancers’
salaries are minimal by comparison.
Training a Dancer
Dancers train or “take class” most of the year. To maintain their strength, this is both necessary
and expected. To perform at a high level night after night, and this often includes dancing
“doubles” (matinees and evening performances), to do so with out risking injury requires
outstanding flexibility, strength, and cardiovascular conditioning. Serious dancer training
usually starts at age 7, and takes ten years to complete. Proper training begins slowly to allow
the muscle memory and core strength of the body to develop gradually as the child matures.
Eight hours of class and rehearsal help dancers maintain the critical edge they want, but many
supplement their professional work with workouts at the gym or specialized alignment training
such as the Pilates techniques. Men and women do Cardio workouts, modified weight training,
swim or dance exercises in the pool, and soak in the hot tub to relax their muscles and minds.
Female/male differences
Male and female dancers have slightly different requirements but both must be flexible and
strong. The suppleness of many female dancers enables them to have high extensions and
create other beautiful lines and unusual shapes with their bodies. Shapes or line can be made
individually and with a partner. Good line for males is also important, but men are
particularly noted for their ability to jump high (hang time), and execute multiple turns in
different positions. Both males and females strive to make their work look easy, and develop
a range of expressive qualities. Sports commentators, particularly in football, basketball, and
boxing, will use dance terminology like “pirouette” or “dancing” as a boxer or running back
makes outstanding athletic moves to avoid contact. Unfortunately, even with the best
instructions and training, injuries, particularly stress fractures, torn knee cartilage, and
occasionally torn Achilles tendons are not uncommon.
Partnering
When partnering a female dancer, the male’s primary responsibility is the make sure that the
women is supported, safe, and looks great! Male partnering does require exceptional
strength, as girls (100-110 pounds) are often lifted and carried overhead for sustained
periods, but as important is good lifting technique that requires excellent timing, proper
execution, practice, and trust. The female also plays an important role as she initiates the
jump and must strongly maintain her line so that the male can achieve the required form that
the choreographer envisions. When the female is strong and the timing is correct, the girl
almost seems light and the lift relatively easy. Like all partnerships, trust and professional
rapport are developed over time, and generally add to the artistry of both dancers.
Flexibility
A dancers’ flexibility keeps their muscles longer than most athletes, but the streamlined look is
very deceptive. Classical training, which helps dancers develop “turnout”, is largely responsible
for lengthening muscles and giving dancers the strength and control to create the different shapes
and lines that classical choreography demands. The different modern techniques that Ailey
dancers learn allow them to develop a full understanding of their bodies so that they are able to
realize the choreographer’s movement ideas. The more versatile and expressive a dancer is, the
clearer they can communicate a wide range of emotions to the audience. Just as a basketball
team hopes to have both an inside and an outside game that requires individual and team
expertise, the choreographer needs her/his dancers to be capable of a variety of moves. This
keeps the audience engaged and the choreography fresh with invention or surprise. To achieve
this, the dancer’s muscles are extremely strong but not bulky – as bulk would inhibit their
freedom and range of motion.
Training Discipline
Strength is not the only requirement. Proper diet, intelligent work, memorization skills, and
excellent stamina keep dancers healthy and allows choreographers to set pieces quickly. Usually
a company has a six-week rehearsal period to learn a full two-hour program. The same way a
competitive team will work on execution to prepare for an opponent, or an orchestra or choir
rehearses music, professional dancers learn and rehearse performance pieces for up to six hours
daily, Monday through Saturday. Like the best athletes, top dancers work hard. The thrill of
possibly winning a championship drives an athletic team to “go the extra mile.” Dancers, like
other artists are similar; they are passionate about their art form, loving their challenge of moving
and performing.
Dance as Art
Dancers are superb athletes, but they remain first and foremost committed artists. From the
elegance of classical ballet to the disenfranchised boldness of hip hop, expressing their voices
through movement nurtures their souls. The process is demanding, unusual, exhilarating, and
fun. Dancing is a career life style that starts very young and is over relatively quickly. After
performing for 15 or 20 years, most dancers retire. Some stay in the performing arts accepting
other jobs such as teaching or administration, and others pursue totally different careers.
Whatever the pathway, the years of dedication, creative challenge, and commitment tend to
prepare the dancers for success—whatever endeavor they choose.
Essential Question: Based on your understanding of Alvin Ailey and this description, what are
the similarities and differences between the lives of professional dancers and professional
athletes? How do you relate to each? Has your image of dancers changed through seeing Ailey’s
work? How and why or why not?
GESTURE LESSON PLAN
Prepared by Pamela Hall, Lincoln High School
Divide students into groups of four, depending on teacher assessment: Students count off
to be in random groups or students choose their own groups.
Make the following assignment to the groups:
o Communicate as a group to the class without using words.
Decide what you will communicate
Determine what gesture or movement will communicate your idea
Include each member in planning and the performance
Find a space in the classroom or in the hall to work
Be prepared to present your idea in 15 minutes
Sign up for your preferred place in the order of presentation in 14 minutes.
HAVE FUN and BE CREATIVE!
During the performances:
Enjoy watching each group communicate without words
Be prepared to respond at the end of each performance with:
• Applause
• Positive statements of appreciation
• Enthusiastic interpretation of the purpose of each performance
• Thoughtful questions for clarification
Ponder how choreographers and dancers might work
Have fun
When it is your turn to perform:
Have fun
Be confident
Take risks to move and to relate to the audience
Reflective writing questions when all performances are complete:
What surprised you as you watched others perform?
What surprised you as you performed?
Did you try something new?
Did you like moving, rather than talking or writing, to communicate?
Do you have regular opportunities to move rather than talking or writing?
Would you like more regular opportunities to move to communicate?
Is it possible to communicate without talking or writing?
What will you look for as you watch the Alvin Ailey Dance Company as a
result of this experience?
A CLASSROOM MOVEMENT PHRASE inspired by Revelations LESSON PLAN
Created by Frederic W. Locke, Jr.
Members of the Ballet III/IV class appearing on the videotape are: Jill Curtis, Tara Hite, Priscila
Marquez, Chris Patterson, Mija Sanders, Kether …., John Sorensen-Jolink
THANK YOU DANCERS
Rationale:
Movement is part of our everyday lives. As dancers, we learn how to make our bodies
expressive instruments through training in a variety of styles. Through moving in space, we
inform ourselves and our world by communicating to our audience a range of emotions that start
with our hearts. As a class, learn part, or all of this movement phrase that has been loosely based
on the opening of Revelations, “ Pilgrims of Sorrow.” Each individual student is important, yet
the movement is designed to be danced primarily in unison. Have fun and enjoy!!
Helpful hints:
1. Move back your desks, to give yourselves room, and place the video at the front of your
space. Everyone can learn in their street clothes.
2. If your class is large, divide it in two and take turns learning the three short sections.
Students can pair up and give each other constructive feedback as they learn each phrase.
3. The movement phrase is 24 counts long: It can be broken down into three 8 count sections.
4. Watch the tape and follow along. Try the whole 24 count phrase to get a feel for it. Then
learn one section at a time, referring to the notes below if needed.
5. Feel free to use only the opening 8 count phrase. It is basic expressive movement that
captures the essence of feeling of Ailey’s opening movement “Pilgrims of Sorrow.”
Section I: (Counts 1-8)
Introduction: (5, 6, 7, 8) Stand with your feet together (parallel, 6th position) and spread your
fingers out in front of your face (Jazz hands). If you were on stage, this is the first picture that
the audience would see you make.
Counts: (1, 2) Bend your knees by contracting your stomach muscles and looking up through
your hands. The first movement should be strong, like you feel a pain in your gut, but bend
slowly sustaining the movement over the full two counts.
Counts: (3, 4) Round your back over (3), naturally dropping your elbows and let your arms and
hands sweep down by your sides and up in a wide arc arriving in a rounded position over your
head with the palms facing each other (Ballet: high 5th). Try to keep your shoulders down so the
audience can see your long neck.
Counts: (5, 6, 7, 8) Present yourself proudly to the audience, by lifting your sternum (upper
chest) diagonally forward towards the ceiling in front of you. Do this slowly over two counts (5,
6) opening the arms until they are parallel to the floor, and then as you return you body to an
upright stance (7, 8), let your arms continue opening down until they hang relaxed by your sides.
Section II: (Counts 2-8)
Counts: (1 & 2 &) Step forward on the Right foot (1), and pivot to face the back (&), step
forward on the Right foot again (2), and pivot to face the front (&), jump landing with both feet
open to the side (&3) (Ballet: second position plie (knees are bent facing sideways) keeping
your back straight stretch the arms to the side palms down, and maintaining this position jump
again (&4). Keeping your Right leg straight, contract your stomach twisting your body (5,6) to
the back right corner of the room (Upstage right). As you begin to twist, Immediately release or
lift your left heel high off the ground (Jazz: on the walk) and keep your body at the same level
by transferring most of your weight back onto your left leg. To maintain your balance, focus
your energy by pulling back into your center, and letting the left arm round over your head, and
reach strongly out with both hands to the back right corner of the room. (This gesture or
movement represents the struggle or challenges of life). Release this tension on (&) by relaxing
the back and arms towards the floor, and then recover to an upright position facing the audience
(7) by sliding your Left foot to your Right foot and stand up straightening the knees (8)
sweeping the arms sideways so they are back over your head in the rounded position (high 5th).
Section III: (Counts 3-8)
This may be done in unison, or as seen in Revelations and on our class tape done individually at
different times to make the movement more interesting. Every dancer takes three counts and
opens the arms sharply to a “victory position” (Ballet: open 5th), and then moves both arms
sharply down toward the floor two more times before returning them to a natural rest position at
your sides.
One variation would be: Move on (1), (2), (3), wait (4), and then gradually done (5, 6), wait (7,
8). The whole class could learn this version and then for fun have students in groups make up
their own variations, and then put it all together (layering). Remember, there is no one right
answer, and as a class, your can decide what version looks the best, or communicates most
clearly your message.
Choreographic Variation: (Canon)
Borrowed from music, setting movement in a canon is a simple yet effective way to make a
movement phrase visually more complex. The concept is simple like singing a musical round.
After your class has learned a movement phrase, divide them into 4 groups. Decide the order of
the groups, and the interval between. Waiting for 4, 2, or 1 counts before the next group starts
will each bring a different result. Waiting for 4 counts is a good way to start, and as each group
finishes, they hold their final position until the remaining groups catch up.
In the 24 count phrase you just learned, try the following:
Section I: unison
Section II: canon
Section III: unison
This utilizes another basic musical and choreographic form (ABA).
Dance and music are closely joined, and both help us to express our inner voices. Enjoy!
Alvin Ailey FINAL PROJECT
Now that you have studied Alvin Ailey, looked at his life and times, learned more about dance, and watched a
performance, it is time for reflection. Because reactions are emotive as well as analytic, we ask you to find that
creative part of yourself to respond to what you have experienced.
1. Write/draw/sculpt/compose/choreograph/sew/create one of the following:
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visual image
piece of music
poem
personal essay
letter to Alvin Ailey, Judith Jamison, or a dancer who “spoke” to you
review of the performance for a newspaper
written piece in the persona of Ailey or one of his dancers
movement sequence
children’s book or story
dancer’s costume
your own creative choice
2. Write a one to two page explanation of how your creative work relates to Ailey’s dance or other aspects of this
unit.