
An Evening with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater(1986)
In this brilliant studio recording, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, brings its distinctive style to a wider audience with four unique works.
Dazzling, brash and dynamic, yet equally graceful and poetic. DIVINING was Judith Jamison's first major work as a choreographer for Ailey, evoking a strong feeling for African tribal ritual, is set to hauntingly rhythmic drum music. REVELATIONS, often describes as the company's signature tune, has become an American classic. It expresses Ailey's intense feelings for his roots, with Ailey's vivid "blood memories" of the blues, spirituals, gospel music, ragtime and folk songs as well as the hard life of the Southern black during the Depression. Set to Modern Jazz, THE STUCK-UP takes place in modern-day Harlem, about the cruel reality of urban street life as a young man is destroyed by drugs. CRY, choreographed by Alvin Ailey in 1971 for Judith Jamison, is one of his most famous pieces. Created as a birthday present for his mother, it is Ailey's tribute to black women and inspires moving emotions with its portrayal of struggle, anger and most importantly, its feeling of celebration.



Movie: An Evening with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Similar Movies
0.0A Tribute to Alvin Ailey(en)
Alvin Ailey played a key role in the growth of modern dance in USA and his company, founded in 1958, is one of the USA’s oldest dance troupes as well as one of the most youthful and vital on the dance scene. In this two-part program, members of Ailey's dance company celebrate his memory by performing three works choreographed by Ailey himself, as well as a special ballet tribute choreographed by Ulysses Dove. Each piece is introduced by Judith Jamison, the dancer and choreographer whose career was nurtured to stardom by Ailey, and who was, at the time of this production, Artistic Director of the company. The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater is uniquely eclectic in range, repertory, and style. As a choreographer, Ailey explored the black experience and went beyond, finding universal human truths in all his work.
5.0Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back(en)
Maurice Hines -- actor, director, singer, and choreographer -- navigates the complications of show business while grieving the loss of his more famous, often estranged younger brother, tap dance legend Gregory Hines.
0.0The Written Face(de)
In Japanese theater, women's roles are traditionally played by men. The man playing the woman's role, the Onnagata, does not imitate the woman, as in the West, but tries to capture her significance. He need not stick close to his model, but draws far more from his own identity - a shift of value takes place, which is nonetheless not a step beyond. THE WRITTEN FACE is an attempt to offer an insight into the Japanese Kabuki star Tamasaburo Bando, one of the last defenders of this ancient and disappearing performing tradition.
0.0Three Dances(sv)
About two key pioneers of Swedish dance in the 1900s: Birgit Åkesson and Birgit Cullberg. Both were born in 1908 and became choreographers who made a big impression in the international dance history. Birgit Åkesson, in the serious "Fertility" directed by Alf Sjoberg, debuted in 1934 in Paris. She was co-designed the European avant-garde modern dance language, and created in the 1950s and 1960s, legendary works for the Stockholm Opera together with others including composer Karl-Birger Blomdahl and Erik Lindegren as librettist. Birgit Cullberg gives a much more relaxed and humorous impressions in "Antonius & Cleopatra", directed by Gerd Osten. Cullberg got her big break as a choreographer a few years in "Miss Julie" in 1950. After spending some time abroad Birgit Cullberg returned to Sweden and formed in 1967 the Cullberg Ballet, which she led until 1985. Topsy Håkansson, who performs the role as the gypsy.
7.3A Christmas Carol(en)
The radical new take on Dickens’ classic seeks both to exhume the original story’s gritty commentary on social inequality and the corrupting influence of greed, and to breathe new life into the lyricism of the original text by setting its scenes to extraordinary tableaux of modern dance.
Mudra-Afrique(en)
Mudra Afrique, founded in 1977 in Dakar by Léopold Sédar Senghor and Maurice Béjart, was an important dance school that mixed traditional African dance with modern styles. Germaine Acogny, a skilled teacher, along with dancer, actress Irène Tassembédo and musician Doudou Rose Ndiaye, were key figures in the school. Their work helped Mudra Afrique leave a strong mark on African contemporary dance and music.
0.0Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan: Moon Water(en)
The Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan performs their elegant Tai Chi-based dances to the music of J.S. Bach. Choreography by Lin Hwai-Min. This dance film examines the correlation between essence and appearance, effort and effortlessness, man and woman , all explored using water, mirror, light and reflections.
Casting a Light on the Dance of Darkness(en)
“Butoh,” literally “dance of darkness,” is an avant-garde form of dance from Japan that few know about, and even fewer practice. As its only practitioner in Singapore, Xue tells us how she fell in love with this obscure, yet liberating, art form.
0.0Roky Erickson: Live on Rockpalast(en)
Guitarist, singer and harmonica player Roky Erickson was one of the pioneers of Psychedelic Rock with his band 13th Floor Elevators in the 1960s. After being diagnosed with a serious case of schizophrenia, Erickson spent years in mental institutions, but continued to make music. As the nineties began - especially among musicians from the alternative rock sector - to form a growing fan base to this day. These include such diverse bands as REM, Okkervil River or Kasabian - a testament to Erickson's great influence on today's rock scene. Since 2008, Erickson is back on stage and brought in 2010 with Okkervil River as a backing band on his album "True Love Cast Out All Evil" out.
0.0Throbbing Gristle - Live At Kezar(en)
Recorded live at Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco on the evening of May 29th, 1981. "Throbbing Gristle have ceased to exist. They are now pursuing solo projects."
1.0Lost Angels(en)
Lost Angels is a music/drama set to the soulful sounds of Oliver Pigott, the contestant Canadian Idol judges stated was perhaps the most talented person to ever audition for the show. Other name talent include, Alimi Ballard (NUMBERS, The Fast Five) and Robert Pralgo (The Vampire Diaries). Hollywood has always held a universal fascination for audiences but rarely is its true nature honestly exposed. Lost Angels pulls no punches in revealing the unique and treacherous world that has no rules except those created by the power players within.
0.0The Rolling Stones: Bridges To Buenos Aires(en)
Bridges To Buenos Aires is the latest concert film release from The Rolling Stones’ archive. The full-length show from their five night sell-out residency at the River Plate Stadium in Argentina’s capital city has been restored in full, and features a very special guest appearance from Bob Dylan. Filmed on April 5th 1998, by this point, the band had played to over two million people on the first two legs of the tour in North America and Japan. Amongst many highlights in this show, special guest Bob Dylan joins the band onstage at River Plate for a unique performance of his classic ‘Like A Rolling Stone’. The band only played a further two dates in South America on the triumphant, year long Bridges To Babylon tour, before they headed back to North America, and Europe.
5.59 Songs(en)
Matt, a young glaciologist, soars across the vast, silent, icebound immensities of the South Pole as he recalls his love affair with Lisa. They meet at a mobbed rock concert in a vast music hall - London's Brixton Academy. They are in bed at night's end. Together, over a period of several months, they pursue a mutual sexual passion whose inevitable stages unfold in counterpoint to nine live-concert songs.
7.18 Mile(en)
For Jimmy Smith, Jr., life is a daily fight just to keep hope alive. Feeding his dreams in Detroit's vibrant music scene, Jimmy wages an extraordinary personal struggle to find his own voice - and earn a place in a world where rhymes rule, legends are born and every moment… is another chance.
7.5Walk the Line(en)
A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.
7.6Billy Elliot(en)
County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.
7.3Dirty Dancing(en)
Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer—and unexpectedly falling in love.
7.3Gimme Shelter(en)
A detailed chronicle of the famous 1969 tour of the United States by the British rock band The Rolling Stones, which culminated with the disastrous and tragic concert held on December 6 at the Altamont Speedway Free Festival, an event of historical significance, as it marked the end of an era: the generation of peace and love suddenly became the generation of disillusionment.



