https://open.spotify.com/track/6NZOsfA4t5z7FIFbWrH3z0?si=F8WTWjKlTJCanUkJG4UiTQ

Alvin Ailey: Takademe by Robert Battle

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Q: Tell me about your politics A: My politics are very organic to me because it was where I come from. You know, I mean, I was born in Texas in nineteen hundred and six - well not exactly, 1931 - and I lived in Texas until I was 12, which is the middle of the depression. I mean Franklin Roosevelt had just become President, the WPA, and the CCC camps, and all that kind of thing. And I lived in the Brazos Valley there, where racism was rampant. I mean, you know, if you were Black, you. were nothing. I mean, not only sitting in the upper sections of the movie theatres but the schools,  the Klu Klux Klan came dashing through every now and then. There were all kinds of incidents against Black people. We had to live in a certain part of town - so some of that stayed with me always. And it still is. The idea that somebody should be segregated against because of their color.  You know, that kind of thing has never left me, and it's never left my work. I consider all of those dances to be political in some sense, you know? A little bit romantic, I mean Blues Suite is a reflection of that time - I mean, the anger, you know, the problems, but the romance, the fact that Black people get through, you know? That we have grown. That we as a Black people have made something fantastic in spite of, in spite of all these things that are put up against us, you know? So that permeates my work - the idea that we should be equal. That our beauty should be celebrated. And not the fact that we're different because we're darker... Robert Battle:  My heart is heavy but open, full, and hopeful still. We have seen those on the front lines insisting on a call to action. Speaking up and showing up to incite change and to bring forth solutions. These are not just Black faces that we see. These are faces of all nationalities, all religions, of all sexualities, of all backgrounds, making their testimony loud and clear: Injustice for one is truly injustice for all.  Still, we dance. This was supposed to be tonight's theme. But let it serve as tonight's credo: a name to the rally cry. I say "still" not in the sense of stillness or inaction, or the absence of. I say "still" in spite of, because of, for the purpose of, in honor of. Like. Ailey intended for the company, let tonight serve as a testament to the strength and perseverance of the human spirit. Let tonight show that despite all the trials and tribulations, we overcome. Let it serve as a dedication to all our brothers and sisters and their devastated loved ones amid this global health crisis. Let it serve as a heartfelt "thank you" to the first responders, law enforcement, public services, and essential workers that are in the front lines of planning, preparing, and responding to COVID-19. We support you. We weep for you. We speak for you. We dance in honor of you.

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Untitled America, First Movement