I am describing the first song “I Been Buked” (0:00- 4:17) from the section “Pilgrim of Sorrow” from the piece Revelations by Alvin Ailey.
This piece (the first song of three in the section “Pilgrim of Sorrow”) describes the suffering of African Americans during slavery, and how they seek help through religion. This opening to Revelations brings shivers to the watcher and sets a solum tone, as they can feel the pain running though the body of each dancer.
The piece begins in darkness, with a dim light shining on a triangular formation of nine dancers, all in simple earth-toned costumes that match their skin color. They are standing completely still, as if frozen in a moment, with their gaze fixed directly forward. Their faces are somber and emotionless. It is almost surprising to see them blink. They elongate their arms and look to the sky, as if pleading for help from God, and then plié in unison and look at the ground, as if drowning in sorrows. Every bend of the knee and the arm and every tilt of the head is intentional and sharp, as if they are in a trance. The music starts out slow, and the dancers use their whole body to feel the music, syncopating their movements. The spiritual tones of the song resonate with the listener and the movements strongly complement the sentiment and religious purpose in the song. As well, there is repetition in this song, and their movements mirror that. The dancers start in a formation, break away from it for a few select movements, then congregate back into that formation. However, each time the formation is reached again, something slightly changes. This time, while the dancers are in unison, all crouching down, lowering their heads, and elongating their hands in a curved and down-angled second position, they are all crouched at different levels, creating a layered dimension in the formation.
When the music escalates, chanting “there is trouble all over this world,” the dancers completely break from their formation as if breaking out of their trance and start dancing individually, but continue keeping their movements sharp, robotic, even doll-like, as if they are being controlled. However, their movements shift from being slow and static, to fast, frantic, and almost angry. This section includes jumps, high developés, wild and sporadic hand gestures, kneeling and falling to the ground, and chaîné turns. All of these movements happen in different directions and different levels but cease once the music becomes slow again, and the dancers retreat to their pyramid formation. This formation acts like a safety for the dancers, or a home base, where they result back to their slow and earthy movements in unison, looking towards the sky in desperation. They quickly break out of their formation again and wave their hands looking as though they are mimes trapped in a box. They are trying to escape this box but cannot. There is a look of panic in their eyes and their pain can be felt so strongly by the watcher. They then form a V shape with dancers all crouching in different levels, and one dancer is standing on one leg in the middle. It feels as though the dancers are trying to save her, acting as a support for her as she balances a hand on one of them. They are all holding hands, symbolizing how slaves had to support and ground each other during their devastating times. They then continue with individualized movements until they all gracefully fall to the ground in unison. The contrast between the dancers’ relationship to the ground and to the sky is very important, as this adds dimensions and symbolism of the piece. The piece ends with the dancers retreating back to their formation, with the lights dimming.