Alvin Ailey’s dance features and styles originated from his memories and life experiences of growing up in South America, he was known for constantly observing human movement. He would then create all his movement and choreography uniquely on his own.
Characteristics famously known in Ailey’s choreography are turning, bending, and jumping across large distances. There is also a focus on the contraction of the muscles this was influenced from his training with Martha Graham. Other features were creating angular lines and the use of expressive hand movements. The African American Culture heavily influenced a huge majority of Ailey’s work.
An example of these famous characteristics are seen in his Famous work ‘Revelations’ 1960. Revelations is divided into three sections; each of these includes several dances representing different aspects of Baptist worship. In the opening of revelations the company are clumped together in a ‘V’ formation trapped by darkness yet surrounded in a circle of light. This shows the oppression of black people within this historical time. Within this section the dancers roll on the floor with their elbows tucked into their chest reaching up. This contraction represents Martha Graham’s influence to Alvin Ailey and how he saw her as a significant figure in dance. Within this section the use of Hand gestures is continuously used to show the theme of being desperate. For an example at the