The New York City Black Dance Scene in the 1970sThe book "Dancing in Blackness" gives an account (by a dancer who was there) of what professional dance was like in NYC in the 1970s for black dance companies and the black dancers who danced for them. It was an ecosystem that in many ways revolved (and still revolves) around the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, but extended beyond it.
Title: Dancing in Blackness Author: Halifu Osumare Excerpt: The Rod Rodgers Dance Company (RRDC) existed within a prolific black dance scene in New York City in the 1970s and was considered a part of the second-tier dance companies by choreographic recognition, technical level of dancers, and size of budget and administrative structure.
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At the top, of course, was the internationally recognized Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The second tier was right above a myriad of smaller dance companies directed by black choreographers such as Ron Pratt (when he wasn't dancing with Rod), Fred Benjamin, Otis Sallid, Chuck Davis, and others, who mainly had "pickup" dancers. Rod's main competitors in the second tier of black dance companies were the Eleo Pomare Dance Company and the George Faison Universal Dance Experience, neither of which is still in existence. As it was highly competitive to be accepted into Ailey's company, the majority of black dancers in New York in the 1970s went back and forth between the three dance companies occupying this second tier, as well as the smaller, third-tier companies.
Each of the three second-tier choreographers was known for his distinct choreographic aesthetic. Eleo was considered the "bad boy" of the scene, with his 1960s signature work Blues for the Jungle (1966) about the street life of New York , and his solo piece Narcissus Rising (1968), where he played the role of a motorcycle biker wearing only leather dance trunks, boots, and a cap. George Faison, a formery Ailey dancer, was known for his modern jazz choreography represented by his signature Suite Otis (1971), a soulful and often humorous interpretation of Otis Redding's classic R&B and blues songs. I visited both of these two choreographers' studios when I first arrived in New York and chose the RRDC because of the eclectic mix of Rod's repertoire that allowed one to perform both classic modern dance and soulful jazz-inspired choreography. But the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was always, and still is, considered the undisputed pinnacle of the black concert dance scene of New York City and, indeed, the world.
But how did this black dance hierarchy come about? What preceded this New York black dance scene that I found in 1972, regarding opportunities and venues available to black concert dancers and choreographers? The answers are important to examine in terms of the larger sociopolitical U.S. revolution going on at the time. An extensive quote from Zita Allen on the website for the documentary film Free to Dance: The African American Presence in Modern Dance assesses the times:
"During the 1950s and '60s, the story of blacks in American modern dance was part of the most dramatic political and social upheaval since the Civil War, and this would be reflected both onstage and off. The NAACP launched an attack on the segregated public school system in five states. Rosa Parks, a middle-aged African American woman, defied custom by refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to a white man..."
- from "Dancing in Blackness," by Halifu Osumare
Each of the three second-tier choreographers was known for his distinct choreographic aesthetic. Eleo was considered the "bad boy" of the scene, with his 1960s signature work Blues for the Jungle (1966) about the street life of New York , and his solo piece Narcissus Rising (1968), where he played the role of a motorcycle biker wearing only leather dance trunks, boots, and a cap. George Faison, a formery Ailey dancer, was known for his modern jazz choreography represented by his signature Suite Otis (1971), a soulful and often humorous interpretation of Otis Redding's classic R&B and blues songs. I visited both of these two choreographers' studios when I first arrived in New York and chose the RRDC because of the eclectic mix of Rod's repertoire that allowed one to perform both classic modern dance and soulful jazz-inspired choreography. But the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was always, and still is, considered the undisputed pinnacle of the black concert dance scene of New York City and, indeed, the world.
But how did this black dance hierarchy come about? What preceded this New York black dance scene that I found in 1972, regarding opportunities and venues available to black concert dancers and choreographers? The answers are important to examine in terms of the larger sociopolitical U.S. revolution going on at the time. An extensive quote from Zita Allen on the website for the documentary film Free to Dance: The African American Presence in Modern Dance assesses the times:
"During the 1950s and '60s, the story of blacks in American modern dance was part of the most dramatic political and social upheaval since the Civil War, and this would be reflected both onstage and off. The NAACP launched an attack on the segregated public school system in five states. Rosa Parks, a middle-aged African American woman, defied custom by refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to a white man..."
- from "Dancing in Blackness," by Halifu Osumare