Revelations from a lifetime of dance | Judith Jamison and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Translator: Emma Gro Helles Reviewer: Emma Toft

(Music: "Wade in the Water" by Ella Jenkins)

(Musik: "Wade in the Water" af Ella Jenkins)

Wade in the water

Wade in the water, children

Wade in the water

God's a-gonna trouble the water

Oh, why don't you wade in the water

Wade in the water, children

Wade in the water

God's a-gonna trouble the water

See that man all dressed in white

God's a-gonna trouble the water

He looks like a man of the Israelite

God's a-gonna trouble the water

Wade in the water

Wade in the water, children

Wade in the water

God's a-gonna trouble the water

See that man all dressed in red

God's a-gonna trouble the water

It looks like the man that Moses led

God's a-gonna trouble the water

Wade in the water

Wade in the water, children

Wade in the water

God's a-gonna trouble the water

Didn't my Lord deliver Daniel

Daniel, Daniel

Didn't my Lord deliver Daniel

Then why not every man?

Didn't my Lord deliver Daniel

Daniel, Daniel

Didn't my Lord deliver Daniel

Why not every man?

Man went down to the river

Man went down to the river

Man went down to the river

Went down there for to pray

Man went down to the river

Man went down to the river

Man went down to the river

To wash his sins away

He washed all day, he washed all night

He washed till his hands were sore

He washed all day, he washed all night

Till he couldn't wash a-no more

Man went down to the river

Man went down to the river

Man went down to the river

(Music fades)

(Musik fader ud)

(Applause)

(Bifald)

(Juliet Blake) And now, let's give a warm welcome

(Juliet Blake) Og nu, lad os give en varm velkomst

to the artistic director emerita of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater,

til den kunstneriske direktør emerita fra Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater,

Judith Jamison.

Judith Jamison.

(Applause)

(Bifald)

Judith Jamison: Thanks.

Judith Jamison: Tak.

How are y'all?

Hvordan går det?

(Audience cheers)

(Bifaldsråb fra publikum)

JJ: Yeah, you know you've just been to church?

Ja, ved I at I lige har været i kirke?

(Laughter)

(Latter)

You just saw a baptism, yes?

I så lige en dåb, ikke?

This is from this wonderful piece Mr. Ailey created in 1960,

Det her er et vidunderligt stykke, som hr. Ailey skabte i 1960

called "Revelations."

som hedder "Revelations."

Mr. Ailey was 29 years old when he choreographed this masterpiece.

Hr. Ailey var 29 år gammel da han koreograferede dette mesterværk.

It's been danced all over the world and understood universally,

Det er blevet danset over hele verden og universelt forstået

because he understood the humanity in us all.

fordi han forstod medmenneskeligheden i os alle.

"Revelations" is a reflection of a journey we all take in life,

"Revelations" er en reflektion af en rejse, vi alle tager i livet

and, hopefully, triumphantly.

og, forhåbentligt, triumferende.

That was the magic of Alvin Ailey.

Det var magien ved Alvin Ailey.

He was able to see you, in the audience,

Han var i stand til at se jer i publikummet,

see me, as the dancer,

se mig som danseren

and see the connection between us,

og se forbindelsen imellem os

and choreographed works that connected us all.

og koreograferede værker der forbandt os alle.

So you felt he was telling your story,

Så du følte, han fortalte din historie

while I felt I was dancing mine.

imens jeg følte, at jeg dansede min.

I started dancing when I was six years old

Jeg begyndte at danse da jeg var seks år gammel

in Philadelphia.

i Philadelphia.

I was skinny ...

Jeg var tynd ...

(Laughter)

(Latter)

Dark chocolate,

Mørk chokolade

and a kid with legs up to my armpits.

og et barn med ben helt op til armhulerne.

And the very first performance I had, at the Judimar School of Dance,

Og min allerførste optræden på Judimar School of Dance

was in a red checkered shirt,

var i et rød ternet bluse,

dungarees, pink ballet shoes,

smækbukser, lyserøde balletsko

and we were dancing to "I'm an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande."

og vi dansede til "I'm an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande."

I loved every minute of it.

Jeg elskede hvert sekund.

I mean, I literally did love every minute of it,

Jeg mener, jeg elskede virkelig hvert sekund.

especially when I heard the applause,

Specielt da jeg hørte bifaldet

and I knew right there, when I was six, I said,

og jeg vidste lige dér, da jeg var seks, jeg sagde,

"That's for me."

"Det er lige mig."

(Laughter)

(Latter)

At six, you're not thinking

Som seksårig tænker du ikke

that's going to be a career of your lifetime,

det kommer til at være mit livs karriere,

but that was perfect for that moment.

men det var perfekt for det øjeblik.

I danced my way through school, and through college,

Jeg dansede mig igennem skolen og gymnasiet

and it still didn't dawn on me that that's what I actually wanted to do.

og det gik stadig ikke op for mig at det var dét jeg virkelig ville.

I went to an audition,

Jeg gik til en audition,

which I was dreadful in --

og gjorde det forfærdeligt --

it's the only audition I've had in my life --

det er den eneste audition, jeg har været til i mit liv --

and when I was let go from that audition --

og da jeg gik fra den audition --

because I thought when they were saying, "Thank you very much,"

fordi jeg troede, da de sagde, "Mange tak,"

betød det at jeg skulle blive.

that meant for me to stay.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

I ran up the steps,

Jeg løb op ad trinene

and there was a man sitting on the steps.

og der sad en mand på trinene.

And I barely noticed him.

Og jeg så ham knapt nok.

He was an observer.

Han var observatør.

Tre dage senere ringede den mand til mig og spurgte

Three days later, that man called me

and asked me, would I like to join the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

om jeg ville arbejde for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

That's how it happened, folks, that's it.

Det er sådan det skete, folkens, bare sådan.

There's no drama or trauma.

Der er intet drama eller traume.

(Applause)

(Bifald)

So I spent 15 years dancing with the company,

Så jeg dansede i 15 år hos kompagniet

and then I directed it for something like 21 years.

og så ledte jeg det i noget der ligner 21 år.

If you were black and African American and a dancer,

Hvis du var sort og afroamerikaner og danser

any time between the '40s and the '70s,

på noget tidspunkt mellem 40'erne og 70'erne,

you had much to say,

havde du meget at sige,

because your complete voice was not being heard.

for din komplette stemme blev ikke hørt.

And you were not being represented as you truly were.

Og du blev ikke repræsenteret sådan som du virkelig var.

Alvin Ailey had the courage,

Alvin Ailey havde modet,

right in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement,

lige midt i borgerrettighedsbevægelsen,

to present the truth about who we were --

til at fremlægge sandheden om hvem vi var-

that our creativity, our beauty,

at vores kreativitet, vores skønhed,

our intelligence, our talents

vores intelligens, vores talenter

were an intrinsic part of the panoply of American culture.

var en iboende del af viften af amerikansk kultur.

Our mantra has always been to educate, to entertain,

Vores mantra har altid været at uddanne, at underholde

and to lift our audiences.

og at løfte vores publikummer.

Mr. Ailey believed that dance came from the people

Hr. Ailey troede på at dans kom fra folket

and needed to be delivered back to the people.

og måtte gives tilbage til folket.

We didn't dance in a vacuum.

Vi dansede ikke i et vakuum.

It was our mission to serve people.

Det var vores mission at tjene folk.

We call it outreach now,

Vi kalder det 'outreach' nu,

but it's always been a part of who we were and still are,

men det har altid været en del af hvem vi var og stadig er,

60 years later, to this day.

60 år senere, op til i dag.

Being inclusive of our audiences --

At inkludere vores publikum --

it's always been an important part of the company.

det har altid været en vigtig del af kompagniet.

We ask ourselves, who are we dancing for?

Vi spørger os selv, hvem danser vi for?

Why are we dancing, if not to show people what it is to be human

Hvorfor danser vi, hvis ikke for at vise folk hvad det vil sige at være menneske

and to connect with the audiences that we dance for.

og at sætte sig i forbindelse med de publikummer, som vi danser for.

We've always felt responsible to make sure the community understood

Vi har altid følt os ansvarlige for at sikre at fællesskabet forstod,

that what we do is a part of their heritage.

at dét, vi gør, er en del af deres arv.

We just don't do this, also, in America,

Vi gør ikke kun dette i Amerika,

we do it all over the world.

vi gør det over hele verden.

We tour more than any other dance company in the world.

Vi turnerer mere end noget andet dansekompagni i verden.

After Nelson Mandela was released from prison,

Efter Nelson Mandela blev løsladt fra fængsel,

I thought, well, this is the time to go to South Africa.

tænkte jeg, nu er det tid til at tage til Sydafrika.

And that was some outreach.

Og det var noget outreach.

We went to Johannesburg, Soweto,

Vi tog til Johannesburg, Soweto

and some other townships that were really in dire straits.

og nogle andre townships, der var i rigtig forfærdelige vanskeligheder

And it dawned on me, as we were there, I'm going like,

Og det gik op for mig, imens vi var der er jeg sådan,

"Here we are in the seat of Mother Africa,

"Her er vi Moder Afrikas sæde,

and we're trying to teach these people how to dance?"

og vi forsøger at lære disse mennesker at danse?"

(Laughter)

(Latter)

But it was our African Americanness that they were interested in,

Men det var vores afroamerikanerhed, som de var interesserede i

and the culture that we had developed over the last 400 years.

og den kultur som vi havde udviklet over de sidste 400 år.

We toured all over the world many times,

Vi turnerede over hele verden mange gange

and whether we're in Europe or South America or Asia

og hvorvidt vi var i Europa eller Sydamerika eller Asien

or somewhere else,

eller et andet sted,

audiences are thrilled and excited.

er publikummer begejstrede og spændte.

You sounded thrilled and excited.

I lyder begejstrede og spændte.

Sometimes with tears in their eyes,

Nogle gange med tårer i øjnene

because this nonverbal communication really works.

fordi denne nonverbale kommunikation virkelig virker.

And it's about embracing everyone.

Og det handler om at tage alle til sig.

Alvin didn't need to explain to us

Alvin behøvede ikke forklare os

what was going on at the time in the '60s and the '70s;

hvad der foregik i 60'erne og 70'erne;

it was obvious why were doing his work.

det var åbenlyst hvorfor vi gjorde det.

He knew what the truth of the time was about,

Han vidste hvad tidens sandhed handlede om

and he was unafraid to reveal it through dance.

og han var ikke bange for at afsløre den gennem dans.

He tapped into every emotion he had and we had,

Han udnyttede hver følelse, som han havde og vi havde

and from angerness to happiness,

og fra vredhed til gladhed,

to grief and everything in between,

til sorg og alt indimellem

he knew us.

kendte han os.

He took our history and turned it into powerful dance.

Han tog vores historie og forvandlede den til vigtig dans.

He and I overlapped generationally.

Ham og jeg var fra overlappende generationer.

We didn't have to talk about things so much,

Vi behøvede ikke at tale så meget om ting

because we understood implicitly our shared responsibilities.

fordi vi forstod vores delte ansvar uudtalt.

So when he asked me to take over the company

Så da han bad mig overtage kompagniet

before he passed in 1989,

før han døde i 1989,

I felt prepared to carry it forward.

følte jeg mig klar til at føre det videre.

Alvin and I were like parts of the same tree.

Alvin og jeg var som dele af det samme træ.

He, the roots and the trunk,

Han, rødderne og stammen

and we were the branches.

og vi var grenene.

I was his muse.

Jeg var hans muse.

We were all his muses.

Vi var alle hans muser.

The ballet "Cry,"

Balletten, "Cry,"

which some of you might have seen --

som nogle af jer måske har set --

you're going to see an excerpt of it --

I kommer til at se et uddrag af den --

it was made on me,

den var baseret på mig

and Alvin dedicated it to all black women,

og Alvin dedikerede den til alle sorte kvinder,

especially our mothers.

specielt vores mødre.

When Alvin and I went in the studio,

Når Alvin og jeg var i studiet,

of course he wasn't thinking,

tænkte han selvfølgelig ikke,

"Here I am, creating an iconic work."

"Jeg er ved at skabe et ikonisk værk."

Do you know any artist that does that?

Kender I nogen kunstner, der gør det?

You don't go into the studio

Du går ikke i studiet

to create anything

for at skabe noget andet,

but what's coming truthfully from your heart and your spirit.

end hvad der kommer sandfærdigt fra dit hjerte og din sjæl.

And you trust that you have a dancer you can share that with.

Og du stoler på, at du har en danser, som du kan dele dét med.

Rehearsal space is a sacred space,

øve-rum er et helligt rum,

not to be intruded upon,

som ikke må indtrænges på,

because it's about talking to each other through spirit.

fordi det handler om at tale til hinanden gennem sjælen.

You better have some technique on top of that

Du må hellere have noget teknik ovenpå dét

so you can do the dance.

så du kan udføre dansen.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

He brought his Alvin to "Cry" and I brought my Judy to it.

Han bragte sin Alvin ind i "Cry" og jeg bragte min Judy ind i den.

I just did the steps.

Jeg udførte bare trinene.

And this was a birthday present for his mother,

Og det var en fødselsdagsgave til hans mor

because he couldn't afford to get her a tactile gift.

fordi han ikke havde råd til at give hende en taktil gave.

When I performed it the first time,

Da jeg opførte den første gang,

it was physically and emotionally draining.

var det fysisk og følelsesmæssigt drænende.

I hadn't yet run through the whole piece from beginning to end.

Jeg havde endnu ikke været igennem hele stykket fra start til slut.

The ballet is 16 minutes long.

Balletten er 16 minutter lang.

It's about a proud woman who has been to hell and back,

Den handler om en stolt kvinde, som har været igennem helvede

from her journey across the Atlantic.

fra sin rejse over Atlanterhavet.

She's exhausted,

Hun er udmattet,

she's a queen,

hun er en dronning

and in this section, you're going to see she is triumphant.

og i den del, I skal se, er hun triumferende.

She made it,

Hun klarede det

and she is, in that last step that she does,

og, i det sidste trin, hun tager,

beating away anything negative

slår hun alt negativt væk

with her tremendous strength.

med hendes kolossale styrke.

And in the last step, she digs into the earth

Og i det sidste trin, graver hun ned i jorden

and she reaches into the sky ...

og hun rækker ind i himlen.

because she's clearing space for the next journey.

Fordi hun rydder plads til den næste rejse.

I performed it in 1971,

Jeg opførte det i 1971

and we are still clearing space.

og vi er stadig i gang med at rydde plads.

Now let me leave you with one last thought.

Lad mig nu efterlade jer med en sidste tanke.

Here we are, in the 21st century,

Her er vi, i det 21. århundrede,

still fighting for civil rights.

og kæmper stadig for borgerrettigheder.

Not a day goes by

Der går ikke en dag,

that we are not made aware of the struggle that continues.

hvor vi ikke bliver bevidstgjort om kampen der fortsætter.

I believe that dance can elevate our human experience

Jeg tror på at dans kan løfte vores menneskelige oplevelse

beyond words.

ud over ord.

And when you're sitting in the dark,

Og når I sidder i mørket

in the theater,

i teateret

having a personal experience,

og har en personlig oplevelse,

you don't feel blocked or misunderstood.

føler I jer ikke blokeret eller misforstået.

You feel open,

I føler jer åbne,

alive,

levende

and, we hope,

og, håber vi,

inspired.

inspirerede.

Thank you.

Tak.

(Bifald)

(Applause)

(Music: "Right on. Be free." by East Harlem)

(Musik: "Right on. Be free." af East Harlem)

I wanna go where the north wind blows

I wanna know what the falcon knows

I wanna go where the wild goose goes

High flyin' bird, high flyin' bird, fly on

I want the clouds over my head

I don't want no store bought bed

I'm gonna live until I'm dead

Mother, mother, mother Save your child

Right on, be free

Right on, be free

Right on, be free

I don't want no store bought bed

Right on

I want the clouds over my head

Be free

Ain't no time to be afraid

Mother, mother, mother Save your child

(Music)

I don't want no store bought bed

Right on

I want the clouds over my head

Be free

Ain't no time to be afraid

Mother save your child

I wanna see a rainbow in the sky

I wanna watch the clouds go by

It might make my load a little light

Lord, Lord, Lord Where will I be tomorrow night?

Right on

Be free

Right on, be free

Right on, be free

Right on, be free

Right on, be free

Right on, be free

Right on, be free

(Music fades)

(Musikken fader ud)

(Applause)

(Bifald)

(Cheers)

(Bifaldsråb)

(Applause)

(Bifald)

(Cheers)

(Bifaldsråb)

(Applause)

(Bifald)