When the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs in downtown LA this weekend the consistent theme throughout the nine pieces is social justice. One dance making its West Coast debut is inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. speeches. And the SXSW confab of music, movies, TV and tech turns 30 years old this weekend. The CEO joins us to discuss its evolution and the controversial contract clause that have some artists upset over perceived threats of deportation.
How Alvin Ailey's 'superheroes of dance' are advancing social justice
If you head to The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion from March 8-12, it's all about dance. And a lot of the dance is all about social justice.
Through Sunday, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is rotating nine different works, one of which is a new piece titled r-Evolution, Dream.
It's choreographed by veteran Alvin Ailey dancer Hope Boykin, and inspired by the sermons and speeches of Martin Luther King Jr.
"If you haven’t seen the company, get ready," Boykin says. "I work with the superheroes of dance. They are at the top. So to have them in a room doing what I ask them to do is unreal.”
When Boykin and Robert Battle, the company’s artistic director, visited The Frame, they said Alvin Ailey’s founding idea of using dance to address the most pressing issues has rarely been more necessary than today.
Interview highlights:
Hope Boykin on being inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.'s voice:
The sound of his voice was so rhythmical for me, at that moment, I heard movement through it. And I could see movement with what he was saying. And so how could I get into the studio and articulate something that is abstract— movement is abstract— how can I articulate the sound of his voice and put movement to it, and make it worth something?
Robert Battle on how r-Evolution, Dream. fits into the Ailey dance company's larger mission:
I have to go back to when I first knew about the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and its importance and the importance of the Alvin Ailey himself to the cultural fabric of this nation. And the thing that I was struck by was the idea of social justice in the work, in modern dance. That it was about things that really mattered... and so that sort of gave me my queues [as] to why, still, I'm drawn to work that makes a statement that is somehow reflective of the people in the audience... at this time in our nation's history I think works like this are very important.
To hear the full interview with Hope Boykin and Robert Battle, artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, click the blue player above.
SxSW tries to reassure artists over 'deportation' clause in contracts
The South by Southwest film, music and interactive festival kicks off March 10 in Austin, Texas.
More than 50,000 people are expected to fill the city’s convention center, movie houses and music venues for the annual event.
South by Southwest CEO and co-founder Roland Swensen has had to deal with a recent controversy: the festival's contract with participants allows organizers to call federal immigration authorities if a band from outside the U.S. runs afoul of festival rules. Swenson explained that the rules, which were put in place in 2013, have taken on new meaning in light of the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration. According to Swensen:
We said right away, Yeah, this is confusing and not what we mean. We'll change it. But we were focused entirely on finding ways to make sure the bands didn't get caught at the border. We were doing things like organizing a network of attorneys in the cities of all the ports who they could call in case they got in trouble.
South by Southwest recently released a statement clarifying its stance regarding the language in the contract.
We hoped that we could assure assure everyone that, one, we've never kicked anybody out of the country; and, two, that we would come up with a easier-to-understand agreement for next year.
We also spoke with a musician on this year’s South by Southwest roster, Adam Torres. The Austin-based singer-songwriter was one of 35 artists who signed an open letter calling for the immigration clause in the South by Southwest contracts to be removed.
They promised to not use that clause in their contract next year. But to us that wasn't enough, given the sociopolitical climate of everything that's going on — especially in a city like Austin that has seen increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. I just talked with other bands and said [the SxSW statement] wasn't enough. We needed South by Southwest to retract that clause [immediately] and to promise not to cooperate directly with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.