Rainbow Round My Shoulder
I have seen Rainbow Round My Shoulder up close and personal many, many times having danced with the Ailey III Workshop Company in the 80’s. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has always been a leading force in the dance world. I am proud to say I got to witness Mr. Ailey at work and thank him for including us in one of his most personal works “Memoria,” which is a true masterpieces.
Photograph by Underwood Archives, Working on the Chain Gang, Pixels.
At the end of the civil war, black men were imprisoned throughout the United States, in the south, where they were forced to labor in the hot sun of fields, digging ditches, farming and creating roads. Chain gangs were white Southerner’s way of building the roads by black slaves and black men. I believe choreographer, Donald McKayle was trying to tell a political story with his work titled, Rainbow Round My Shoulder. His choreographic 18-minute dance dramatizes the physical trials, emotional despair, and the plight of a southern chain gang toiling in frustration of being abused to work. https://youtu.be/BCjW1ORie0g
The dance opens with seven men working on a prison chain gang, wearing brown pants that appear old and worn. These men are bare-chested and barefoot which helps represent the stress and tension clearly shown through the music and their cut muscles. The mood of the stage is softly lit setting the dark nostalgia from the hardship of working chained together.
The choreography begins with strong movements of sidestep touches, with the waists and heads turning sharply, while the upper body contracting downward to the fourth stroke, and accent of the musical instruments. The men enter holding hands clearly representing the bonds of being chained together. The weight of the bodies shifting forward, backward, and falling to the ground making you aware of the hardship. There are moments when you can imagine the heat of the sun and the sweat coming off the bodies. The choreography is very forceful and strong, full of rises, lunges, attitude turns, knee slides, and high leg reaches to tell the story of aches and pains. The strength needed to do the work in the chain gang is defined through the strenuous jumps in high fourth position, outward-reaching of the arms, body contractions, leg hinges, and drag pulls on the floor. Each dancer is working closely with the other, demonstrates how they had to work together in unison since they were chained together.
One by one, they fall from exhaustion to take a break. At this point, the brilliant dancer, Donna Wood appears right at the directional change in the song. The music goes from a group choral, chant sound to the sound of the dreamy sound of softness a one-man singing The last section of the portrays the men back at work enduring the pain and turmoil of being imprisoned, working on the chain gang.
Browne, J. http://www.angelfire.com/sc2/mplu/time.html.
Los Angeles Arts Education at The Music Center. Rainbow Round My Shoulder. Choreography by McKayle. D. Alvin Ailey American Theatre. YouTube. April 16, 2014. https://youtu.be/BCjW1ORie0g.
