Talley Beatty

Talley Beatty (1923-1995) was born in Cedargrove, Louisiana, but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He is considered one of the greatest of African American choreographers, and also bears the titles dancer, educator, and company director. After studying under Katherine Dunham and Martha Graham, Beatty went on to do solo work and choreograph his own works which center on the social issues, experiences, and everyday life of African Americans. [Maleaney P. White-Dixon, "Beatty, Talley", in "International Encyclopedia of Danc" Vol. 1, ed. Selma Jeanine Cohen (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998),396.] Beatty and his technique and style of dancing have been both praised and criticized by critics and dancers of his day.

Dance background

Beatty began studying dance at the age of fourteen with Katherine Dunham. He learned her style of dancing which was heavily based on her African and Caribbean studies of dance in the West Indies. He was a part of Dunham’s company and performed in several shows with them. He also trained under Martha Graham in the 1940s. [Teren Damato Ellison, “Beatty, Talley,” in "International Dictionary of Modern Dance," ed. Dan McDonagh (Detroit: St. James Press, 1998),47.] He left the Dunham troupe in 1946 to continue his studies in New York. He took ballet lessons in New York, but because he was African American he was forced to dance classes in the early mornings or late nights in a dressing room while classes were going on in an adjacent classroom. [Douglas Rosenberg, dir., "Talley Beatty: Conversations with Contemporary Masters of American Modern Dance" (American Dance Festival,1993).]

Beatty continued his work as a solo artist and choreographer. He explored a variety of different dance roles and styles. ["Talley Beatty,” Biography, American Dance Festival and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts [http://www.pbs.org/wnet/freetodance/biographies/beatty.html] [v] ,(accessed 22 March, 2008).] He did film work such as "A Study in Choreography for Camera", which was directed by Maya Deren, and Helen Tamiris’s "Inside U.S.A". He danced on Broadway in shows such as "Cabin in the Sky". He also danced in nightclubs, for musical theater, and on the concert stage. [Teren Damato Ellison, “Beatty, Talley,” 48.] He even did a minstrel ballet titled "Blackface". [“Talley Beatty,” Biography, American Dance Festival and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts http://www.pbs.org/wnet/freetodance/biographies/beatty.html] ,(accessed 22 March, 2008).] Beatty also choreographed for a variety of choreographers including Ruth Page, Lew Christiansen, George Balanchine, and Syvilla Fort. [Teren Damato Ellison, “Beatty, Talley,” 48.] He choreographed over fifty ballets [Maleaney P. White-Dixon, "Beatty, Talley," 395.] and did work in America and Europe.

Dance Technique

Many dancers and critics described Beatty’s dance style as a mix between jazz and ballet. “His self-described style is a mixture of Graham connective steps, Dunham technique, and a little ballet with Louisiana hot sauce on it”. [Teren Damato Ellison, “Beatty, Talley,” 48] His choreography is also described as “fast, exuberant, [and] explosive,” [Maleaney P. White-Dixon, "Beatty, Talley," 396.] Beatty explored movement that extended outward from the extremities such as leg extensions and back arches. [Maleaney P. White-Dixon, ‘’Beatty, Talley,’’ 396] Dancers in the documentary film "Talley Beatty: Conversations with Contemporary Masters of Modern Dance" state that his choreography is very physically demanding and technically challenging and that in order to dance in one of his work a strong knowledge in at least four different dances, including ballet and modern dance, is needed.

Criticisms

John Martin, a famous white dance critic during the early to mid 1900s, criticized Beatty’s dance style as too balletic. During this particular time period in which there was much racism and stereotyping, ballet was thought of as a “high art” that was reserved for white dancing bodies only. Other people such as Margaret Lloyd in her book "Borzoi, Book of Modern Dance", praised Beatty. Lloyd said in her book that she found his leaps “phenomenal, a sort of universal wish fulfillment to navigate the air”. [Teren Damato Ellison, “Beatty, Talley,” 47] .

Themes in Choreography

Beatty’s work explored themes around the struggles and everyday life of African Americans. Many of his dances were his own “personal statements about alienation, racial discrimination, and the hardships of urban life”. [Maleaney P. White-Dixon, "Beatty, Talley," 396] In the film "Conversations with Contemporary Masters of Modern Dancers" Beatty talks about some of his more well-known dances and what they mean. According to Beatty "Southern Landscape", a three-part dance, is a description of the time right after the Reconstruction period in the South. The dance explores an event in history that Beatty read about in a book. He learned about a community of white and black farmers who had happily formed a community together. The book then describes how the community was literally slaughtered and destroyed by the Ku Klux Klan; after the slaughter, people went into the fields at night to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones. The most well-known and famous section of the dance, titled "Mourner’s Bench" is about a person who is returning from recovering a body, and explores the ideas of hope and strength.

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