I have chosen a dance piece choreographed by Alvin Ailey, an American choreographer, in 1960. The name of the performance is “Revelations” which refers to one of the books found in the Bible. I will be focusing on the second part of the performance, a solo titled “I wanna be ready”. This signature masterpiece choreographed by Alvin Ailey pays tribute to and reflects on the cultural heritage of the African American, which Ailey considered one of America’s richest treasures. Ailey describes this cultural heritage as “Sometimes sorrowful, sometimes jubilant, but always hopeful”(Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater,  2008). Revelations is a personal reflection inspired by Aileys childhood memories of attending services at mount olive Baptist church. Revelations analyses the emotional spectrum of the human condition, from the deepest of grief to the holiest joy”(Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, 2008). I have thus found the second section of the performance most suitable for my reflection.

While watching the performance “I wanna be ready”, I reflected on one of my clinical experiences I had on my second block at KBH. I was given an elderly patient who suffered from dementia. At the time, I did not know anything about the disease, although I have heard the name before. Once I started working with the patient I realized that it was going to be quite a challenge. The patient could not answer simple questions or follow simple instructions. She would scream at me and use foul language as soon as I touched her. As the days went by, I became more and more frustrated because I could not get much done with the patient, due to her being extremely aggressive. I then decided that I was going to see her first thing every day and that I’d do the same treatment techniques without trying to progress, as I knew that it was impossible for me to get anything done with her. I also decided to rush through my sessions with her as I felt that my other patient’s deserved my time and effort more than she did. 

The dance is performed on a very dark stage with only one spotlight, forming a small circle around the dancer.. This darkness represents late afternoon and evening, which is when the symptoms of the dementia is at its worst. This is known as “sundown syndrome” (Physiopedia, 2019). It also represents my lack of knowledge on the disease as I was in the “darkness”, and my perception of the patient at the time. At the beginning of the dance, the dancer is performing floor movements and it seems as if he’s struggling to get himself up. As soon as he eventually gets his body up, he falls back down again. It’s almost as if there is a fight between the dancer and  something pulling him down. This made me think of the disease and the effect it had on the patient, the constant regression as if it’s pulling her down. It represents the fight between the patient’s physical body and the symptoms of her disease as well as the daily battle she is faced with. The disease now has full control over her mental and physical body, making her “weak” and vulnerable. All I could see when working with her was a “rude” old lady calling me nasty names, little did I know she had no control over her behavior. Eventually the dancer managed to get himself up again and was able to continue with the rest of the routine. At the end of the dance he is seen on the floor again. This represents how the patient’s mood ,behavior, and symptoms constantly fluctuate as a result of the disease. 

While reflecting I realized that I was not empathetic enough towards her and her disease. Instead, I painted a picture in my mind about her and I decided to treat her according to that picture, not according to how she deserved to be treated.

References

Revelations. (2008). Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from http://plymouththeatreroyal-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/File/5602.pdf

Sundowning. (2019). Physiopedia. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from https://www.physio-pedia.com/Sundowning