Songs of the Disinherited
Premier: 1972
Length: 20 minutes
Dancers:
Available for Re-staging: Yes
Categories: Small Ensemble, Large EnsembleMusic • Richie Havens: Stormy
Sung by • The Voices of East Harlem
Notes: Angelitos Negros is available as part of a suite of solo dances for women
Upon the Mountain is available as a duet
Length: 20 minutes
Dancers:
Available for Re-staging: Yes
Categories: Small Ensemble, Large EnsembleMusic • Richie Havens: Stormy
Sung by • The Voices of East Harlem
Notes: Angelitos Negros is available as part of a suite of solo dances for women
Upon the Mountain is available as a duet
About Songs of the Disinherited
Songs of the Disinherited is one of Donald McKayle’s heritage masterworks. It examines and speaks deeply of varied aspects of the Black Diaspora in the New World. It’s four movements begin with the driving spiritual “I’m On My Way,” a relentless rendering of determination and forward movement out from the abyss of slavery. The second movement, “Upon the Mountain,” a depression blues, is an anguished cry of hunger and the resolve to survive. The third movement, “Angelitos Negros,” a study in black majesty , is a towering depiction of female strength. The final movement, “Shaker Life” is an urban gospel that dispels doubt and celebrates life.
Songs of the Disinherited was choreographed in 1972 for the Inner City Repertory Dance Company of Los Angeles and since than has entered the repertories of the Lula Washington Dance Theatre, and the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble among others. The solo Angelitos Negros has also been performed by Elizabeth Roxas of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Roxane D’Orleans Juste of the Limón Dance Company, Melissa Young and Nycole Merritt of Dallas Black Dance Theatre, and is a signature performance piece for the dance soloists Stephanie Powell and Nejla Yatkin
Songs of the Disinherited was choreographed in 1972 for the Inner City Repertory Dance Company of Los Angeles and since than has entered the repertories of the Lula Washington Dance Theatre, and the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble among others. The solo Angelitos Negros has also been performed by Elizabeth Roxas of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Roxane D’Orleans Juste of the Limón Dance Company, Melissa Young and Nycole Merritt of Dallas Black Dance Theatre, and is a signature performance piece for the dance soloists Stephanie Powell and Nejla Yatkin
