Hey everybody!

Thanks for coming to my blog! It really means a lot to me!

If you couldn't already tell, this is a blog dedicated to the dance choreographer Alvin Ailey and his life and works. Before I get into his life and his accomplishments, I'd like to take a moment to talk about why Ailey is the subject of my blog.

It seems weird that Ailey would be the subject of my blog. I have almost nothing in common with they man. I'm white, he's black. I'm from Indiana, and he's from Texas and grew up in California. He's a dancer and choreographer, I'm a biology student. We do have one thing in common though: we love the sound of  music.

This type of music may not be the first thing that's on my iPod's playlist, but I love choral music of any kind. Many of his dances incorporate music with beautiful singing in them, ranging from blues, to jazz, to spirituals and hymns, reflective of Ailey's Southern Baptist roots. Spirituals have a rich history of having some of the richest chords in choral music, and it always makes my heart melt to hear a chorus of 40 people belting out singing together in harmony. When I first saw a recreation of Ailey's Revelations, (which I'll talk more of shortly), I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the shear force of the spectacle of the visual performance of the dancers as well as the background music that only made the dancers that much more powerful. It seemed as if the movement was set to the music in the most professional and perfect way imaginable. I may not love dance as much as Ailey, but I love what he can do with music to make dance so moving (pun somewhat intended).

Also, the city he was born in is the same as my last name, so that's cool.

http://www.alvinailey.org/about/people
https://vimeo.com/96629532