This project was about the great Alvin Ailey, a Black man who grew up in slavery in America, and was the first Black man to establish his own company, the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. This company performed many powerful pieces, but the one we chose to focus on was a dance called "Revelations", which is about his struggles with slavery, and how he overcame those problems and became one of the most successful dancers in all of the US. The dance shows us his journey and the journeys of all Black people in the US, and how they fought hard for freedom. Because we are studying figure drawing, the art project was to capture at least one dance position used in the piece and at least one other element that had conceptual relevance to the dance. 

What resonated with me the most about this project was the strong symbolism and the powerful color choices in the dance itself. The dance begins with the dancers showing times of slavery, grief, and simplicity. To show this, they used earth-toned, straight-cut clothing and bold, simple movements and gestures. As the dance progresses they include more complex steps and movements, as well as color and style of clothing. This led me to believe that they were displaying a strong sense of change and moving forward into better lives and better times.

Personally, I struggle with creating a well-rounded and creative composition, and I had to sketch out my plan a couple of times before settling on the one I did. This project allowed us the choose our preferred medium where we could choose whatever materials we wanted to use for the piece. But I had some trouble figuring out what would be the best for my project, so I experimented with a few different mediums before I chose color pencils, design markers, and black drawing pens called rapidograph pens.

I chose this reference and position of the woman because it was the opening pose of the dance, and I felt that was really symbolic and a momentous pose to use. The draped blue cloth was not there in the original image I used of the woman. I added this by draping blue fabric across my shoulders and used that as a reference (this is because in the middle segment of the dance, they allude to water and how it symbolizes freedom and because they danced to a song called “Wade In The Water”, a popular song used as a coping mechanism for slaves). I also used the hands because it was a gesture that was very focused upon in the dance. I noticed how as they go up, they increase in complexity, just as the dance did. And lastly, the stool and the sun were important symbols in the last segment of the dance because the dancers used them to symbolize hope and new beginnings.

I learned about the struggle and the problems people subjected to any forms of slavery faced, and how deep their emotions ran. I also learned that despite all the hardships, many still managed to get past them through the use of coping mechanisms and the hope that someday, they will get to see a better, brighter future. This project was made even more impactful because it was Black History Month, and this is the reason why I feel that it is very close to my heart!