Abstract
In the spirit of the late dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey, whose famed dance company centers its performances around societal issues, this project similarly uses dance and music to frame the most recent social justice movement and the plight of African Americans. The project highlights how music and dance have historically been vehicles to spark awareness and to bring about change. MDC student Sheamar Robinson’s center piece dance is performed to jazz artist Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit. Just as Ailey set his dances to spirituals, gospel, and the blues, Sheamar Robinson’s performances reflect contemporary, modern, and jazz to conjure some of the same emotions evoked in Ailey’s most popular, Revelations. Images from this summer’s social justice movement and those from the past as well as other historical data were retrieved from academic databases and national archival sources.
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