"Wade in the Water"

I actually had the honor of seeing the Alvin Ailey Dance Troupe back in high school and it was definitely an unforgetable experience so when I saw we had to do a blog and watch the clip I was especially excited. This clip was an example of elements of black dance because as discussed before just like music, dance moves derive from Africa and that is illustrated in this clip by some of the moves that dancers did like the swift movements of their bodies, a lot of hip movement and thrusts were in corporated in the dance as well as the movement of their arms and legs with the rhythm or beat of the music. This dance in particulary reminded me or praise dancing which is most commonly found in AME and baptist practices of praise and worship. As Thompson mentions "african traditional cults are danced faiths, worship converted into sound and motion , performed in open air..." which is definitely contributed into this dance number. The dancers were wearing clothing similar to old fashioned baptism ceremonies that can still be found in the south but still not as common as it was during and after slavery. The dancers moved with and at times became the water which added to the telling of the story performed by the dancers.