Wilbert Alix

I grew up in a world of rhythm & music.

The only community in American history that allowed slaves to keep the drums and music of their homeland was New Orleans. I am a descendant of this culture, and TranceDance is my way of not just continuing but also energizing the same traditions of music, rhythm and dance as spiritual techniques that have the power to induce transformation. Being a wayward child, the hypnotic pulse of these rhythms easily spoke to my soul. I could see early on in my life how sound transforms, and my chosen way was through percussion. My memory is filled with times when I gathered with friends in the streets of my old neighborhood, utilizing anything to make rhythmic beats, creating endless variations of long, soulful rhythms that I now know induce trance.

I believe that all roads lead to a place we refer to as the heart. In my childhood that lead came through powerfully in communal music and ecstatic dance. This has never left me. Early in my 20s I moved away from New Orleans to explore broader areas of my life both geographically and spiritually. Through experience I learned that the doorway to every authentic spiritual moment I encountered inevitably had a sign on the door that said "I don't know". Another word for "I don't know" is mystery... and I soon understood that my biggest mystery was myself. So my journey turned inward even more. The more I explored my heart, the more I began to trust what my heart was saying to me, and so the more spiritual my life became. It made perfect sense that the original way that I found 'soul' in my life would eventually return even more of my soul on the beat of another drum.

My life's journey has been more than interesting. I could never have dreamed that it would lead me to where I am today. I guess we can all say this, which somehow validates our experience of mystery. I continue to hold dearly the idea that the evolution of my soul lies in my own hands... and my hands are not the only hands playing this tune. I've devoted more than 40 years of my life to the pursuit of this self-discovery... both in terms of my own evolution and the evolution of new shamanic ritual techniques. I believe that TranceDance is a descendant of ancient shamanic traditions. Obviously so am I.

Read more about Wilbert Alix