Thoughts
Duel aspects of wholeness
Posted August 23rd, 2010
“Terribilita” Summer
Posted August 20th, 2010The following is a reading from Rob Brezney’s Freewill Astrology for Libra for the week of July 15th 2010. “The Italian word terribilita was originally used by art critics to describe the sculptures and paintings of Michelangelo. According to various dictionaries, it refers to “a sense of awe-inspiring grandeur,” “the sublime mixed with amazement,” or “an astonishing creation that provokes reverent humility.” In my astrological opinion, terribilita is a prerequisite for the next chapter of your life story. You need to be flabbergasted by stunning beauty. Where can you go to get it? A natural wonder might do the trick, or some exalted architecture, or the biography of a superb human being, or works of art or music that make you sob with cathartic joy. For extra credit, put yourself in the path of all the above.”
This message hits home for me and it seems that I got a jump on being “flabbergasted by stunning beauty” starting in May when I took a month-long trip to Argentina, mostly spending time in Buenos Aires. Visiting this city gave me an unexplainable sense of happiness. People ask me what it was in particular that I liked so much about the city and I can’t put my finger on it. I think it was a combination of many things that seem to put me in an altered space. It was the visuals, the buildings, crumbling slightly, but with beautiful lines of an elegant luxurious time that is still very much present. It felt right being in a place where dance and music are embedded in the culture. Tango music is being played on the streets, in restaurants in taxis, color and texture called to me every where. It was the little differences that I noticed, like each cup of café con leche was served with a glass of sparkling mineral water and a small cake or cookie. It was the warmth of the faces on the streets, the misty nights and the dance embrace of many. I danced with partners that have danced tango for 30 or 40 years. I felt another layer of trust and relaxation in being able to follow, which has been a challenge for me from the get-go of my tango journey. Part of the time I was on a tango cultural immersion tour with Daniela Borgialli and Rommel Oramas for their yearly pilgrimage to tango mecca. So yes it was the dance that was part of the feeling but it was more than that. My senses were and invaded and surrounded by color, sound and language that was different and brighter than what I have grown accustomed to. Being in South America for the first time opened my eyes in new ways and I became a fanatic photographer. I wanted to capture the magic, savor it, take it home and share it.
My beauty flabbergasted-ness continued in late June when I met for ten days at The Nest with my Human Nature Dance Theatre cohorts: Jayne, Paul, Breanna and Mizu, to develop work for our upcoming fall performances. We arrived at the title “Animal Etiquette” and started revolving our work around questions of Wild/Tame, Animal/Human, Male/Female. It was a blissful flow of training, creating, making salad dressing, getting out into the rivers and landscapes around the area. I’m so grateful to have a group of partners for mutual support and witnessing for the last 16 years. This last working period was particularly satisfying since we didn’t have the stress of performing finished work at the end of our retreat. The process had more time to just be and not feel pushed. What a relief.
For extra credit I took a flabbergasting trip with my partner Earl though Arizona, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming and had wonderful adventures with both of our families and then finished off with a few days in Yellowstone. This primordial landscape of ancient volcanoes, geysers and all sorts of hydrothermal features put me in tangible touch with the purity of water mixing with the fiery molten core of earth. Seeing the steam, the shooting water and intensity of color and pressure was completely compelling. It reminded me of the reality of where we are and what is going on at deeper levels…. the earth resonates with soul. In these places where earth’s crust is the thinnest I felt messages coming to me through dreams and mist. When reminded to go to the core, what is reflected back to me is the goodness of being and trust in this feminine incarnation. Onward to the next chapter.
Week 10 was our dress rehearsal at our usual Thursday meeting time. Some people arrived a little early and I had the group start an improvisation to warm up and get connected. I was playing Brian Eno’s Music for Airports, a lovely, soft, slow piece of music that set the tone for a sensitive improvisation. As the middle school students arrived to the space the dance was in motion and they added in one by one. I let them improvise for the whole song, 16 minutes of it, as I took pictures, seeing through the camera the comfort and ease they had in dancing with each other. I could have watched this for hours but we did have dress rehearsal to get to. We went over some of the changes to the blind leading section and talked over details and then had a very smooth rehearsal. On Friday and Saturday we had full audiences of parents, family and friends and were warmly received both nights. On Friday night we had special guests John and Ruth Waddell make an appearance joining us in the improvisational section. John and Ruth had been a part of the original Choreography in the Community project, Growth Rings, that happened ten years ago. They wanted to revisit this time in their lives and jump in with the current group of dance. The performance felt magical, everyone gave fully of themselves, the focus of the performers was strong, and they were relaxed enough to improvise with confidence. They did a great job with the choreographed pieces and I think blew the audience away with how far they had come. I heard many comments that people were moved to tears by seeing the different bodies, ages and genders all sharing the stage as equals. Two performances were over so quickly, leaving the sweet sadness of a job well done and the end of very special time together. Seeing the sense of pride everyone had about what we had created and how warmly it was received was one of those times that I just wanted to slow way down and soak up the feeling. I have big gratitude to my class for hosting this event and for each person who gave their unique beauty to the mix. Tomorrow we have our closure with the group, meeting at a park to have a little relaxed time together and say our goodbyes.
Posted May 5th, 2010
Week 9 a strange day, snowing on and off all day. The group came in their colors, we ran through from beginning to end again. We also met Tuesday of this week with just Skyview students. It’s been a week for details and refinements. No one seems to be in a huge hurry to have the performance come, because as people have said they will be sorry to have our time end. At the end of class we laid on the floor and let our bodies release and be held by the earth. Thank you Mother Earth for this beautiful Earth Day. This is the first week I didn’t take a single picture of our process. I was getting through and laying low with my tender neck. As we looked around the circle seeing one another I felt so appreciate of each face and all the new dances that have blossomed from everyone. Next Thursday is our dress rehearsal and then two nights of sharing with the community. What a sweet, heart opening time it’s been.
Posted April 22nd, 2010
Week 8 We ran the performance in order from beginning to end for the first time. Good for everyone to see how it all fits together. In our circle at the end there was an overwhelming expression of excitement about our upcoming show. There is a sense of pride about what we have created and it’s getting near time to share what we’ve been up to with our friends and families. I need to do some tweaking of the music and we have to play with the timing of some of the dances but it looked in fine shape for two weeks to go. I was in director mode and couldn’t switch to photographer mode until the end when I got a few group shots.
Posted April 16th, 2010
Week 7 was one of refinement of of the set pieces before we put it all together. We spent time between linking the hand dances, working on Bre’s dance and improvising. I emphasized the theme of simply doing what you are doing. If you are standing still then do nothing else. If you are walking, then purely walk. If you are touching someone then really feel the quality and sensation of that touch. I am now dancing in the group dance, as we have had some of the elders have to leave from the project due to health issues. It is sad for me and I think for the rest of the group, to let go of people that have been such an integral part of our process. They are missed.
Posted April 14th, 2010
Week 6 We had the whole group back again and shared parts of last week with the younger set. We did the down and up dances in the large group. There was a little more hesitancy to touch and to help from the middle schoolers. It seemed assisting and the touch involved with that was a boundary to break through, and they did. We spent a major portion of the class refining and expanding the hand dances, creating exits and entrances for the groups to move through the space. Breanna’s dance is developing well, the partnering sections are becoming more fluid. We ended the class again with duets or trios creating a collaborative poem, in renga style, then sharing it as one long connected group poem. This poem centered around the theme of seasons of the self or transitions into new parts of self. A day of returning and deepening into the dances and reintegrating after the break. Time is winding down, we only have four more meeting times before our community sharing.
Posted April 5th, 2010
Week 5… We met with just the elders this week because the middle school students were still on their spring break. There was a marked difference in the feeling of the space; quieter, deeper, more vulnerable. When the younger ones are there the energy level is higher and more vibratory. I noticed the level of calm and stillness that the group naturally gravitated to. We did dances of blind following, helping one another down to and up from the floor and dances of boundaries, conflict, borders and obstruction. We had a guest teacher in town for the week, Ronja Verkasalo from Finland, and she taught a segment of dancing names. We ended with Danielle, my teaching assistant, leading the group in creating a type of poem called a renga, first in partners then sharing with the whole group. There is a growing feeling of connection and closeness as we get to know each other better. Fears and gratitude all sitting side by side.
Posted March 30th, 2010
We ended the class with a “spirit read” facilitated by one of the middle schoolers. We sat in a circle and read small segments of our letter to self. This was a letter than each person had written to his or her younger or older self. It was a beautiful collaborative group poem of messages to another time, but very much received by each of us in the present….
Posted March 13th, 2010
the choreographed pieces are starting to take shape…
Posted March 13th, 2010
