Summer is fading and fall dance activities are gearing up. Thanks to those who came out last Saturday to the Open House with West Coast Swing, Contact Improv, Afro-Modern, Ecstatic and Zimbabwean Traditonal dance. We had a ball! If you want to get in touch with any of the facilitators, contact me and I will be happy to pass on their info.
Mayelin Lovet and I will be offering an Afro-Modern fusion class this fall, Saturdays at 12:00 pm at George St. United Church. Email debbie.at.home.09@gmail.com for more information or to register.
Dance Your Bones has resumed Thursday evenings at All Saints Church and so will my blog reflections on meditation in movement.
Monday, 12 September 2011
Thursday, 28 July 2011
Dance music
Dance Your Bones facilitator Tina shared her favourite dance music source Mondomix tonight so I'm passing it on in a new section at the bottom ... Favourite Dance Music. Check it out, only $.99 a song.
Dancing is the soulmate of music, so I'll get busy adding some music links in that section. Feel free to send me your favourite titles & links.
By the way, I checked out Dancing With the Goddess on YouTube and found Atman's great dance music so now there's a soundtrack to my blog :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpJYU8Qc_-k
It is linked down below.
Dancing is the soulmate of music, so I'll get busy adding some music links in that section. Feel free to send me your favourite titles & links.
By the way, I checked out Dancing With the Goddess on YouTube and found Atman's great dance music so now there's a soundtrack to my blog :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpJYU8Qc_-k
It is linked down below.
Saturday, 23 July 2011
The ethnicity of movement
This week while dancing, friends commented on my obvious joy of dancing to African music. A discussion followed about moving to music from different ethnic traditions and whether learning a dance style such as African (or more specifically Ghanaian or Zulu dances, as there is certainly not one "African" dance) affects how you relate to the music.
That was an interesting thought, that there might be an authentic way of moving to a particular piece of music or rhythm and that learning a style might limit your interaction with that music. I hear the voice of the individual here seeking freedom from tradition and boundaries, a very valid quest.
I have studied many different "ethnic" dance styles (and by the way, ballet is an ethnic dance for me, representing historical upper class European culture - I have had people try to tell me it is a universal dance form - boloney!). I can't say I have tried to find my own authentic way of dancing to music but rather I sought to invest my body awareness in trying to absorb how the teacher/dancer felt in her/his body so that I could feel the music the way they did. What I discovered is that there are very different ways of moving and being human.
Look at the lilt of the Celtic dances. Observe how the centre of gravity is higher in the chest and the feet keep the beat of the music and skip, as if over rocky terrain. Look at the dances from Africa, how the centre of gravity is low in the hips and how that frees the chest to beat with the rhythm, not just the feet. I feel profoundly different doing these dances, and yet I love both. I can express two different ways of being human. This is another path to freedom for me, freedom to explore the "other" from within their own cultural boundaries.
Do you have connections with different dance traditions? Have you "studied" that style or do you just like to move to it in your own way? What did you learn?
By the way, stay tuned if you are in the Peterborough area, as I will be teaming up with Mayelin Semmler to offer a modern/Afro-Cuban fusion class this fall.
That was an interesting thought, that there might be an authentic way of moving to a particular piece of music or rhythm and that learning a style might limit your interaction with that music. I hear the voice of the individual here seeking freedom from tradition and boundaries, a very valid quest.
I have studied many different "ethnic" dance styles (and by the way, ballet is an ethnic dance for me, representing historical upper class European culture - I have had people try to tell me it is a universal dance form - boloney!). I can't say I have tried to find my own authentic way of dancing to music but rather I sought to invest my body awareness in trying to absorb how the teacher/dancer felt in her/his body so that I could feel the music the way they did. What I discovered is that there are very different ways of moving and being human.
Look at the lilt of the Celtic dances. Observe how the centre of gravity is higher in the chest and the feet keep the beat of the music and skip, as if over rocky terrain. Look at the dances from Africa, how the centre of gravity is low in the hips and how that frees the chest to beat with the rhythm, not just the feet. I feel profoundly different doing these dances, and yet I love both. I can express two different ways of being human. This is another path to freedom for me, freedom to explore the "other" from within their own cultural boundaries.
Do you have connections with different dance traditions? Have you "studied" that style or do you just like to move to it in your own way? What did you learn?
By the way, stay tuned if you are in the Peterborough area, as I will be teaming up with Mayelin Semmler to offer a modern/Afro-Cuban fusion class this fall.
Friday, 8 July 2011
Wounds
Dancing, meditation in movement, has been very healing for me. It has helped me to identity where wounds lie in my body so I can start to become conscious of them and enter the healing process.
For some time, I have been dealing with a wound from the age of 20. Caught in a political battle between my dance school and the Royal Academy of Dance, I had a ballet examiner tell me "I would never be a teacher". No wound lies deeper than one that is closest to your divine mission, and mine is most definitely teaching. I was trying to become a dance teacher and when she failed me in that exam, a piece of me broke and did not repair for a very long time. I even quit dancing for a number of years.
I lost all consciousness of that wound for a very long time and it went deep into my body. A healer helped me to locate it last year in the right side of my chest, where my "wing" attaches. This represents my yin or feminine side for me. I have been working on reparing this breach so that I do not continue to have to live solely out of my male side.
While dancing, I have been balancing myself, thinking of my right side, flying around the room like a bird. Last night my body said "You can fly straight now" and I know the work is done.
Do you have experiences of healing while dancing?
For some time, I have been dealing with a wound from the age of 20. Caught in a political battle between my dance school and the Royal Academy of Dance, I had a ballet examiner tell me "I would never be a teacher". No wound lies deeper than one that is closest to your divine mission, and mine is most definitely teaching. I was trying to become a dance teacher and when she failed me in that exam, a piece of me broke and did not repair for a very long time. I even quit dancing for a number of years.
I lost all consciousness of that wound for a very long time and it went deep into my body. A healer helped me to locate it last year in the right side of my chest, where my "wing" attaches. This represents my yin or feminine side for me. I have been working on reparing this breach so that I do not continue to have to live solely out of my male side.
While dancing, I have been balancing myself, thinking of my right side, flying around the room like a bird. Last night my body said "You can fly straight now" and I know the work is done.
Do you have experiences of healing while dancing?
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Yoga of dance
I had a beautiful experience last year at a workshop with Amrita Choudhury, a Montreal-based dancer who teaches sacred dance from her Indian tradition. I highly recommend her workshops, listed on her website.
http://www.ananda-amrita.com
I attended a session she offered in the Laurentians and found an incredible connection with my past sacred dance experience in the evangelical church, despite being from a completely different cultural and religious tradition. It was very meaningful to learn chants and dances that give expression to your heart and I am very thankful to the friend who introduced me to Amrita.
Keep dancing.
http://www.ananda-amrita.com
I attended a session she offered in the Laurentians and found an incredible connection with my past sacred dance experience in the evangelical church, despite being from a completely different cultural and religious tradition. It was very meaningful to learn chants and dances that give expression to your heart and I am very thankful to the friend who introduced me to Amrita.
Keep dancing.
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Body talk
One of the most curious things for me is learning whether other people find their bodies speak to them the way I experience it. Maybe some of you wouldn't say it is your body talking but rather your soul, your restful mind, your heart. Here is how it works for me.
A couple of months ago I arrived at a dance event feeling good and ready to move. I warmed up and had nothing in particular on my conscious mind. The warm-up ended and the facilitator asked participants to remember that stillness was also important and to pay attention to it, not just moving. Something immediately responded in me and I started to settle my body and my mind.
I had just become still when my body said "My spinal cord is tired". I thought that an odd thing in its wording, "spinal cord", as opposed to "spine" or "back". I practice giving my feelings and intuitions a voice, so specific words are important to me. I began to roll up and down slowly, feeling if my back was sore but that wasn't it. I continued to follow this line of thought and movement and not too much later I understood that in fact I was zoning in on my nervous system.
I had been through a busy spring and an emotionally difficult experience at work. My nervous system was asking for a rest and I spent the rest of the session dancing gently, meditating on stress leaving my body.
Share an experience you've had and please don't give up if I don't seem to reply or connect with you... I'm still learning about how blogging works and I may not have these settings right!
A couple of months ago I arrived at a dance event feeling good and ready to move. I warmed up and had nothing in particular on my conscious mind. The warm-up ended and the facilitator asked participants to remember that stillness was also important and to pay attention to it, not just moving. Something immediately responded in me and I started to settle my body and my mind.
I had just become still when my body said "My spinal cord is tired". I thought that an odd thing in its wording, "spinal cord", as opposed to "spine" or "back". I practice giving my feelings and intuitions a voice, so specific words are important to me. I began to roll up and down slowly, feeling if my back was sore but that wasn't it. I continued to follow this line of thought and movement and not too much later I understood that in fact I was zoning in on my nervous system.
I had been through a busy spring and an emotionally difficult experience at work. My nervous system was asking for a rest and I spent the rest of the session dancing gently, meditating on stress leaving my body.
Share an experience you've had and please don't give up if I don't seem to reply or connect with you... I'm still learning about how blogging works and I may not have these settings right!
Monday, 23 May 2011
Welcome
Welcome to a blog about meditation in movement. I practice a very personal approach to ecstatic dance - personal in the sense that I have never "studied" any particular theory or approach to ecstatic dance. I simply move and see what I learn from my body. I am both teacher and learner, schooling myself in embodied meditation.
A blog is a chance to reflect on what I am learning, and then share those reflections with others who practice or would like to explore ecstatic dance. You are welcome to comment too if you have other related embodied experiences - some find their spiritual connections while hiking or canoeing.
I become disheartened when people create syndicated bodies of knowledge when our own inner knowing is enough. Everyone can dance. Dancing is part of being human. Anyone can teach themselves to listen and to follow their body. In fact they are the only ones who can.
I hope you'll write back about what you're learning too.
A blog is a chance to reflect on what I am learning, and then share those reflections with others who practice or would like to explore ecstatic dance. You are welcome to comment too if you have other related embodied experiences - some find their spiritual connections while hiking or canoeing.
I become disheartened when people create syndicated bodies of knowledge when our own inner knowing is enough. Everyone can dance. Dancing is part of being human. Anyone can teach themselves to listen and to follow their body. In fact they are the only ones who can.
I hope you'll write back about what you're learning too.
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