Shall We Dance?

"dance, dance...otherwise we are lost."  -Pina Bausch

I just saw the movie Pina, Wim Wenders' tribute to the legendary German choreographer.  Visually stunning,  the dancers capture the raw, visceral emotion of our human experience.  Despair, joy, pain, vulnerability- it's all in there, moving, breathing, writhing, bursting...beautiful and grotesque at the same time, like life itself.

Each March I set forth on my challenge to dance every day for a bit:  a dance to a dance-your-heart-out song, a dance with a friend, a dance with my students (after-all, I teach dance classes), a dance in silence, listening only to the sensations I feel.  Each dance is a bit different. each day calling for something unique to that day.  It is also an opportunity, as well, for me to explore dance forms that are new to me and to meet new folks to dance with.

Yesterday at the Occupy Your Heath Fair I had an opportunity to learn a meditative song and dance from the Dances of Universal Peace.  I have seen flyers about their monthly dances for years, but this March, I plan to finally check one out.  I will post ideas for other participatory dance events on the Body In Balance Facebook page and invite you to do the same.  I will also post songs and video and welcome you to share your favorite dancing tunes as well.

This is your official invitation to join in the dancing.  One song a day, 3-5 minutes is all it takes.  Music, no music, alone or with someone else....  In the words of Lady Gaga, "Just Dance."  It doesn't matter how many left feet you have either.  Just dance.  Dance every day and see what it brings you.  It may even make you smarter.  Honest.  The New England Journal of Medicine says it will.  Read about it here.

Shall we dance?

Wishing You Balance,

Nancy

P.S.  Here is the trailer for the movie "Pina."  Double click on it to watch it full screen.  Better yet, watch it on an even bigger screen!  The 2-D version is now playing at the Little Theatre.

Seeking Beauty

Some days I find myself seeking beauty.  On sad days, worrisome days, unsettling days- I crave it.  Beauty uplifts, soothes and settles.  The beauty of the sky, a landscape, a tree provides nourishment- vital to the fullness of our human experience.   Beauty feeds us.  It opens us to possibility.  It balances us.

Enjoy the poem which follows, in written form and spoken by the poet himself, the late John O'Donahue.   Beautiful.

Beannacht

("Blessing")

On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.

And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.

~ John O'Donohue ~

(Echoes of Memory)

Wishing you beauty and balance,

Nancy