Tag Archives: dance

Dancing with the fearless ones

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Children Creative Dance

There was something that sparked my interest in the fearless ones; those marvellous beings whose auras of spontaneity and imagination have not yet been dimmed and whose passions for life are just beginning to be explored and developed.

The spark of an idea ignited a flickering creative and intellectual flame. I dared to wander into the lands of the fearless ones, into the heart of the castles of learning wherein they dwelt by day, with a quest laid before me. I resolved to seek answers to my questions…

Children Creative Dance

Would the fearless ones be brave enough to join in the dance?

Could their lightning-fast energy, capable of flying in multiple directions, be channelled into a path of exploration and discovery? Would they be open enough to respond in the moment, without any self-judgmental voices or pre-conceived notions blocking them before they had begun?

Children Creative Dance

Would their innate, creative instincts overflow to bring forth movement and magic from their bodies and their minds? Would they commit themselves, with daring, tenacity and boldness, to the challenges of moving on impulse, without forethought, without instruction, engaging in the flow of pure improvisation?

Children Creative Dance

Could they embody fully an image or concept, without hesitating to wonder why or how an image can be placed within the body as well as within the mind? Could they possibly translate complex ideas into developed, thoughtful and intricate shapes, gestures and movements?

Children Creative Dance

Would their eagerness and thirst for knowledge sustain them as they communicated their ideas and intentions with one another to deepen their journey into the dance? Could they work with one another, accepting the challenge of problem-solving, listening and adapting to each other’s ideas?

Children Creative Dance

Would they flourish in such an environment; would their innate capacity for expression emerge from their bodies, would the act of moving support their learning, would those who lacked confidence in themselves be able to develop self-worth, and would those who struggled in the castle of learning find something in which they could excel and amaze others by doing so?

Children Creative Dance

I wandered in the lands of the fearless ones for 6 years or more, I danced with 500-750 fearless ones every week, in close to 100 castles of learning. I even danced with their learned teachers, those most trusted of guides, who work tirelessly to nourish the fearless ones as they make their way through the early challenges of life.

Children Creative Dance

I returned home each day from these lands totally exhausted… The  fearless ones demand huge amounts of mental, physical and emotional energy. Often I fell asleep on any soft surface I could find as soon as I arrived home, nodding off as sunbeams danced on my face, barely able to rouse myself to complete my day, and falling into bed again before the moon had risen.

Children Creative Dance

But, I learnt much from the fearless ones and found answers to my questions. In all those long years, the resounding answer was YES. Maybe not always, not every fearless one in every castle of learning, but mostly, incredibly, overwhelmingly, YES.

That is why they are the fearless ones… Because they answer YES! It did not matter of they were a boy or a girl, it did matter their background, that was generally inconsequential. The fearless ones are the fearless ones because…

Children Creative Dance

Because they are open, spontaneous, imaginative, creative, courageous, eager, expressive, connected to their physicality, reflective, communicative, learners, problem solvers and accepters of new challenges.

Having danced with thousands of fearless ones, I find myself reflecting; I wonder if they will stay that way… When one day, they journey out of their lands and into the lands of the adult ones, will they keep their amazing powers, or will these get lost along the way?

Children Creative Dance

Which leads me to ask…

Would I, as one who has already crossed that boundary, wish for them to remain connected to their innate capacity for creativity, spontaneity and courage? Can I continue my forays into their lands to lay the dance before them and offer them the chance to take up the challenge? Do I do this with the hope that the more creative opportunities the fearless ones are offered, and the more encouragement they are given to explore their own creativity, the more likely it is that they will stay connected to this part of themselves once they cross the threshold into adulthood?

My answer is YES!

Children Creative Dance

Note: Pictures above originate from photos taken for  ‘Learning in Motion’, a creative dance resource for schools, produced by Amanda Banks, South Downs School Sport Partnership and East Sussex County Council, England, with additional photos taken during a Creative Partnerships Project, England. All photos have been manipulated and translated into pictures to honour photo consents… And to create beautiful artwork!

And the purpose of art is…?

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Jim Carmody, Muse end close up

‘Wherever The Muse Doth Lead’
Photo credit – Jim Carmody

“Sometimes, without darkness, riches will never be revealed. We need patience and faith to wait for things to unfold out of that deep valley between the two worlds…” Melanie Doherty, Bookish Nature

What is art? What is dance? What is their purpose…? I remember having heated discussions in years long gone, debating what art is, attempting to define its parameters, establish what makes ‘good’ art. I took it seriously at the time.

Jim Carmody, Muse scientist duet

‘Wherever The Muse Doth Lead’
Photo credit – Jim Carmody

These days such discussions are not as interesting to me. What interests me is my personal relationship with art, and my personal philosophy on what art can be. I appreciate it can be many things, and I value and respect all of those myriad of things. But for me personally, I see art as being of greatest value when it sits in the centre of everyday life, adding nourishment, meaning and enrichment to all aspects of living.

Art began as something raw and fundamental, something intrinsic to everyday life and everyday people, it was immediate, basic, vital. It emerged spontaneously, it carried life force, it expressed something that had a need to be expressed, it simply ‘was’.

Manuel Rotenberg, Muse opening corner group

‘Wherever The Muse Doth Lead’
Photo credit – Manuel Rotenberg

Where is art today? Does it sit at the centre of life, embedded in each of us, with its value so obvious that we do not need to question its existence? Or does it sit in its own domain, in a realm that only ‘artists’ dwell in, cut off and out of reach from the rest of us mere mortals? What does that do to us? Where does that leave us and our view of ourselves as human beings?

Jim Carmody, Muse opening

‘Wherever The Muse Doth Lead’
Photo credit – Jim Carmody

I believe that we do ourselves a disservice when we either sideline art or put it on a pedestal. Both of those acts make a statement. They say “creativity is not the domain of all humankind”. I believe this is deeply disempowering. Life itself is a creative act, being alive is a creative miracle, and we are all responsible for creating our lives as we think, feel and act our way through every day.

Manuel Rotenberg, Muse madness pedestals

‘Wherever The Muse Doth Lead’
Photo credit – Manuel Rotenberg

When we separate art from ourselves, I believe that on some level we create a wide chasm inside us. We cut off and ostracise a part of us that is inherently creative, spontaneous, life-enhancing and spiritual. We throw it away from ourselves, cast it adrift on some barren outcrop of rock and place an uncrossable gulf between it and us.

Manuel Rotenberg, Muse sky duet

‘Wherever The Muse Doth Lead’
Photo credit – Manuel Rotenberg

So, to come full circle, for me personally, art is a bridge. Art is a bridge that can lead us back across the gulf to that soft, vital, creative, connected, energised place inside ourselves. For me, any art that can bridge the gulf has value; no matter what label of genre or aesthetic might be applied to it. Because for me, crossing the bridge and reconnecting with the part of ourselves that has not forgotten its capacity for flight is a vital part of living…

“The tug to follow brings glimpses of doubts and peril, but to not follow leaves you closer to the falling-edge behind. Only by answering the forward tug, can you get to the edge where you can fly. Sometimes you have to drag yourself there, crawling inch by inch. Sometimes, you can fling open a door, and a following wind lifts you through, opening the wide sea ahead of you. Sometimes it seems very far away indeed, glimpsed through a keyhole.” Melanie Doherty, Bookish Nature

Jim Carmody, Muse wash line trio

‘Wherever The Muse Doth Lead’
Photo credit – Jim Carmody

I was recently fortunate enough to be involved in an artistic project as guest choreographer for UCSD’s winterWORKS 2013 performances.  My contribution to the performance was a piece entitled ’Wherever the Muse Doth Lead’. As I reflect on that work, the two aspects of it which stand out to me are the dancers and the connection I formed with two writers.

Jim Carmody, Muse picture frame

‘Wherever The Muse Doth Lead’
Photo credit – Jim Carmody

The dancers are all undergraduates at UCSD; some of them major in dance, but most are majoring in other subjects such as law and medicine. To work so closely with such inspiring young adults, who may not see themselves as aspiring ’artists’ but whose love, passion and commitment to dancing and immersing themselves in the world of the muse that we created together, was an amazingly life-affirming experience.

The writers, Melanie Doherty and Louise Hastings, are gifted at writing words that create the most exquisite bridges between the mundane parts of ourselves and the ‘poetic and extraordinary’ ones. I was humbled, happy, thankful and excited to have their permission to record segments of their words, spoken by the dancers, and woven into our soundscore. Such is the grace of art, that it can connect people who have never met, connect diverse genres, and connect a person with the spark inside themselves.

Manuel Rotenberg, Muse opening corner group and painting

‘Wherever The Muse Doth Lead’
Photo credit – Manuel Rotenberg

“There is something in her that intrigues me, something I don’t yet understand. How she gives of herself so freely, yet expects nothing in return; how she holds onto joy during moments in time when the spark seems like it is dying; carrying me along on the cloud burst, away from the grey and mechanic, into the poetic and extraordinary. A place where the ice is melting, where the fire has raged through the forests, where the rivers flow on like electricity. My spirit is gradually unfolding into being…” Louise Hastings, Wings Over Waters

Manuel Rotenberg, Muse giving globe

‘Wherever The Muse Doth Lead’
Photo credit – Manuel Rotenberg

Art, in all its forms, has the capacity to remind us what it is to ‘be’ rather than to ‘do’… What greater service or purpose could it offer?

Please visit Bookish Nature by Melanie Doherty and Wings Over Waters by Louise Hastings to read more of their beautifully crafted words.

All photos are with kind permission from Manuel Rotenberg and Jim Carmody. Please visit their websites for more captivating images.

Ico-Dance… A new venture

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The old year is dead… Long live the new year!

With the ending of 2012, our spirits take a moment between breaths to reflect on the past year and ponder what lies ahead along the long, winding path of 2013. Collectively we can but hope, as we step tentatively forwards into this year, that life will continue to teach us the lessons we most need to learn, so that little by little, our arrogance, delusion, fear, hatred, pride, judgement, and many more shadow-twists of the ego, are gradually worn down and smoothed away, so that one day we may become the Selves we wish to be.

An image comes to mind…

Broken sky

A piece of sea-green glass, that once upon a time believed itself to be a perfectly formed, elegant bottle… Only to one day be smashed apart and realise it was nothing but a broken, jagged, ugly, deformed object, capable of harming those it touched… That spent year upon long year at sea being pushed, pulled, tugged and drowned by waves unnumbered… Travelling to a hundred different shores and having its eyes opened to the vastness of life and the smallness of itself… Until, at last, it was humbled and realised it was a tiny piece of nothing, that had undertaken a journey that was everything, and it saw every other piece of anything as equally nothing and everything as itself… And it gave itself up to the command of the ocean, feeling deeply for every other piece of nothing and everything around it… Till one day, as a hand reached out to pluck it from the sand and marvel at it, it beheld itself to be a tiny, wondrous piece of rounded, softened, glistening, sea-green beauty… And it gave thanks to the relentlessly fierce push and pull of ocean waves that had eventually quenched its delusions and brought forth its beauty…

Land and sea

And then, the image fades again…

In its place, I am aware of the change of energy in the air. My husband Bruno and I both have new ventures to pursue this year in California, a little more than a year after we first began our life here together. 2013 has begun with a great deal of activity.

In just over a week I begin teaching some new dance classes, which I have called Ico-Dance, in two local cities (towns for English folk). The classes are for adults and are based on my own lifelong practise as a contemporary dancer and teacher. The word ‘contemporary’ implies many different things to many different people, not all of them positive, and it is not a word that always draws a crowd! But, what remains at the heart of contemporary dance, underneath the many associations that come with it, is creativity, the recognition that human beings need to move and be moved, and an ability to embrace just about anything.

Ico-Dance classes, Solana Beach & La Jolla, California

‘Contemporary’ dance can be anything and mean anything… It is really just an umbrella attempt to name any dance that is NOT already named something else. Through the years, my relationship with it and the meanings I imbue it with have changed immeasurably. Today, what I value most from my many years immersion in dance of a contemporary nature, is the deep learning it has given me about what creative, flexible and intuitive dance can truly give to people of all ages and backgrounds.

Even dinosaurs dance

Dance is nourishment, dance is therapeutic, dance is holistic, dance is any word you can think of that brings life, breath, energy and joy to your body, heart and head. And it is certainly not just for dancers!

From life’s earliest beginnings, creatures have enjoyed the pure pleasure of movement - flying, soaring, swimming, surfing, walking, running, leaping, stomping - it is just humans who sometimes forget this simple joy of existence. I am very grateful for having had dance as a central part of my life since I was three years old. Without it, I cannot quite imagine who I would be. Having said that, I am also glad that I moved away from dance for a couple of years, to be able to return to it with a renewed awareness of its unique gifts.

Dancing with animals

I will attempt to write more about Ico-Dance on this blog as this new year progresses, (just to confuse those of you who come here to read about marine conservation), but for now, please do visit my ICO-DANCE page for more information and if you are a local in San Diego county, do come and try a class and spread the word to others!

P.s. My apologies to the wonderful writers and photographers whose blogs I am following… I know you have all been writing prolifically through the festive season and beyond, and I have not visited your sites to catch up with your words for many weeks… I promise to visit soon and catch up on all I have been missing!

An impression of body

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We live in our bodies, how could we do otherwise?

We live, sleep, eat, work, relax, play and move in our bodies.

Our bodies are our entry point into the world.

We begin and end in our bodies.

Outside of our bodies is an explosion of otherness; other bodies, a multi-dimensional space, the known and unknown.

At the periphery of our bodies we sense the otherness.

We see, hear, smell, taste, touch and, in more subtle ways, ‘feel’ the world, with our antennas tuned to the various sensations surrounding us.

All of which we can interact with, or withdraw from.

We start from within and extend out to the world, inescapably in a relationship with every other body we interact with, by necessity of our existence bound and freed by the space in which we live.

We leave an imprint on the world, with the action-expression of our every thought and feeling.

And the world leaves an imprint on us.

Our bodies respond to every impression, every nuance of sensation, information and action.

And so we dance through our lives.

Our bodies deepest intentions project outwards with every move we make. The shape, curve, flow, strength, speed and direction of our every posture, gesture and movement betrays us to the keen-eyed observer.

And the otherness impacts on us, impressing itself upon us, so that our inner dance metamorphoses in response.

Because deep inside our bodies lies another explosion of being; thoughts, feelings, the known and unknown.

We dance with the internal world contained inside our skin and with the external world outside our skin.

Our bodies are the containers of our us-ness and the barriers to other-ness. Being in our bodies separates us from him, or her, or them, or it.

But our bodies also hold the mysteries of together-ness.

Whole-ness.

One-ness.

Every atom in our bodies exists in relationship to every other atom in the universe. Our bodies were once glowing stars. What happens in the microcosm of our inner worlds is reflected on the larger stage.

As within so without, as without so within.

Every piece of matter, living and non-living, is in relationship with every bit of other-ness in existence, including us.

The tiniest body cannot be separated from the whole, the whole is greater than the sum of all its tiny parts.

Confined to our separate bodies, we cannot quite grasp the whole in all its glorious beauty.

Gifted with our bodies, we are given the freedom to explore an infinite palette of possibility contained within the whole.

Being in touch with our bodies, keeps us in touch with all of our us-ness, and other’s other-ness, and opens the spaces within us for our awareness of whole-ness to shine through.

We live in our bodies; if this was not meant to be, our bodies would not be here.

We begin and end in our bodies.

We dance to explore our bodies’ potential to teach us.

We dance to accept the miracle of being.

We dance, how could we do otherwise?