Wisdom from souls who know
Say angels fly, as they take themselves lightly
A matter of being at ease..so that you will traverse far
Fly knowing the roots are steady on the ground
Soar in the sky sensing the wind in your wings.
Stay on course… you will find yourself.
Life is better the moment you realise
Its value in every now.
So when worry and despair imbalances your thoughts
When anguish and self doubts rocks your self esteem
Rest assured it shall all pass and time will get you over the brink
Just care to have faith, ease up your thoughts
And choose to live, dancing lightly with life .
Resonated deeply with this lovely visual shared by Sanja Sremacki so resharing it along with my verses above as a dedication to this very beautiful reflection of ‘Living life in the lightness of being’.
A day of Silence Can be a pilgrimage in itself. A day of Silence Can help you listen To the Soul play In marvelous lute and drum. Is not most talking A crazed defense of a crumbling fort? I thought we came here To surrender in Silence, To yield to Light and Happiness, To Dance within In celebration of Love’s Victory!
I do believe the journey of life, broadens the mind and brightens the spirit if we are ready to acknowledge the unfolding gifts of connections. along the way.
In my journeys across the world earlier, as a Dance Educator teaching and speaking about dance applications and approaches there have been some amazing people both in the dance circuits and otherwise,who I have had very fascinating conversations with…
I want to share a bit here about some of these beautiful people from across the world who I had a chance connect with, nothing planned,yet meeting them was truly soul enriching to say the least.
Would like to begin the first in these series of posts with Emily Berry who is now a dear friend.
Emily, the beautiful intelligent woman with an Indian Soul all the way from New York … who dances with all her heart and soul 🙂
Emily Berry is the Artistic Director of B3W Performance Group, which has performed in the US, England, Greece, and Mexico...
We met in 2014 Greece, while we were representing our own countries at the World Dance Research Congress.
In her own words…
“I strive to create a safe space for students to learn, explore, question, and become independent thinkers and movers. In technique courses, I address each individual student’s unique body in order to help them develop their technique through muscle re-patterning. Students learn anatomical awareness and tools to help them move past road blocks.
In theory, improvisation and composition courses my main goal is to help student’s find their own voice. Creating a judgment free space is essential so students are not afraid to explore new movement possibilities.”
Berry’s choreography has been tackling such issues as race, the glass ceiling, domestic violence, women in prison, and war since 1995.
Today, brought in a beautiful memory of a time when I had an amazing afternoon walk with her, while at the Acropolis museum Athens.
I remember how a shared a common love for all things dance… got us interacting post our dance workshops and rest just fell in place!
We conversed like we have known each other from years ago…
Personally speaking, I have a deep interest in the art of movements, especially the ones that elucidate the flow… perhaps that is why I love dancing but on the other hand I have been equally captivated by the beauty of Tai chi and more so Qi Gong.
The healing energy of movement has often been a subject of deep passion, respect and research for me.
Likewise I am especially fond of the flowing Waltz as well. Since childhood, dancing comes naturally to me but have always found myself grappling to understand why martial art is even necessary.Until much later I started exploring the potency of energy in each of us…through a little introduction into Tai chi as well by conscious choice.
Allow me to present my reflections on this subject in a flow….
In a dance
There is an interconnect
Of emotion and movement
As to emote is to sense
The feeling in the flow…
In dance there is an awareness
Of moving in response
Without anticipation.
As in one step less,
The music moves on
And you are left to improvise
On how to match the steps in rhythm.
Yes, truly to dance is to enjoy the life in the moves.
In martial arts
There is flow too
But a flow that is ever in alertness,
In strategic moves and self defense
The speed and swiftness
In reaction and response.
Martial arts often feels like dance… t
But often the difference
Is between life and death.
Both are connected in the deepest sense and yet distinctive like chalk and cheese.
The intention to dance and to fight…is what differentiates.
We dance to let go, to enjoy this now and celebrate it.
In awareness is a flow that merges in harmony to synch in with now in artistry of the moves
The warrior is fighting for peace for survival against all odds
Not knowing what is the next move but yielding to the now to decipher the countermove and strike.
Here too there is often a display of extreme artistry of motion in accuracy of time.
To learn both, takes dedication and practice in patience.
But most of all is the need for relentless will & passion to persevere .
Yes, there is a dancer in a warrior
And a warrior in the dancer.
Choice rests within you.
Just remember, to dance is to live the moments and explore its most aesthetic potential in the flow… choose not to make dance a fight.
Stay joyful in peace.
To learn martial arts is to get into the arena and survive.
Attack or in self defense with least possible harm to get out of harms way to stay in peace.
Both may have their own relevance in purpose
To negate one is to look at only one half of the circle
Just as much as joy is part of life
Safekeeping the freedom to be
Is equally important in every now…
Do you want to dance in peace
Do you want to fight for peace.
Choice is yours to make
Peace or war!
To all the dancers and those who choose to waltz with life….
As dancers we are a lucky lot!
We are totally able to dance with time…
Move with it on time,
Or take the offbeat road to reverse and revel the joy of reflections in the rivers of time.
When they asked her to reveal her beauty secrets, Audrey Hepburn wrote this beautiful text that was later read at her funeral.
′′ To have attractive lips, speak kind words.
To have a loving look, look for the good side of people.
To look skinny, share your food with the hungry.
To have beautiful hair, let a child cross it with his own fingers once a day.
To have a beautiful poise, walk knowing you’re never alone, because those who love and loved you accompany you.
People, even more than objects, need to be fixed, spoiled, awakened, wanted and saved: never give up on anyone.
Remember, if you ever need a hand, you’ll find them at the end of both your arms.
When you become old, you will discover that you have two hands, one to help yourself, the second to help others.
The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, in her face or in her way of fixing her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the door open to her heart, the source of her love.
The beauty of a woman doesn’t lie in her makeup, but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.
It is the tenderness that gives love, the passion that it expresses.
Dancing is the ultimate art of expression of the spirit of life. Every part of the world has a unique set of dances that set it apart yet find some similarities somewhere. And that’s what is the strength of the creative art of movements, in the interconnects of community, culture , history, traditions as well as a reflection of the expression of changing times in the Dance Connection, and that is what beautiful about ‘Dance’ itself.
On the occasion of International Tango Day on 11 th December…
As a Celebration of Tango Dancers across the world …Sharing a few verses on Tango with a beautiful Tango Watch “Andrea Vighi y Chiara Benati – Milonga para as Missoes”
Tango
Born in the dark alleys of Argentina
The stark truth emerges of murky beginnings in the 18th century
Frequented mostly by slaves, immigrantsin the ports of Buneos Aires and even Uruguay.
There were even bans on many of these tango musical gatherings.
The dance form began with countless influences of European and native culture.
Watch
Argentine Tango is both energetic and enigmatic
It has the strength and soul to show.
Equally exotic and evocative
Intriguing and beguiling
The lead and follow is beyond genders
For connection is beyond the physicality
For beside the passion play plain to see,
There is something quite alluring & attractive in the movements.
Two people apparently moving as one
The footwork entices and enthralls
The feet move with a mind all their own
But articulating a drama through the feet.
Watch
Slow, steady or sharp and staccato movements
Each pair of feet, teasing the other
Challenging into a seemingly deadly duel of the feet.
Hitting all the right notes
Never missing a beat
Never stepping unto another
Except for a flip a dip or a show stopping lift thrown in.
If you want to see the drama of life and living,
Watch thesynergy of energyplaying
In a soulful yet spirited tango of two dancers.
There is rivetting romance,
Yet strikingly serious and sombre in notion.
Depths of emotion & unbridled passion
Emanating in an artistry of motion.
Today there are so many versions of the Tango
Off shoots and diverse cultural interpretations.
That created new interpretations of the way the dance is danced.
In hold, in form, in stance and in steps. That it’s almost untraceable.
Tango today is alluring as ever with dark days remaining just a history.
Yet retaining the mystery and appeal, Captivating with its intensity.
The connects so rooted in the embrace and hold, that makes the fancy footwork so effortless.
Tango truly speaks eloquently more than ever before…