Or simply a clarity of illusions in the reflections.
Savvy
Was watching the reflections of sunlight dancing on this patch of water on the window sill of my terrace one evening. I was mesmerized by the fleeting cloud it had captured and its amazing colours that held my fancy for a long while…
I wonder what makes the mind want to take a spill to art.
What evokes the heart to charge the creator with imagination and energy…
To be able to create such artful associations.
Some learnings from a Spill
To turnover a spill to evolve for better
If a child has spilled a cup of milk accidentally….
To keep calm and address the lesson in the spill like carefulness, steadiness, patience, thoroughness, cleanliness and most of all mindfulness.
What’s is spilled, is spilled already…. what matters is what we do about it.
Savvy
As a child when my daughter dropped a glass of water, spilled milk on the floor accidentally, without getting angry admonishing, I have used it as moments to convey such lessons… so much so that it made her understand the value being in the moment while doing anything.
Great lessons can be taught in such moments and vulnerability can become a strength in time.
Similarly one can intend
To create hope in a spill…
To sense a pattern of possibilities in a spill
To use a spillover to change mindsets
To challenge the statuesque through a spill.
To evoke creativity and art…
To test skillsets learned from a spill
To create art in revisiting patterns & perspective
To spill some more and align the pattern formations.
To move beyond the evident spillover…
To envision hope beyond the accidental spill
To accentuate the spill artfully
To create masterpieces from the potential in a spillover…
To understand there is always a reason why and the learnings to come.
To empathize with the spillings across the learning curve
So the very act of overflow or spill
Or a cup that runneth over
Can be a turning point in itself
With the many lessons to learn.
The choice rests with us.
Savvy
This post is a spillover effect from an earlier share by my good friend Ali Anani, PhD.
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.
Creativity flourishes in chaos
Even more than structure and order
For complacency will not set in
When disruptions make you resist…
You start to think outside the box
As the box when open is full of possibilities in the disruption.
So add a bit of randomness
Incorporate changes and unpredictability…
In the chaos of it all
There would be trial & error
New ways appear out of nowhere.
As creativity flourishes in disruptivity.
