Tuesday 23 July 2013

The energetic presence that the dance embodies

I expect whoever we are, we feel the world we perceive to be self evident, but a moment's reflection reveals that my sense of the world has grown with me and that we all have our own unique focuses or preferences and consequently different perspectives and experiences.

For my part the energetic is a foreground thing - and if it is lacking, it doesn't matter to me how well the dances are taught or danced in technical terms, the event is hollow.

An awful lot of 'the human conditioning' is like the Microsoft joke:
"How many Microsoft engineers does it take to change a light bulb?"
Answer: "None - they simply declare darkness to be the new standard"
My point is that we can all agree to be so much less than we are and make it the official reality - such that we learn to live and become relatively comfortable or temporarily feel safe in darkness - and then protect our investments against the influx of light.

For my part, the Spiritual dimension of the dance may be served by external aspects of content; of the dances used and using ritual forms and themes, but is discernible as living presence regardless of where the event is 'pitched'. We never really have a common language in words for presence because it is the language of the energetic itself and can only be referred to or given some kind of witness in the art of our words.

But I don't actually feel that I am a thoughtful person so much as one who has become willing and able to let thinking go - let it rest, and allow a subtler appreciation of the moment to rise that has a unity and simplicity of being and yet cannot be 'taught' or rendered into the verbal mental constructs of a mind that operates as a sort of defence mechanism.
But it can be learned - and I believe that such learners actually teach automatically (whether they are teachers or dancers).
It is not commonly learned or desired, because it is in the other direction to that of reinforcing one's sense of self presentation or getting a better handle on the world.
I see it more as learning to relax so as to 'get out of the way' or let the armourings or masks fall off, allowing a trust in the love of music, dance and life to be the essential support, so that what is coming up is a cooperative fruit of a shared sense within myself that extends out naturally, because it is there.

So here I am again (anew!) finding words to clothe the focus of my attention.

I noticed at my last dance, that I was less willing to simply give support to everyone beyond the measure of their joining. Less willing to simply feed the dancers expectations of being pleasured or excited. What we do or don't do energetically is a lifetime's learning (and more), but whenever we release an unnecessary belief or role, we regain the power we had given away to it and enjoy a deeper clearer calmer presence regardless of the conditions.
Perhaps another reason for the lack of conscious joy, is simply that so much energy and attention is engaged in the 'steps'.

I would really love to work (play) with people who are eager to grow and learn (be transformed) by the embrace of the dance rather than engaging the steps. I know the argument goes that you have to learn the steps and then apply them until you have them and then you can dance, but somehow I feel this is upside down.
Perhaps because our dance forms particularly lend themselves to those who lean heavily towards the verbal mental approach rather than 'getting' the dance by induction. Because this is so often true of the teachers, it follows that it draws the dancers and sets up the culture that expresses such control, rather than a spontaneity of trust.
Children - of all species that learn behaviours, do so mostly by direct induction in the presence of clear demonstration. Clear being a term not just for the form, but for the manner or spirit of expression.

I don't think it is just that dance is not in our (Western) culture like in the Balkans etc - but that our approach to life is so much more in the 'head', as a sense of being the controller. I feel this may correspond with the 'Patriarchal aspect' as opposed to a more unified expression - but I tune into this in the Now. For the unified is always the living presence and not the packaged and processed interpretations of any kind of elite.

I've rambled on a bit - doing something I love, because I love it.
That's why I dance and share it and sing for it too.
It is a vehicle of expressing a simple and undemanding love in a world that is largely defended against it.
Being in my element; (the loving) is connecting within myself and therefore with others and the world.
When I try to live outside such a, everything goes awry!
There are no substitutes for our genuine presence!
No one else will do!

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