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Thread: Dance, dance, dance....

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    United States Avalon Retired Member
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    Default Dance, dance, dance....

    Avalon ... You Make Me Feel Dancing!



    Whew! I feel so much better!

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    Default Re: Dance, dance, dance....

    love is a serious business



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    Default Re: Dance, dance, dance....

    Lifesong..woo hoo!
    I have been sitting reading through such sad posts on Avalon this morning.I saw your thread sitting there looking at me and had to go and read.It made me smile..start tapping my feet and brought laughter back into my day.Thanks
    Leap and a net shall appear

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    Ireland Avalon Member finally there!!!'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Dance, dance, dance....

    hi all hope this finds you smiling



    love and respect

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    Armenia Avalon Member Armen's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dance, dance, dance....

    The time is to act. I think we agree on that. We need every angle, every perspective, every piece, every hand, to push this boulder over the hill.

    In that spirit, I want to advocate for the importance, relevance, and power of Dancing. We have been very top heavy on our intellects and spirits. There is a whole other realm to being human. Our bodies, and kinesthetic awareness. A huge part of my life's path has been dance. For almost twenty years I have been studying various forms from Ballet, to Jazz, to Modern, Hip-Hop, Acrobatics, Tap, Flamenco, Contact Improvisation, Indonesian Dance, Capoeira, African, Sacred Dances around the world, Trance dance, etc.

    If I were to claim a certain style as my specialty, I would say that first and foremost I am an improviser.

    In my experience, dance awakens the intelligence of the body (like is mentioned in Bill's thread). When I look at the world, I see so much emphasis on intellect and meditation. Not a problem. I support those things.

    But when I look at body awareness, that still seems to be such a subject of fear, contention, and marginalization. The changing trend of people rediscovering themselves as instruments of expression, rediscovering touch, and thoughtless communication, is all part of the continuous emergence of the Sacred Feminine. If you want to experience harmony, dance and music are incredible vehicles.

    It creates community, trust, connection, intimacy, and play. Things we need in order to form strong communities. It can be a very powerful path for spiritual attunement and awakening. The body isn't separate from spirit.

    When dance is used deliberately for the awakening of the soul and the expression of divinity, amazing things happen. People who are ill, or dying of terminal illnesses, get better. It feeds us. Dancing feeds us. We are not just consciousness aware of itself, reflecting on ourselves.

    We are also unique individuals with bodies, in the thick of existence, irrationally experiencing ourselves. When that is expressed in a safe environment, incredible reservoirs of love and prophetic vision can be unlocked. I speak from experience.

    We are carriers of creative genius. When we come together, and let go, allow rhythm and impulse to take us out of control, and share that space with integrity and mutual support, when we exercise the gift we were given, and just move our bodies without thinking or being self conscious, a deeper intelligence becomes unlocked. It might be called the kundalini, whatever. It is a sensual, nurturing, creative force that unlocks creative potential. It's raw, and runs the spectrum of every conceivable emotion. It can be sweet, intimate, tender, furious, intense, etc. It gives us a chance to empty ourselves of the incredible energy and creative force that's locked inside of us.

    It doesn't have to be only through dance. Any form of expression channels that energy. But there is something about experiencing the body in that way. We need it.

    Dance can also teach us so much about communication and relationship. About understanding people on instinctive levels. The work that Cesar Milan, the dog whisperer is doing, is absolutely revolutionary. He's teaching people that their dogs behavior is not a function of who they are, but a product of human beings not being aware of instinctual communication. That is to say, the study of communication outside of intellect, is vitally important.

    In the very least I would say that there are people who are designed to express divinity through movement and dance. Now is the time to stop bastardizing that which is of the body.

    I also believe that dance is playing a vital role in bridging the gaps, misunderstandings, and hurts between men and women.

    I want to devote this thread to sharing my experiences, thoughts, and insights on why dance is such a vital piece of this movement.

    Feel free to chime in, express your thoughts, feelings, ask questions, or just muse and express poetically what dance means to you.

    See you out there...
    If our night wasn't constantly lit up by bright lights, we would be able to see the stars.

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    Default Re: Dance, dance, dance....

    There may be trouble ahead, so lets face the music and dance… (offering hand to Armen). I am not much of a dancer, but I will continue to do my thing and keep them off while you do your thing… Vive la differences, vive humanity…. N

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    Default Re: Dance, dance, dance....

    Dancing unfettered and free creates an amazing energy, both within and without! It is primal and true and cathartic...tension, anger, negativity are released until only pure joy remains.

    This thread makes me wish I hadn't changed my signature. It had been..." Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music." -- George Carlin

    Dance on, my kindred spirit!

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    Default Re: Dance, dance, dance....

    Oh, I love to dance, especially improvised dance. Have learned flamenco, ballet. We also had African dance/drumming workshop in my woolshed,cool!! It a great way to express spirit in the body and move energy. To lose oneself in dance to loud music is just fantastic. I love getting people to dance. It is very freeing. You can always tell how uptight people are by how they move their bodies!! Great thread Armen.

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    Scotland Avalon Member greybeard's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dance, dance, dance....

    Quote Posted by Carmen (here)
    Oh, I love to dance, especially improvised dance. Have learned flamenco, ballet. We also had African dance/drumming workshop in my woolshed,cool!! It a great way to express spirit in the body and move energy. To lose oneself in dance to loud music is just fantastic. I love getting people to dance. It is very freeing. You can always tell how uptight people are by how they move their bodies!! Great thread Armen.
    My wife Rosaline is African / Cameroon
    She says I dance OK for a white man.
    I suppose being a bass guitarist helps.

    Chris
    Be kind to all life, including your own, no matter what!!

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    Default Re: Dance, dance, dance....

    Adore this dancer and this performance. Such power and passion!!

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    Scotland Avalon Member greybeard's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dance, dance, dance....

    I love to dance as it is the Universal Language.
    Who cares what country or language -- hop skip or jump to the beat.
    As a youngster I used to dance all over the furniture ---Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire my heroes.
    Being flexible in body keeps you flexible in mind.

    Having a bad day? push yourself to get up turn on the music and flow with it.

    Music is the great healer -- every nation every culture has music and dance-- for sure it is the one thing that unites all.

    Thanks for starting this thread Armen your opening post says it all.

    Chris
    Be kind to all life, including your own, no matter what!!

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    Default Re: Dance, dance, dance....

    Sometimes I wish we were not all so far apart physically!! We could have such a great party dancing and singing and just getting together. Bringing all our talents together. Your wife sounds wonderful greybeard. Last year I bought all my grandkids ukuleles and one a guitar, so now we have a monthly jam session in my woolshed (has a huge fire in it) Weve also attracted some really talented guitarists, so the quality of our jamming goes up and up.

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    Default Re: Dance, dance, dance....

    I couldn't dance when I was a teenager, but having a girlfriend an being a musician myself, made me move my feet and feel the music, when you feel the music and understand it, you learn how to move your body according to it. Feels good to be honest I like it.

    Welcome to P.A.Armen.

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    Default Re: Dance, dance, dance....

    When I was a kid I remember going to a gathering with my parents. At some point there was some music that came on, and everybody started dancing. For some inexplicable reason something happened to me. The music carried me away as I started to move. Eventually it was like a switch got tripped and I lost all sense of myself. It was just my body and the music, intertwined, barreling through time and space. It didn't matter what I looked like, or what I was doing. There was absolutely no self consciousness. I could feel energy all around me. It was tangible. It came radiating out of my chest, and bounced off of other energy bands all around me. In that moment I went to another place. A place of pure abundance and ecstasy.

    If there is such a thing as god, that was it for me. Pure love.

    Later, when I was older, as a big surprise to myself, I chose to become a dancer in earnest. I had no idea I was about to go to war. It was the same war I had been fighting since my first day of school. I just didn't expect it to extend into this most inner sanctum of my bodily expression.

    Even though I learned some very useful things in my education about how to be proficient with movement, it did not have a freeing affect. Quite the contrary. By the end of it I was totally stifled and self conscious. The difference between my experience as a kid, and my dance education, was that in my education it was about getting it right. You had to have a certain type of body. You had to have certain proportions. You had to learn how to place your body in just the right ways. And if you didn't, you didn't deserve to dance.

    It took me years to rediscover that experience I had as a child. To understand the reason why I dance. To loose control. To forget myself, and experience myself instead. Like they say, "Loose your mind and come to your senses." I realized that I had a different measuring stick for beauty than my fellow dance colleagues.

    Just like it seems absurd to me for anyone to have to justify their existence by having to make a living, it seems absurd to me for a person to have to justify their right to dance by being deemed beautiful or not beautiful. It creates human beings who are stifled, afraid, and utterly inhibited. I know from experience. Sure, there are certain folks who have a greater facility, or vocabulary than most, but good conversation isn't about the fancy words you can use. It's about what's exchanged. Even if you only speak two words, it's still possible to have a meaningful conversation if you put yourself into those two words. Dance is no different.

    So for me, dance is about emulating real life. It's about flaunting and celebrating the diversity of human expression. To me, dance becomes truly beautiful when people loose themselves. That is the art. To let go. It doesn't matter what you're doing. When a dancer lets go, it's breath taking, because it's real life expressing itself in a totally unique way. Something that will never occur again quite like that again. And when you are with people who allow and celebrate this raw kind of expression, the energy just goes through the roof. Like others have referenced on this thread, it's cathartic.

    There is a field that can be accessed, although it doesn't reside in time and space. It has a distinct location distinguished not by direction, but quality. It can be accessed from anywhere at anytime. Like the Sufis say, it is the flame that burns. We do have the capacity to set ourselves on fire. It is pure love. It can even hold hatred and sorrow. There's nothing it can't hold, in fact. When we loose our self consciousness, and enter into direct experience, we are there. To be in harmony with the currents of direct experience, in real time, without contemplation or self reflection, is to travel there. I call it the Sacred Feminine. But whatever it may be referred to, it is the reason I dance, and the reason I encourage others who might be curious to dance.
    If our night wasn't constantly lit up by bright lights, we would be able to see the stars.

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    Default Re: Dance, dance, dance....

    I know Armen, the difference between structured dance and free expression dance. I never spent very long learning structured dance. I mastered the technique and moves then incorporated the whole lot into my free expression dance. Much more fun with no rules. My sister was a ballet dancer then a ballet teacher all her life but she could never dance freely. She couldnt just let go and dance for her own enjoyment. Something is stifled if everything has to be correct and 'just so'. Actually the music dictates the dance, but the music doesnt care how we express it in dance!

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