Lifting Lines/Morphing Visions: Autumn 5

Tags

acceptance, allowing, art, artist, Ballet, becoming, choreographer, choreography, contemporary dance, Courageous Vulnerability, Creative Flow, creative process, Creativity, Dance, modern dance, natural, natural beauty, nature, organic, process, wabi sabi

Of all the work I have created, nothing can compare to the majesty of natures creations. What comes from the flow of energetic creative cultivation can not come close to the magnificence of the natural and loving world. There is a timeless and universal beauty that is without comparison to what can be made of the human body.

Let us also not get caught in the confines of our ego as we participate in the creative process. Let us share in the joy of this kind of blissful flow without finding ourselves attaching our ego to the birth of that which we shape. We should not hold this ephemeral beauty hostage. Work needs to be set free just like the human spirit.

In the moment of unconditional sharing, this is the time when our work and its unique vibration of being is the closest it can get to the beauty within nature. This is the moment when the works speaks directly the the human heart which is the direct line to the nature of humanity and its link to the organic compounds of the universe itself.

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Lifting Lines/Morphing Visions: Autumn 4

Tags

art, artist, Ballet, contemporary dance, creating, creative procss, creative spirit, Dance, life, meaning, Modern, Movement

As rare occurrence has shaped my life, I shape the movement of the dance space

As a physical language expresses the road I have traveled, I express the spectrum of emotion from my heart

As poetic imagery pools in the kinetic landscapes of my work, I remember my journey through metaphor

The Magic of Merging with the White Horse

Tags

acceptance, allowing, artist, becoming, beleif, Believing, choreographer, Conscious Living, Courageous Vulnerability, craetivity, development, discovery, Dream, journey, light, merging, soul, spirit, time, travel, white horse, writer

I have welcomed the merging with the white horse. This is a journey of deep discovery and boundless creativity. I give way to the becoming of one leaving behind all that is unnecessary while embracing all possibilities. By weaving the tapestry of our spirits we do not lose ourselves but transform our being through the enhanced senses of one another’s hearts and dreams.

We ride to discover the endless blanket of ever expand light that reaches across unfathomable planes. The travel of eternity moves both forward and backwards in time. There is no fear direction as love moves in all dimensions.

We soar the oceans depths of spirit; immersing ourselves in the deepest states of creativity by releasing to the vacuum of the internal. We breathe water like air while swimming with the expansive wings of Pegasus. There is no fear of what is right when love knows no wrong.

This journey has no steps and yet we will travel distances only measured by the soul. There will be no quantifiable or empirical. There needs no measure when what is experienced is immeasurable. All that will be will be understood by the absorbing of all that there is.

Healers Light

Tags

affirmation, artist, beleif, creative spirit, Energy, great design, healer, health, light, love, vibrations, well being

Seeing with feeling is the weapon of the healer. Sensing the vibrations of the body’s language and story allowing for the opening and flow of energy by rebuilding the bridges of well being.

In this moment of reconnection and reintegration, the guide whispers an affirmation of what one deserves as the law of well being dictates. A law and a right given by the creative spirit through the manifestation of the great design.

The convergence of like mind of the healer and receiver is the very moment of miraculous acceptance. It is the moment when we realize we are a perfect being destroying  the idea of imperfection with the light of truth. It is this moment we absorb our magnificence and reclaim health.

Believing in well being allows for well being. Affirming our well being allows for the energetic potential of great being. Demonstrating the congruency of well being allows the self to embrace the healing power of love.

Thoughts in the Morning

Tags

allowing, artist, Balance, Ballet, becoming, beleif, Believing, bliss, body knowledge, change, choreography, Conscious Living, contemporary dance, courage, Courageous Vulnerability, EBAS, Energy, faith, Grateful

In my meditations this morning I was reminded of an image I share when I am teaching dance. I was also reminded that this thought process is very present in all of my work. That made me take a moment and enjoy how wonderful my work is and how grateful I am for being able to do the work I do. I thought I might share this with you and see if in fact it touches you today.

This entry is from Stephen Mitchell’s The Second Book of Tao. I am pulling out a part of the writing to direct my thoughts more clearly.

“Between the joints there are spaces, and the blade has no thickness. It slips right through; there is more than enough room for it. And when I come to a difficult part, I slow down, I focus my attention, I barely move, the knife finds its way until suddenly the flesh falls apart on its own. I stand there and let the joy of the work fill me. Then I wipe the blade clean and put it away.”

This reminds me a lot of how I share my thoughts about dance. I speak a lot about the space between gravity. The image is to remind people that we are not defying gravity, but moving through it with the rising energy of the earth that moves freely through our bodies. When we are training and learning new skills, it is imperative to take a moment to slow down and truly learn the movement by focusing on the sensation and feeling of each molecule of our being. When we do this we can feel the transformation of physicality as the unknown becomes felt and the difficulty falls away. It is as if we peel away the layer of confusion by quieting the mind and letting the mind of the body figure out the work. And when all is said and felt, we honor the work by thanking ourselves for taking the time and allowing the space to express our courage and vulnerability of the journey of not knowing to knowing.

Kinetic Process West

Tags

allowing, art, artist, body knowledge, choreographer, choreography, Creative Flow, creative process, Creativity, Dance

Underneath the eyes of the watchful mountains
Beneath the vast blue sky
Work is created with the vision of the heart

Movements mirroring the voice of mind
Imagery manifesting micro and macro
Dance is woven as a reflection of humanity

The Process At This Moment: Listening for Kinetic Identity

Tags

artist, becoming, choreography, Composition, creation, Creativity, destiny, identity, kinetic identity, letting dances make themselves, letting people become who they are, listening, patience, waiting

Spending time in a state of listening allows me the luxury of getting to know what kind of a dance the dance itself wants to be. If you listen carefully, the dance will begin to whisper ever so gently and softly to you as it reveals itself through its infantile murmurs. At that moment, you have to keep listening with an intent and faith that it is a living and breathing thing that knows what it wants.

 

Much like people, dances know themselves, their true selves, long before those that surround us tell them what they are supposed to be. At the time you hear the whispers and they become ever more clear to you, articulate and vibrant; you know the work is standing on its on feet and ready to race its way to completion. The work creates this moment itself because it can do nothing but realize its destiny to be exactly what its internal vibration knows it must.

 

If I can give myself to this, humble myself in the action of creativity, I will be the fortunate bystander to magic and forces often missed by those who have tried to manufacture a dance in the image of their own ego. So it is this place of courageous vulnerability that I trust in the energies of what this creation is and allow it to be everything it so desires to be.

To Keep in Mind Today

Tags

abundance, artist, believing we can, choreographer, creative process, creative spirit, dance maker, education, educational process, gratitude, learning to fly, making art, making work, poet, poet of space, prosperity, teacher

May I extend the hand of love to those around me today who have the courage to be vulnerable in the act of learning? May I find compassion in my words helping them to release the gravity of information freeing their feet from the weight of knowledge and letting them know that they too can fly? May I also grow through the reflection of their process understanding more deeply the well of creativity that is inside of me? May I find the courage to absorb this information and translate it ever more efficiently folding it back into my process? May I be rewarded as a steward of the creative spirit acknowledging my role in society by being an artist able to continue sharing my work and my thoughts? May I speak of gratitude often today, as I am eternally thankful that I am able to walk the magical path of movement relishing in my abundance and prosperity as a poet of space?

Answering a question

Tags

artist, choreographer, Creativity, Dance, Dream, dreams, following your bliss, hope, passion, w, Writing

I was asked this morning by a former student how my life was and if I was living the dream. I stopped for a moment and considered this question and responded that teaching at VCU was never the dream but it is my life. My life is the dream in all actuality. My entire existence is the dream that I believed it would be. I am, in fact, living the dream of my life.

This kind of question puts us in a place of having to justify or categorize our success. Asking it of others and feeling like we need to somehow justify this very moment always creates a conflict of our own spirit. I suggest we stop asking these kinds of questions and ask the simple question of “are you finding happiness?”. I suggest this because many of us are never where we hoped or desired. Many of us are in process. To judge another on a process or one that is not their own is to force someone to be someone they are not and limit their greatest potential.

I have found, not until recently, that I understand  my path has taken time and that there is much more unfolding needed to get me to where my full potential is. I am only just beginning in many ways because I have been letting go and unlearning so much of what has been extra baggage or weight on both my heart and my art. It is only now that I feel I am beginning my journey with a sense of freedom and humility that I have never had before. Releasing my heart into the action of the direction along with my body. There is true freedom and release here. For this I am grateful.

Now, for those of you VCU people reading this, I am where I need to be. I am happy where I am teaching and fulfilling much of what I have been put on this earth to be. I am a teacher among many other things and I am not ashamed of this. I am proud of it. Proud because I do good work and I share the love and passion of the art form in a way that is unique to me and adds to the overall educational process of the dancers. I work as a team member to participate with my colleagues embracing the multifaceted process that working as a team brings to the development of a holistic and amazing dancer.

What embracing this does mean is that it adds to my sense of being and my sense of being an incredible artist as well. Teaching does not diminish my existence as an artist. Being in the studio only enhances and deepens the process of growing as a choreographer. I am an excellent choreographer and on my own path of discovery and deepening of my own choreographic integrity. One does not need to be in a place, with a certain company or written about in certain publications to be good or to justify your ability. What makes you a choreographer is the action of making work. We must move in the direction of making work to claim who we are. So we make. I make and therefor I am. It is with time and discovery that I grow and I become.

This is the same with my writing. I am writing and therefore I am a writer. I may not be the best writer or a fully published writer, but I am writing. I am growing through my work and sharing through each word just as I place each image on the stage. We are who we are in the presence of our actions. Take action!

Having said all of this please know that in taking action you do not take for granted the need to do so with integrity, respect for the form or the deepening of your skills. We must always remember to remind ourselves to continue to reach for our best, to be our best and hold ourselves to the standards of growth and expansion. Doing this with integrity and diligent process is what makes us artists, choreographers, writers and whatever else our hearts dream of. This alone is living the dream. This is our dream.

Now for those of you who have everyday jobs and want to live more creative lives, this applies to you to. You are creative every day in every thing you do. Do not think that because you don’t work in the arts that there is no way you could ever be an artist. If art is in your heart, art is in you. Make! Make away! Find what your heart is drawn to and do. Find your heart begin to sing when you do what you love. Make art a part of your every day being and art will be your life. And when. Someone asks you what you are doing and if you are living the dream you say” why yes, I am! I am living my dream!”