Lean Into the Wind

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art, artists, choreography, creating, creative process, Creativity, dancers, directors, inspiration, musicians, observations, singers, storytellers, work, writer

Lean into the wind of creativity and eventually it will gale so forcibly they will pick you up and carry you.

One might think they are flying, in fact it is actually the wind lovingly carrying you as you express the soul of the world through your work.

Be mindful of making the mistake of thinking it is you who are soaring. Be humble in the act of creation and those winds will always be setting a course for your heart to sail.

Lean into those winds and not for once lose faith in your song.

Dancers

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a life well lived, artists, choreographer, Dance, dancers, devotion, honor, love, Magic, owe, passion, soul, spirit, teacher, the arts, Wonder

Dancers are a rare and beautiful thing. They tirelessly push themselves and their bodies to press back the boundaries of their physicality exhausting themselves simply for the love of movement. They willingly give themselves over to a dance to unselfishly submit to the voice of the work. They map the dance with their bodies so the audience can see, for one brief ephemeral moment at a time, the vision of the choreographer.

This ecstasy is what drives each and every dancer. This bliss is what carries dancers through a lifetime relationship their kinetic lover. It doesn’t matter what style or technique, what matters is a body in motion. This is what reminds the dancer time and time again that they are alive and well. This is what means the world to them and what they give themselves over to time and time again.

I admit I am partial to dancers. Perhaps because I fell in love with dance and changed my entire life to pursue the uncertainty of this lifestyle. When I say I chose it, I should really say I finally started listening to the omens that were there before me for so very long. But like most of us, we are not always listening to the voice of our hearts and our bodies and often miss our calling. I am grateful for my awakening and thankful for one of the most beautiful lives imaginable.

And so I cherish dancers. I do. They are to be admired, respected and revered. I owe dancers my life really. Because they need training, I have a job that I love. Because they need dances to immerse themselves in, I have a company. If it wasn’t for them, I would be lost as to how to express my kinetic vision and voice. For this, I am grateful.

I love my dancers. I trust my dancers. I believe in them fully to embody the concepts and humanity within the work I lay asleep at night contemplating. I believe in them enough to give them the dances we create knowing that they are the keepers of the ephemeral magic that is my work. I couldn’t imagine anything else as dances must be a shared responsibility of the community so as to honor the fullness and richness of the art form and the dance.

We need dancers in our communities, our cities, our culture. They bring to us a vast richness of being as they are an example of listening to their hearts and fulfilling their destiny. They are models of what it means to be fully human while giving themselves over to something larger than themselves with complete love and passion. They live life never apologizing for following their dreams and the fulfillment of that dream through the vehicle of a heavenly body in motion.

And it is this that we must remember. It is this kind of acknowledgment and support that we must remember. This is the reason why I believe we should honor a dancer this week. I would like to ask you to join me in helping to honor my dancers richness and beauty by helping me to support their energy and efforts in space and time. If you have ever marveled at these gorgeous creatures, wondered how they do it or stood in awe of their majesty; join me in my goal of raising $3000 this week to sponsor their performance fees.

Just 300 people donating at the Forerunner level of $10 can make this possible. If you do the math, the numbers diminish if the amounts go up. And even if you have never experienced much dance in your life, know that these beautiful beings are remarkable and inspiring and deserve to be paid what they are worth. Truth be told they are priceless, but being paid is a small way of honoring their being.

Thank you for letting me share these thoughts and this request. If you can’t support, please share. If you can’t share, send your love and kindness. Momentum comes in many ways. And lastly, be sure to mark your calendar for September 11-13 to see the magnificence of these kinetic beasts. They will steal your hearts as they have mine.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/amaranth-arts-2014-fall-season/x/8298622#home

Reflections on a Rehearsal

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artists, Ballet, choreographer, choreography, Conscious Living, contemporary dance, creative process, dance makers, dance making, enchantment, friends, Grateful, heart path, Magic, Modern, process, Soul to Soul, thankful

There are times when moments are taking place and you realize time is slowing down a bit in order for you to see very clearly that all is well and right in your world. Yesterday during my day of class was very much like this. There was so much time to work so deeply that I was able to step back in my spirit and realize how glorious this all is.

I am grateful to be able to live such a luxurious life in the arts. It is not everyday that one gets to immerse themselves fully in all they love being surrounded by people who give themselves and their hearts so fully to the things they love also. It is an honor to be able to be allowed to make-work and walk the path of magic as dances reveal themselves for the first time or are reborn to speak again.

When I am in the studio, I am in church. I am in a sacred place of worship with the divine dreaming of all that a body can do, become and realize in choreography.  This is such an enchanted space, a mystical foray into the heart and mind of the creative energetic river. How grateful I am to be able to be a dream keeper of dance in this way. I am honored to be one of many who dive deeply into the ocean, swimming with the currents and riding the tides of this creative universe.

I also find myself fortunate enough to be on my heart path with some very remarkably talented and spirited people. We all walk our own ways merging with one another in the work while supporting one another’s individual voices and gifts. It is not often that one gets to be fulfilled by the magic their friends bring to the process, in both physicality and the richness of their hearts.

I was so moved in rehearsal yesterday by the enchanted ways in which the work seemed to pour out of the deep muscle memory of the dancers. It was as if the work lingered in the well of their musculature as they conjured up the kinetic imagery inside of themselves that collectively is being reborn as “Creek Walkers under a Waning Moon”.

I look forward to when the dance emerges once again to inhabit the space energetically kept by the dancers and absorbed into the hearts and mind of the audience. This makes me wonder if dance is as ephemeral as we all think it is. I think the dances I help to bring to life have physicality to them kept alive in the bodies of dancers and the souls of the people who have let the work be absorbed into the fibers of their beings.

This is my goal is as a dance maker; to make the kind of work that resonates as a meaningful experience opening a doorway to consciousness that bridges the spirit to walk more deeply into the center of our beings. It is important to actualize work that is humanity in motion and dance alchemy speaking to our enchanted hearts.