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Architecture of the Heart

~ Breathing through my feet while exhaling and diving into the vast ocean of space and time

Architecture of the Heart

Tag Archives: Dance

Small Moments/Small Breaths

12 Tuesday May 2020

Posted by oberonsky in Elemental Body Alignment System (EBAS), Musings, Shaping Space, Soul to Soul, Uncategorized

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art, changes, Dance, Dance Appreciation, Dance Forms, dance makers, dance making, dancer makers, dancers, dancing, Existence, faith, humanity, learning, lessons learned, me, observations, sharing, space, thoughts, truth

Small Moments/Small Breaths

Strangled by the separation of bodies in motion in shared spaces and the need to push forward in “uncertain” times I have finally come to a point where I no longer feel confident and secure in pushing forward. Sure, I have had to find the strength and courage to be there for the students and to be able to find the ability to keep on keeping on, but honestly, it has been a lot to carry and at times hard to breathe.

Once classes had ended I found myself a drift in these new spaces and new ways of figuring out what to do. Like so many, I struggled with not being able to be in the same space with all of these incredible bodies searching, striving and living the beauty of a body in motion artfully shaping space with incredible precision and grace. The lack of being present in the moment of transformation hurts the kinetic spirits of a community of movement. And no matter how much I am supposed to be brave, confident and courageous, alas I don’t think I am succeeding.

In  many ways this is good to be able to recalibrate and ask so many necessary questions. I believe this as well as believe that in the end this will be a moment of courageous change and a necessary shift for the field and for how dance lives in academia. Truth be told I have never seen myself as a “company” kind of artist nor one that is constantly academically justifying outcomes in an art form that, for me, is all about the process of discovery.

Within the context of this time, how do we reframe the ways in which we see ourselves within the field, within the our process and within our dreams? When being a body in artful motion has been in many ways irreversibly changed, how does one continue to find the surface of the waters of darkness to just catch a little breath to fill the lungs of hope?

Of course I am moving! I still continue to share EBAS classes with folks from all over finding new discoveries and new ways of being in communion. Sure I take long walks with Beathan and find myself in motion on so many levels. Yet, my heart is broken by the inability to be in communities of movement artists to grapple with new concepts and ideas together while watching and encouraging play and exploration.

As many know I am very much an introvert but being in a classroom either leading or collaborating is the way in which I am able to find connection, compassion and a fulfilled heart. I must say being alone isn’t lonely when the work you do on a daily basis is in community and in the love and passion for your work.

One of the things I love most about teaching is the extremely intimate hands on approach that I engage in with my students. I have healing hands and consider myself more a healer than a teacher, choreographer or artist. Certainly more so than an academic. Be that as it may, when the ability to physically connect and create a space of sensorial exploration and transformation is removed from your daily experience, it is crushing and suffocating to say the least.

So now that having to put on my big boy pants and carry on has come to a close, I must admit I am at a loss now that even the smallest amount of connection to movement and students has dried up. Now it is a matter of asking questions and spending a great deal of time accessing new ways of moving and perhaps new ways of making. Yet, I am not interested in the many forms that people are suggesting and pretending that it is just the way we have to carry on. I certainly understand that we need to move forward and figure it out, but still my heart breaks at the love lost in the ways that have meant so much to me.

Truth be told I am not a dance for camera person. It is a great field and there is so much great work happening, but it is simply just not something for me. Many of the directions we are being asked to explore are not for me nor am I particularly interested in being a part of. There are so many wonderful artists already doing this great work and exploring those avenues. I am just not one of them. No, I am one of those artists that lives and breathes the body and craves the discoveries and all the wisdom that a body in motion shares in that process. Is it so wrong to JUST want to be that? Is it a crime to not want to pretend that I am desperately afraid of losing the kind of physical corporeal wisdom that I value above all else?

So then why is it I feel I am not connecting to all of these new ways and that I am just not capable of pretending to be “going with the flow”? While I mourn the loss of contact and the physicality and exuberance of training and performing, do I still have to pretend that all of this doesn’t matter? Is pretending that the heart is broken and still carrying on a healthy thing to do or can we breathe and ask ourselves the kinds of questions we need to ask in a more calm, rational and open space?

This is the thing about calamity, we turn into very reactive individuals trying to solve problems that we have no answers for but feel we need to do it in the first place simply because we are falling prey to the corporatization of academia, the field and the prioritization of outcome or product driven models of success. Wouldn’t it be the time to breathe and ask ourselves some deep seated questions about how to move forward while truly addressing issues in the field that have continued to be overlooked? Would it be nice to stop the train and have conversations that are necessary in having to actually work in community rather than work as individuals in a community cloaked in the very models of suppression that exist?

I would most certainly welcome the space and time to share and grapple with how we are all feeling and move from a place of empathetic understanding as the beginnings of discovering the kind of field that is necessary at this time and the kind of field dance has the potential to be. If we find ourselves coupling together in the energy of survival, how are we asking ourselves clear questions through the lens of creative change instead?

In my meditations I keep on hearing the body whisper “small movements. small breaths”. It is a recurring phrase that I hear but am not quite sure how to translate. The one thing I do know is it is suggesting small and conscious steps through conscious movement with conscious breath. I also think it is a response to the broken heart missing movement, connection and the joy of that collaboration. Perhaps slowing down into the present moment of every action with the awareness of that moment is the best way for me at this time to find the courage and confidence to breathe deeply in movement again.

Perhaps this is all I have to hold on at this moment as I figure out where I wish to go next. Perhaps this is the way of asking myself the questions of my intentions within the field and the kind of artist I wish to be moving forward. Perhaps this is the moment to question whether the kind of artist I am is viable at this moment or will the way I have loved working ever have value in the same way. Perhaps small movement and small breaths will be the way in which I am able to answer these questions finding a path the brings peace back to my heart.

This Is What I Do.

31 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by oberonsky in Elemental Body Alignment System (EBAS), Shaping Space, Soul to Soul, Uncategorized

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art, Ballet, contemporary ballet, contemporary dance, Dance, dancing, humanity, inspiration, lessons learned, space, truth, work

In my movement meditations I often return to the grateful mind space and acknowledge that I am so very fortunate to be here in this space and at this time. There have been countless times when life should have been taken from me save some miraculous cradling of the universe itself. Too many unexplainable events which should have erased me from this moment. And in those brief seconds of recollection, I am reminded to once again be grateful.

And so it is with this sensibility that I find myself in connection and concert with others bodies and their hearts. I have not chosen the path of the empath, but I certainly have learned how to embrace it as best I can. And still, I have much learning on how to be even better with these skills I have been given. With such skill comes a responsibility that known really knows how to prepare for.

I do what I do not for the same reasons others do this profession. Dance is not my life nor is the teaching of dance my life. Yes, I do make dances and I do shape dancers, but there is something far more profound that I take part in that often gets lost in the overall ego consuming work of this field. That work is the transformation of body and spirit through the bridge building of conscious sensation. One can never go back once one understands the power of synesthesia.

This moment of connected consciousness and the empowerment that happens for those individuals that understand the undeniable energy available to them is unquestionably the moment I live for. The moment of physical embodiment and enlightenment of the pure power of potential one possesses. It is this moment that transforms the spirit as it unravels the many untruths it has learned through fear and shame.

Lifting Lines/Morphing Visions: P2-4

22 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by oberonsky in Musings, Uncategorized

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Courageous Vulnerability, Dance, male love, Soul to Soul, spirit

An Exclamation

He does dance well.

A moment of silence.

The pleasure of seeing you.

Glad to dance.

The pleasure of seeing you again.

All hopes.

The object of expectation.

Aware of the heart.

Satisfaction.

A time to dance.

To dance with you again.

And again to dance.

What is the meaning?

I thought you and I were to dance.

 

Lifting Lines/Morphing Visions: Autumn 5

25 Friday Sep 2015

Posted by oberonsky in Uncategorized

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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.

Lifting Lines/Morphing Visions: Autumn 4

24 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by oberonsky in Uncategorized

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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

Sing Your Truth

17 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by oberonsky in Uncategorized

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allowing, art, becoming, beleif, Believing, bliss, body knowledge, choreographer, Conscious Living, courage, Courageous Vulnerability, Creative Flow, Creativity, Dance, development, EBAS, expressing, faith, forgiveness, sharing, sing, trusting

Sing your truth with passion and trust you will be guided by the spirits of the world. They will keep you, support you and wrap you in the ever evolving flow of knowledge and light. Remember you are a beautiful creature of the creative energy that is our existence and our physiology. You are the expression and reality of the universe.

Express without fear. Express with love. Express with light.

Sing your truth and let the song be heard by those  of open heart to hear it. Write your work and let it be read by those of open mind to understand it. Dance your heart and let it be felt by those of open vibration to absorb it. Radiate your energy and let the healers light be imprinted by those of open veins to channel it.

Express without fear. Express with love. Express with light.

Paris Makes the Heart Sing

11 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by oberonsky in Musings, Soul to Soul

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art, becoming, Believing, bliss, Creative Flow, Dance, development, heart song, Paris

I know Paris is the city of light, but for me it is the city of inspiration, vitality and heart. Every time I have the opportunity to return to this magical place I feel as though I am a little kid in a candy store simply overwhelmed by its beauty and sensibility. It sings to me. It simply sings to my heart.

I know it means something different or touches everyone a little differently, but for me it truly animates my heart and enlivens my outlook on where I am in my life. Perhaps this is why I feel a strong pull to visit this place at least once a year. Perhaps this is why the opportunity for a collaboration for a study abroad program opened up to me. Whatever the reason, I am simply ecstatic that I will have the luxury of living here come spring 2016. Well at least for 7 weeks. I can’t even imagine what will happen and what inspirations will come with that long of a stay.

What I do know is that the time frame up until then will consist of really learning the language so that I will be able to communicate more clearly and confidently than I do now. It will take some work, but I know I can do it and become fluent. A little bit of focus and practice will really make all of the difference.

And on that note, off to the catacombs to see yet another side of this magnificent city. Paris, I do adore you!

And So It Begins

29 Friday May 2015

Posted by oberonsky in Elemental Body Alignment System (EBAS), Musings, Shaping Space, Soul to Soul

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art, athens, Ballet, Believing, bliss, body, body knowledge, conscious body, Conscious Living, contemporary ballet, Creative Flow, creative process, Creativity, Dance, development, dreams, EBAS, Energy, faith, modern dance, Paris, research, travel, VCU Dance

As I finish up my last day here in RIC for a while, I am profoundly grateful for the opportunities that are opening up before me. Thankful for the freedom to move about the world and share my work and passions with people from all over the globe. I marvel at what dance has done for my life and for how it has carried me to places that I could have never dreamed of as a young man.

As a matter of fact, I had no clue I was a dancer. No clue that I would end up where I am creating three dimensional visceral landscapes, teaching how to create internal space and design external realities or bringing consciousness to the energetic pathways of our technique. I often wonder how I turned down this road.

Yet, I am on this journey. Happily and gratefully on this journey.

This trip to Athens is to present my perspective on teaching by sharing my  research, Training a Conscious Body: Redefining Pedagogy Practices in Contemporary Dance Technique for Increased Architectural Support and Physical Integrity. I am excited to share these examinations and talk about learning through sensation rather than imitation and the reexamining of time within the classroom.

The travel that follows will be to teach and to collaborate on the Paris Semester Abroad program for our students at VCU to take part in Spring 2016. I am excited to meet up with Michael Foley as well as Colleen Thomas-Young to share and organize all of this goodness. What amazing people to walk that journey with. Very grateful to Michael for his brilliance.

In addition, I will be meeting up with my dear friends Keith Bell and Josh Sessions to have a writing retreat. Both myself and Keith are working on books and we are going to spend our time writing in the cafes for even greater inspiration. A little fantasy come true I guess.

And one of the most synchronistic events will be having breakfast with Linda Kohanov. I have long admired her research and work with horses and had the luxury of participating in one of her leadership workshops this spring. She is an inspiration to me and I am tickled to be able to meet with her and hear her stories of the wonderful sharing she is doing with her work and the release of her book Power of the Herd in French.

I am truly grateful!!

And so, this begins the journey.

Just Go!

20 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by oberonsky in Musings, Soul to Soul

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allowing, beleif, Believing, bliss, Conscious Living, Dance, learning, living, loving, opportunity, possibility, potential, trust

The Frontier of opportunities are so vast and open. Each person stands at the edge of their very own expanse of space. Every individual peering into the potential for a journey of their very own.

Enter and expand the internal being that you are. Explore and experience all that is possible for you as you venture the magical realm of occasion.

Never once was there the expectation of perfection. Never once the request for a specific way of experiencing something. Never once the thought you should be more than you are, or know more than you do at this moment.

Right here and now is the time for the beginners heart and the beginners mind. See yourself attending to the passion of the moment rather than the perfection. Satisfy the soul and not a perceived expectation.

Go!

Go then into your world and your world alone. Take no friend. Carry no burden. Worlds will converge when they are ready; when your heart is ready. Be patient and revel in these moments with great anticipation of joy. Revel in those moments. And most importantly, live. Simply, live.

Go!

Fundamental Architecture

15 Friday May 2015

Posted by oberonsky in Elemental Body Alignment System (EBAS), Musings, Shaping Space, Soul to Soul

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architectural integrity, art, Balance, becoming, bliss, body knowledge, choreography, Creativity, Dance, development, EBAS, fundamental, spiritual becoming, structural integrity

The point

No dimension

No space

Line

Emerging the active

Emerging the passive

Plane

Equidistant expression

Equidistant reality

From the singular comes the emergence of a balanced expression of architectural reality

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