Paris Makes the Heart Sing

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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

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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.

A Meander in Peace

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alone, anonymous, becoming, Believing, discovery, inspiration, introvert, journey, Paris, peace, quiet, silence, spirit, walk

When I wander the streets of a foreign country I always feel at peace. This is mostly due to the anonymity of being in a place where you don’t speak their language and they don’t, for the most part, speak yours. I love to meander the streets and listen. I know not what they are saying, or pick up fragments, but non of it really matters. I am there to experience and to absorb. I watch for all intense and purposes and simply become a fly on a wall of international happenings. 

I love this because I am able to wander and become lost in a culture that just assumes I am one of them and then I am allowed to just be. Even if people approach me and start speaking to me, I am always quickly left alone when I share that I do not know their language. Or, if I do understand, I swiftly acknowledge them and answer their question. This happened at the train station here in Paris and some Americans asked me if they were on the correct train in French and I answered them without acknowledging I knew what they were saying after they stood in line behind me. 

Such a pleasure in given space to walk in a land where you observe and become part of the culture simply by existing in it. The joy of getting lost in a foreign land and permitted to simply just be and do. How glorious a luxury is that for an introvert. Walking through your day without the bother of a question or pull of conversation. The joy of anonymity and space. The joy of travel.