White dress…Katherine Butler 2019 IN BUNDLED POSTURES – performance w NEWDANCEALLIANCE My website…Www.barbaramahler.netAlvina calls this “Levitating”Green Dress Series: Summer 2020 QueensboroDanceFestival VIRTUAL EVENT
The working title of this solo is “This is how it happened “Music: Bartok, Sonata for solo violin 117 Meladia ( adagio)This solo dance reaches to make a movement collage of some of my hard to talk about experiences of this pandemic journey. It grazes only the surface.Grateful for this platform. Living and creating on Canarsie ,Munsee Lenape, and Matincock Land.
Thank You Barbara for sharing …. Your amazing and beautiful work!
While WaitingThis solo was created in the pandemic- and we worked with all limitations which included lack of space, distance between us, time, more. We utilized the stool and taped outdoors in the middle of day to day living as the weather permitted. Making use of what life and the situation has given us was the reason we were not on the river. Dancer- Jamie Graham
New York Times Bestseller Poet and Philosopher Mark Nepo in his book The Book of Awakening writes in his June 24th entry:
“When was the last time you danced?” — Question put to the sick by a Native American Medicine Man
The beginning of dance i s giving gesture to what we feel. While this is very obvious to most children, it remains very difficult for those of us schooled to live in our heads.
The ongoing effort to dance, to give gesture to what we feel and experience, is ultimately healing because, as riverbeds are continually shaped by the water that moves through them, living beings are continually shaped by the water that moves through them. If there is no water moving through, the riverbed dries up and crumbles. Likewise, if there is no feeling moving through the body, the being at the center of that body will crumble.
More often, though, there is too much to give gesture to, and we fail to move these feelings through our bodies. In truth, much of our inner sickness comes from the buildup and pressure of all that is kept in. The ongoing act of releasing that inner buildup is what spiritual practices call embodiment. { I, Alvina, am reminded of WAH!’s Self-Care Program where she continually blows out her breath through her mouth releasing what is no longer needed or over flowing through her. She is fantastic…and has regular LIVE programs weekly on Facebook or Instagram I highly recommend}
There are many ancient practices intended to help us live more fully in our bodies, including the Chinese art of meditation movement known as t’ai chi and the Buddhist art of space awareness known as maitri, to name just two. Once unblocked, giving gesture to our inwardness not only frees us from being pressurized, but the gestures, once allowed out, teach us how to dance further into our own lives.
Still, most of us learn to feel, trap, and snuff our feelings in our hearts, and if they wont go away, we try to hush them with our minds. If they still persist, we often feel them throb in our temples or burn in our gut.
In contrast to the painful layering of heart, mind, and body, embodiment itself is nothing more or less than feeling the wound or lip you touch in your hand and mind and heart at once. Embodiment is allowing our heart, mind, and body to exist as one miraculous skin.
Suggested Activity:
Stand quietly and breathe slowly, feeling your breath move through your heart.
With each breath, let the feeling of being alive move further into your body.
First feel it move in and our of your heart, then in and our of your lungs.
Let the breath of being alive now move up and out your shoulders and hips, and let it extend you rarms in whatever gesture happens to come.
Repeat this process until the breath from heart to fingertip feels like one continuous gesture.
I, Alvina, highly recommend Barbara Mahler’s Dance work. Here is her website and she’s on Facebook too
Susan Falkenstein teaches Tai Chi twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays at 9:45…Highly Recommend. Contact her directly for Zoom link…sweetsusan62@gmail.com
Hector Munoz teaches Tai Chi in Naples FL at Love Yoga….Lots available…Enjoy!!!! Move!!!!! Love!!!!!!
There’s a powerful Native American Chant celebrating beauty. It is said or sang in circle of people around a Medicine Wheel or Dance of Universal Peace. It goes like this:
I walk with beauty all around me, as I walk the beauty way.
I walk with beauty before me,
I walk with beauty behind me,
I walk with beauty above me,
I walk with beauty below me,
I walk with beauty all around me, as I walk the beauty way.
My thoughts will all be beautiful, HO!,
My words will all be beautiful, HO!
My actions will all be beautiful, HO!
As I walk my life the beauty way.
It comes from Navajo Blessing and here is a link to that information. https://talking-feather.com/home/walk-in-beauty-prayer-from-navajo-blessing/
Here is a link to a You Tube Video of it done by Dances of Universal Peace folks. Enjoy!!!
The Fool is a card on the Major Arcana Tarot Deck. Here is what one source says about it.
The Fool Major Arcana Tarot Card
The Fool depicts a youth walking joyfully into the world. He is taking his first steps, and he is exuberant, joyful, excited. He carries nothing with him except a small sack, caring nothing for the possible dangers that lie in his path. Indeed, he is soon to encounter the first of these possible dangers, for if he takes just a step more, he he topple over the cliff that he is reaching. But this doesn’t seem to concern him – we are unsure whether he is just naive or simply unaware. The dog at his heels barks at him in warning, and if he does not become more aware of his surroundings soon, he may never see all the adventures that he dreams of encountering.
The Fool card is numbered 0, which is considered to be a number of infinite potential. Consider him a blank slate, for The Fool has yet to develop a clear personality. He is the symbol of innocence – his journey to come will shape his character yet.
To see the The Fool generally means a beginning of a new journey, one where you will be filled with optimism and freedom from the usual constraints in life. When we meet him, he approaches each day as an adventure, in an almost childish way. He believes that anything can happen in life and there are many opportunities that are lying out there, in the world, waiting to be explored and developed. He leads a simple life, having no worries, and does not seem troubled by the fact that he cannot tell what he will encounter ahead.
To meet him in a reading can also be seen as a call to the risk-taking part of your own character. He inspires courage, for he understands that every day is a chance to open up new areas in your life, and with that comes a mixture of anticipation, wonder, awe and curiosity. The Fool is there to show that you can never really tell what lies ahead, and you can only greet it with joy.
When this card shows up in a love tarot reading, get ready to embark on a new adventure. The Fool tarot meaning in love signals that you’ll need to experience new things in order to find the romance that you desire. Be willing to take risks, be bold and expand your vision of the world and you may end up finding love in the most unlikely places. Surprises are in store for you.
Since the Fool represents the start of new journeys, it’s tarot meaning in love can be an indicator of new relationships.
As with any new relationship, you may fear rejection, but this card indicates that this should not hold you back. When you open yourself up to the world, even in the face of embarassment or rejection, you may find what you are looking for. In love and relationships, the Fool tells us that we should be confident and have faith that all things will work out well. It tells us that instead of giving up, we keep trying, and look at the world with innocence and wonder. The Fool tarot meaning in love encourages open-eyed innocence and positivity.
New beginnings are on their way, when the Fool appears in your career tarot reading. If you’ve been looking to start a new career path, change jobs, get a promotion, or even start your own venture, the Fool can be a welcome card to begin your new journey. Even if no new drastic changes are coming your way or planned, this card can feel like a fresh breath of air into old projects. You can be filled with new energy, and new innovative ideas can be put into action now. What is important now is to be very aware of the opportunities that are there, and have the courage to take them when they appear.
When it comes to finances, you may be in a period where you are feeling spontaneous and idealistic. All spending now can be for the purpose of adventure and exploration. Want to go on a trip? Or learn a new skill? It can be easy for you to fund these purchases now. There can be a feeling that you will have all that you need, so there’s no need to worry about the bills, and more emphasis on feeling expansive and curious.
When you land on the reversed Fool in your reading, you can generally find his more negative characteristics being on display. It can mean that you are literally acting like a fool by disregarding the repercussions of your actions. Like the youth depicted in the card, you don’t see how dangerous of a position you find yourself in.
A reversed Fool card can show that you are living in the moment and not planning for the future. The reversed Fool meaning serves as caution that you should be more aware so as not to be taken advantage of. Like the dog in the Rider Waite version, this card is here to alert you on anything that may sound too good to be true.
When the Fool is reversed in a love tarot reading, this card can signal that your bright-eyed, trusting nature may need to be tempered with a dose of caution. Especially when with new lovers, make sure that everything is what it seems to be. You may now be looking at love with rose-tinted glasses, and unable to see a clear picture of the relationship. The reversed Fool tarot meaning in love can also indicate that you or a lover may be a bit too immature right now to handle truly loving relationship.
You may have all the energy in the world, and eagerness to do use that energy, however, you may not quite have the insight to do so without any consequences. Try and be more aware about how your actions affect your colleagues right now, and think before you take action. Other times, the reversed Fool can signal that your current job feels stale and boring, and you may be feeling like it’s time for a change. Sometimes, this indicates that you may feel blocked from actually doing so, or that you need to consider these plans very carefully before making that choice. It may be that there are more dangers than you see right now.
