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Day 1: Basic Concepts • 3 Dance is both universal and highly personal. It is common to all peoples and cultures, and framed by particular styles and desires. Every person is a dancer—yet fully embodied intelligence expressed through the moving, dancing body is rare. Three basic concepts enhance our understanding of movement in contemporary life. When embodied, they inform where, how, and why we dance, and who we are. Bodies are part of Earth. Humans co-evolved with this planet, and our perceptual and movement systems are embedded within every landscape and cityscape we inhabit. Orientation to weight and to space informs inner and outer movement. As dancers, we don’t create movement; we participate in a dynamic, moving universe. Bodies have intrinsic intelligence. We share a highly efficient form, developed through 3 billion years of evolutionary history—beginning with the first living cell. A multilayered nervous system is present throughout our structure, reflecting this heritage. As dancers, rather than seek control over our bodies, we learn to listen to this deep intelligence. Bodies locate us. Movement is inherent; we move to feel ourselves in relation to the Earth. The mysterious animating flow that moves through every cell in the body and all life systems is the creative source. For innovation in creative work, we need inhabitation—of our bodies, of the places we live and love, and of the ideas we want to bring responsibly back to community. Basic Concepts Dance is a way of living in the world. —Lisa Nelson, interview Day 1 Distinctions When we were naming this book, a colleague said, “Please don’t use the word dance in the title. It leaves me out. I’m involved in movement, but I’m not a dancer.” We pursued this with colleague Lisa Nelson, who responded, “But dancing is what we do.” ≈ Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, founder of the School for Body-Mind Centering, clarifies that the difference between moving and dancing is the quality of embodiment. Yield At several times in my life, yield (rest) was not enough. I had to lay my belly down on the Earth and drain down, down—for hours—until I felt energy returning to my body. Then I stood and walked back into the world. The first time was on a rocky shore along Penobscot Bay in Maine. I was in a secluded waterside cabin, alone after a family reunion. Outside in the August morning light, I lay myself down on a bed of warm stones in the cove. Listening to the lapping of waves, I did not get up. Lunchtime passed and eventually the shadows of dusk arrived, the water moving closer and away. Collapse, waiting for the return of self at the end of deep, loving relationship was a letting go beyond what I knew how to do. Only the Earth was enough to hold me. One learns the difference between yield and collapse. In the latter, all the body systems call out to receive what they need. Intrinsic, organismal intelligence goes to work to refresh and repair, resetting broken rhythms and healing the heart. 4 • moving TO DO Orientation—“Where am I?” (Caryn McHose) Taking time to arrive and locate yourself invites embodied awareness. Walking: Greet your oldest friend, gravity, telling you about down. How do you notice the sensation of weight in your body? • Continue walking, exploring the floor with your feet. Enjoy active feet. • Then receive with your feet. Explore through sensing feet. Does that change how you move? • Now, let the soles of your feet meet the surface of the floor—tamping the Earth. Enjoy active and sensing feet simultaneously. • Continue moving, and stretch the palms of your hands. Feel the air, and receive the “news of the universe” from all that’s around you through the palms. • Extend the top of your head, reaching into space. Pull on the tops of your ears and feel the skin stretch upward (like Spock’s ears in Star Trek). • Visualize the little ear stones (otoliths, mostly calcium carbonate) in the labyrinths of your inner ears. This is your balance system, telling you where your head is in relation to gravity, as well as about acceleration and deceleration. Imagine long earrings dangling, amplifying your sense of down. • Bring in peripheral vision, soft focus with awareness of self and what surrounds you. Now use your eyes to see something specific, drawing you out into space. • Grow a tail of your choice: poodle, salamander, or dinosaur. Move your tail and...

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