Tales from the Dance Jam #18
To dance is to be.
To move in the eyes of the gods, is to be free. There is no judgment here, in the temple of Body, moving. The layers peel off, the dance continues as the guests arrive and unmask themselves, revealing to you the very secret of who they are. This is life, this is the juice, this is where it happens, this is the laboratory of the self.
Dancing with friends old and new. Engaging in playful contact and swirling. There’s no rules here, just move as you wish in the moment. Go to the mind to think of past and future and wham you’re off, you fall, bump into someone – whoops, come back to the present! Every bone in my body vibrates, every muscle expands and contracts. This is a workout! Whew… the sweat emerges and lubricates the aura, which begins to fill with red-hot light and sun-orange hues. There are some cute guys here! Observe them for awhile being themselves, fully, alone or engaged. Who’s this guy with colored strings dangling from his headband and waistband? Right on! A man with a blind person’s cane gets his groove on, unafraid to connect with everyone and be full of life. Two hot men roll around on an inflated rubber ball, engaged in contact and play. A tall longhaired man moves to every beat. A woman whose hips tell a rich story smiles and expresses life.
Into the warm room, a shift in the tone, movement slows, awareness of body, limb, breath, stillness increases. Contact improv is lovely to watch, also lovely when it breaks out spontaneously and you’re captured in the sweet thoughtful exchange with another body, the outer clothing of the inner radiance of someone so open, so willing, so completely receptive to whatever unfolds. There’s no script, no rules, only respect, comfort, presence.
Old stories emerge; is it safe to connect with that person? How will we engage? Is he looking at me? Why won’t he talk to me? Leave the social claptrap and programming at the door, and simply see it as it is when it tries to manifest in the mind. The mind will not connect you with that person; the body will. Maybe there’s connection, maybe not. Who cares? It’s all Kali’s play. Shut up and dance!
I felt like I had come home, reconnected with a community I’ve been a part of for over four years. I haven’t been in three, maybe four months. This was such good medicine, to shake my body and groove and twirl and let my hair fly around the room and embrace my body. There was even a circle, which I haven’t experienced in many moons, where community announcements were made. So many left the room, yet I always find it fascinating to get a small taste of who these people are, what else they’re involved in, and how it unfolds with us together. One man whom I’ve known for awhile very colorfully describes burying his father. A woman at the funeral stands up and says, “I danced with your father.” “Oh? And how was that?” “He danced well.” We danced well. We expressed the very essence of the divine, well. There is no imperfection because there is no goal, no benchmark against which to measure anything. Nothing has a form or reason unto itself, but only comes into being in the present, when the gods exhale and the manifest world comes to life.
This is the dance we have made. This is the play, the fun, the evocation of some old pain to be healed, the conversation, the silence, the pure joy of the ageless and timeless. Yet no words can fully describe the dance we have made. No thought can take us back to the same dance we have made, for that time has come and gone. The magic it leaves touches my heart, and fills me with gratitude. What a gentle and powerful reminder of the possibilities!
Shaggy, 12/17/04