to be.

every now and then i like to ask myself: am i where i am supposed to be?

yesterday I was outside teaching my puppy to play with a frisbee, as my puppy ran the opposite direction to pee (he’s still learning to follow direction), i stood there feeling the light breeze hitting my right cheek, the warmth of the sun over my right shoulder (thinking: “I should have worn sun block”), and as i looked down at the turquoise frisbee laying in the grass- a brown and gold butterfly  glided over our fence and gracefully decelerated to land on the frisbee,  I took a breath,  and watched the butterfly fly away.      a moment.       i had a feeling of thankfulness and gratitude for my life.         

SO, can moments be created?  yes.  how?  art (amongst all it’s purposes) exists to create and recreate moments.  is it easy?  no.  BUT as a wise man once told me: if it were easy everyone would do it, it’s the difficulty that makes it meaningful.

“art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” –Pablo Picasso

in rehearsal last week we were finishing setting “separated”, miriam’s new work,  centering on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and inspired by her cousin eric lowen (who passed after complications from ALS in march 2012). we are dancing to a blend of 3 songs by eric and his partner- dan navarro. “if i were the rain”, sung by eric, is breathtakingly beautiful and organically powerful. the sensory and kinesthetic experience of dancing to eric’s words while giving tribute to his life is an honor.

i walk away from eileen and jillian who continue to partner and spiral, and i’m walking towards andria- who is alone dancing, i tenderly help her stand up.                                 
                     a moment.          
in that moment there is an overwhelmingly intense feeling of unity and community between the dancers in the space, the choreographer (miriam) and eric lowen.  
i am where i am supposed to be.

“learning is movement from moment to moment.”  (Jiddu Krishnamurti)

we will premiere the first of a series of dances inspired by eric lowen and centering on ALS at our june 15-17^th show “1 x 7”, in cambridge, MA, at the julie ince thompson theater at the dance complex.  

“i know a teacher who edits the school's creative arts magazine. she teaches her students that a story or poem needs to have what she calls "moment," making the reader pause and reflect on the world. an arts education is all about developing the capacity for "moment" - a seismic jolt that shakes up our consciousness, our old encrusted ways of seeing and doing things.”

Ramon Cortines in "Gaining the Arts Advantage".

-tara