Moving Day!

This mid-morning, I accompany Mackenzie to a contemporary dance class at Steps On Broadway, a dance studio on the west side of Manhattan. Living in NC, I rarely have opportunities to take class, as there is not an abundant amount of classes scattered throughout the day, as there are in NYC. So when class is being given, I am usually teaching at that very same time.

Since leaving the city, I have been in the habit of giving myself class about four times a week. My alone time in the studio has opened many avenues for exploration of my own body and my own thoughts, which I have found integral to the growth of my art work. However, this morning I wondered if I still had the ability to pick up movement that is not my own. I wondered if I've still "got it," if I could hang with "the real dancers." To my surprise, I very much enjoyed the class, the instructor and his way of moving! I felt myself smiling all through the warm up and into the phrase work. Such a different feeling, dance is, when you are not telling you what to do, and you are interpreting someone else's kinetic musings...What's more, I felt right at home with the rest of the class. It was easy! And my body did what everyone else's body was doing - in my own way, of course! In my excitement, I appreciated the sweat on my forehead and the twinge of fatigue in my right thigh, as well as the new raw patch on my left foot. These are things I often experience while on my own in the studio, but there is something to sharing these happenings with others, as a collective, that is just as special as owning them all by yourself.

Up next, I will venture to the Cool NY Dance Festival, as it is not our evening to perform, and watch some of the other choreographers and dancers do what they do best!

By the way, this marks my seventh day writing this blog...our one week anniversary! Very exciting...and here's to many, many, many more weeks of thoughts on art! Thanks for reading, until next time....oh, that's tomorrow!

~Cara