Your Own Creative Dance
Dec 14, 2024 10:25 pm
Hi there,
Do you own creative dance . . . was a direction we frequently heard in Adnan’s Sufi workshops. It often followed a circle dance where we copied the movement of the more experienced dancer in the center.
Copying these dancers taught me new ways of moving my body -- a physical language and vocabulary that enabled me to express my connection to Adnan’s music.
Two Center Dancers
My initial reaction to this directive was to practice each new dance move I had just learned. Because I wanted to become one of Adnan’s special dancers, I concentrated on learning as many moves as possible.
Sometimes, Adnan would tell us to blindfold our eyes when we danced. This practice turned our attention inside. Instead of comparing my dance to others and engaging in self-criticism, I concentrated on the feel of my body and my internal impulses.
Shutting my eyes is the best way to access my spirit and creativity. Even now, I find it challenging to open my eyes while dancing. When they are closed, the music envelopes and moves me like leaves in the breeze or water plants in the tide. I surrender to the music's whim, its mood, and its rhythm. Sometimes, a story emerges from the music, and I dance to its drama, anticipation, or joy.
Middle Eastern dance is good for the body. The muscle isolations increase flexibility and fluidity. The arms, outstretched and graceful, open up the chest cavity and heart area, allowing greater space for the breath. Shimmying and hip wiggling release the lower back and belly, improving digestion while activating creativity. Arms and hands coordinate their movement with the upper body, while legs and feet initiate or counterbalance waves of motion through the hips. We learn to isolate movement in particular body parts and then connect them with the movement in the rest of the body
When I first arrived at Sufi camp in 1985, I was barely able to move. A long-distance runner for 15 years, I was stiff as a board. Middle Eastern dance, with its undulating movements, was transformative for me. I began to love the dance.
However, for a very long time, I completely missed the real purpose of the dance. It is not about becoming an accomplished Middle Eastern Dancer or even having a flexible body. It is about learning to be in the moment, connected to spirit instead of our heads.
Sufi dance and slow movement are both a metaphor and training ground for living a conscious life. The teachers in the circle demonstrate and inspire us with new moves and ignite our creativity. We learn how to interpret the music with our bodies – to express, exaggerate, play, and surrender. When we do our own creative dance or movement, we discover our true selves in the moment. We find our spirit and can apply this to life.
Live music introduced another layer of communication – between the music maker and the dancer. There is a give-and-take that is lacking in prerecorded music. One leads, the other follows. Sometimes, it is the musician. Sometimes, it is the dancer. An attentive musician adjusts the tempo or composition of the music to the dancer’s rhythm and vocabulary. The dancer surrenders her body to the music. The better the communication and adaption of each to the other’s rhythm, the more intoxicating the co-creation.
When the music is prerecorded, there is much less give and take. An experienced teacher will adapt his/her music selection to the energy of the group, but through the duration of each piece, the one-way direction of communication is fixed. Even this arrangement, however, has its benefits. The dancer is compelled to find his/her rhythm within the various rhythms in the composition.
This is how your own creative dance can inform your life. You seek the beat within the music that matches your rhythm. Watch, from time to time, how other dancers respond to the music. Notice the variety of expressions. Find your own expression within each piece of music.
It is easy to get caught up in the fast pace of the modern world. Pretty soon you are racing down the highway like everyone else, even when you are not dogged by a specific arrival time. Being in the moment of the dance teaches us how to honor our rhythm, moment-to-moment, within the landscape of the music and within the landscape of life.
When you hear the direction to do your own creative movement or dance, this is your opportunity to strengthen that spiritual muscle, to be true to yourself while dancing with outside forces.
When all seems chaotic in the world -- too fast, too self-serving, or too violent -- choose your own rhythm. When you do, you will not only feel better yourself, but you will energetically invite others around you to do the same
Find your own creative movement at Sufi Class: Sunday, December 15th, 8:00 am PST and Tuesday, December 17th at 10:30 am PST
The Zoom LINK: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88050735178?pwd=zkrVoc4Mtg0pSXtAAWmoCrHWQb2qb1.1
Don’t forget to use SUFI all in caps if you are asked for the password.
Be brilliant,
Dr. Michelle
Life Transformation Coach
Empowering Women to Reinvent Their Life After Loss
Secrets of Life and Death
