This Saturday, I will host my first Nia class with live african drumming. I must admit that I'm a little nervous about this. A lot of Nia is based on specific choreography and routines which can be memorized. Every song is looked at like a movement kata. Yes this is drawing from the martial arts part of Nia. For me, to suddenly have 75 minutes ahead of me, without any set in stone kata, intimidates me. Those who know me, know that I tend to take the most challenging route from point A to point B. This lioness is ready for the challenge but at the same time it feels good for me to express my apprehensions before stepping into the unknown.
For this dance, we will dance to the sounds of Live Primal Drumming! In this Candlelit, light of the moon space, we will let out our inner warriors, animals, children, etc! It will be a big dance playground!!! This June full moon is only a couple weeks away from the Summer solstice, the longest day of the year. We will let our inner light shine as it is reflected from the light of the moon! This dance will celebrate life, longevity, and will allow us the opportunity to go deeper within ourselves as the beat of the drum resonates with the beat of our hearts, our spirits, and our souls. We will dance with the primal rhythms of the drums, and allow ourselves to "unplug" from all of the over-stimulation of modernity.
I'm looking forward to updating this blog to let you know how this event turns out. I'm sending lots of love and healing energy into this dance, and I trust that the universe will allow this to return to me and give me the inner strength that I will need as I create and share this dance-ritual with my students. From this place, I think that all of us will be rejuvenated by the powerful primal rhythm of our bodies connecting with life all around us (past, present, and future). Drums are used for ceremonies, for healing, and have been apart of human civilization for thousands of years. As a side-but-related note, the man who will be leading the drumming on Saturday night quit his corporate day job years ago because he knew it wasn't his calling. He decided to spend a year putting all of his energy into drumming. He told himself that if he couldn't make it work after a year, then he would return to the corporate world. Today, 20-something years later. He is still drumming and I don't think that he ever had to return to the corporate world. I am deeply inspired by his story as I am on my own path of finding a way to bring together my passions and loves and to make healing work my way of life. (My Story - Need to Create a Blog page devoted to that so I don't get too off-track here) I want to share with you a brief quote from Chuck Cogliandro that he wrote about his experience when he moved to Atlanta:
In 1992 I decided to move to Atlanta, and within a few months had an experience that would completely change the direction of my life. I attended a West African dance class that featured live drummers playing for the dancers. Upon walking into the class, I was electrified and transformed. There was a level of energy, consciousness and communication that I had never felt in drumming before. An ancient, non-verbal language and heritage was connecting the drummers, dancers, ancestor spirits, and soul of the earth. Multiple, interlocking rhythmic cycles were being played simultaneously in a continuous stream by a number of djembe and dunun drums of the ensemble- yet the overall expression was not static but vibrantly alive, breathing and pulsing.
There is a quote in the book The Alchemist (yes another blog subject) by Paulo Cuelho that I find really rings true for me. Like Chuck Cogliandro, I am also setting out on that road-less-traveled path - call it a spiritual calling, or simply a calling. Ever since I started taking the steps towards creating my life in a way that fills me and also allows me to share my gifts and serve others, things have fallen in place. Magical Things. I happened to pick the right time to contact the Decatur Healing Arts which is the amazing place where I teach twice a week and where the Full Moon celebrating will take place. I've met amazing people and who I've influenced and touched through my personal spiritual vehicle called Nia Dance. This is my first day putting together a blog, and how easy it is to get side-tracked. I could go off in a million directions here!
Ok. Returning to the focus! The quote is that "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it..."
I am inspired by Chuck's story and am very excited to co-create with him this Saturday. He followed his dream, and the universe continues to conspire for him to achieve it and evolve with it.
Erica, I have only be teaching Nia for about five months, so what you are doing amazes me. I am impressed and inspired. I cannot wait to hear how wonderful it turned out. I am certain that you just having the desire to do this will propel your dance into greatness.
ReplyDeleteI wish I was close enough to be there on Saturday (although I am going to a 5 Stages Workshop).
I also understand your statements on getting side-tracked in a blog. I blog about different things, but when I write a Nia blog I really have to work to keep it on a little bite-sized piece because Nia is so big and I could go on and on.
I am looking forward to reading about how your Live Drumming Class turned out.
This was an absolutely beautiful night. And the sky was so perfectly clear that towards the last half of our dance, we could see the moon smiling at us through the window. There were 14 of us including all of the dancers and musicians.
ReplyDeleteFor events like these, one can prepare and prepare, but in the moment of the dance, I had to follow the flow of energy in the room and let that be the guide. So most of what I'd planned...well, it got thrown out the window. The same one that the moon was smiling in :-). I love Nia because you have to get out of your head and into your physical body in the present moment!
Thanks again to Chuck Cogliandro, Petro Bass, and others who joined in the music! It was incredible. Petro was playing the didgeridoo through a lot of the dance, and at the end it was especially moving/meditative/healing as we all were lying on the floor resting. I don't think that I've ever heard "live" didgeridoo. The way that the sounds vibrate when you are close to the earth and the instrument is close to you is almost like crystal healing bowls. It's those vibration tones that you can feel in all the little cells of your body!
Thanks to everyone for sharing their dance, their music, their spirits, and creating a beautiful community on this special June Full Moon night!
"There's a rhythm to the universe. When we're able to get quiet enough, we experience how we're a part of that rhythm"