Muse and Move

Musing…
“When in doubt, twirl”. This is an anonymous saying but seems to have Terpsichore’s name all over it. She’s the muse of music and dancing -- her name means, “to delight in the dance”. Twirl, whirl -- the antidote to getting stuck.

Charise’s turn:
When I put together a routine for a dance class, there is never a plan at the start. There is music – something that catches my attention. And then certain phrases of the music just sound like certain movement vocabulary. And then that vocabulary becomes an anchor for building other movement and finding transitions, which then string the whole thing together into a dance.
And the music holds the dynamics that inform the dance and together they emote. So it comes together when in the beginning there isn’t anything but a hunch that the music will inspire. I know this by practice improvising to music.

When I teach a routine for students to learn and to repeat, this is where they build confidence and bring their own style. They own the routine by knowing what to do without having to break it down into parts (well, after the first several times trying it out). You can see their glee when they realize they are doing more than executing movement, they are dancing. It’s why I teach – to impart that joy; and this explains how I trust that the routine will manifest in the space of my living room, for the sake of joy.

Get fired up:
Listen to music. Let yourself listen wholly, not only for background sound. It’s a language your body relates to and it will move you even if you are still. Rhythm is just a heartbeat away.