Behind the Scenes

Musing...
What comes after “applause!”? Bask in the glow of appreciation. Celebrate. Feel the fatigue of having delivered. Rest. Gather energy for what’s next. A performance is fleeting, but the preparation is time consuming. What's not seen, behind the scenes, is a critical part of what makes the performance work. Sweat, labor, practice, mistakes, small triumphs, goofing around and getting off task, getting back to task -- wait, what's the value of getting off task? 

Charise’s turn:

As much as a thrill performing can be, I relish the rehearsal part of any production. There is looseness around rehearsing which can’t exist in performance. There’s hanging out while also working hard, helping and watching each other, making jokes, perfecting details and getting serious about projecting something greater than the details. The import of the art form sits in the room with us, and I get giddy with it. I clown around. I make ridiculous comments, spoof our dance moves, laugh and go astray only to find that we ease right back on track. With more open awareness.

Get Fired Up:

Are you serious about your creativity? Then get silly. Loosen whatever grip you have on what you want to portray, accomplish, achieve, attain, make, shape, deliver.  Play toward your goal.  

Here’s a method – stand up and shake your body for a full minute.  You can start with shaking your arms, hands, shoulders, bounce lightly into your legs, pick up a foot at a time; eventually the shaking will take form without a thought.

Then refocus on your task.  Remember, no one will see what’s behind the scenes!

Applause

Musing…

A sidestep away from “all the world’s a stage” is “to thine own self be true”. Shakespeare said just about everything with these two phrases and they never lose their relevance.  Judith Jamison, artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, weds these two phrases together in her interview with NPR by saying, “ As dancers we need to bring our life experience to the stage…we need to share our truth”.  A performance reaches across the stage to grab the spectator with its honesty.  

If the world is your stage what do you choose to bring to it? How do you show up?

Get Fired Up:

·          Imagine an appreciative audience for your endeavors.

Now what is it about you and what you present that they appreciate?

·       
      Go back to your endeavors with this appreciation to call upon.

Applause!

Summer Follies

Musing...

Summer calls us to be playful, to allow a bit more relaxation and enjoyment of nature, friends, and new adventures. It can bring the child out in us, letting ourselves go, to be immersed in gardening, decorating, or creative play. This freedom we give ourselves is the fertile soil of our Muse; so many ideas strike our fancy to try, letting ourselves go to see where this might take us.

When was the last time you watched clouds pass, naming the shapes you identified? Or laid on your back in an open space at night and got lost in the star-studded sky? Or twirled in the breeze, letting the wind determine your movement?

Kate's Turn:

I’ve been invited to a Summer Follies this month…..a last hurrah before school begins and serious study once again takes precedence. I gave my performance anxiety some stage time in my mind, but decided THAT in and of itself was folly. This is a party defined to be fun, lighthearted, and FULL of folly…..no rules, everyone supports whatever each of us offers, all in the spirit of fun and folly.

Here I Am

Musing...

What an opening line for a story!  I’ve written from this entry many times, for it brings me right smack into the present, and has me choose from numerous options that happen to be my life in that present moment.   But what if I desire to change the story?  We all have aspects in our lives that are in process of a change, or want to be changed.  Rewrite the story; create and step into the changes you desire.  Who is the author, after all? 

Get Fired Up:

How would you title your life storybook?  The chapters?   What aspect(s) of your life do you wish to change the path in which the story is going?   Pen a desired outcome, and work your way backwards to HERE I AM, and step into a small part of that outcome in the present moment…claim your authorship.  Now, what is your new title?