This Friday I’ve been invited to present a workshop on poems and dance for the Darwin Dance Collective. I have been attending workshops with DDC for 3 years. Each visit has brought inspiration of which I’ve taken away with me and on occasions have written poetry.
What I appreciate at Dance Collective is that there are no mirrors, no cameras, whatever we create is a one off, never to be repeated, & not performed, giving a sense of security and freedom.
We will be experimenting with different variables such as moving to silence, to words, to music. We’ll be creating poems and moving again to them in different combinations- groups, pairs and on our own. Including a poem I wrote after one of the DDC workshops.
Darwin Dance Collective is a group of people who get together and do dance improvisations weekly or fortnightly. A different member takes the sessions each week, though there is no obligation to do so. Sessions take place in the tranquility of the Yoga Centrre. You are made to feel welcome and comfortable in the company of friends. It is a very different dance experience. One for the soul.
Along with my bellydance, improvisation with other styles allow me to stay grounded and not become flat. It’s easy for this to happen when one concentrates on one style, and especially when emphasis on regular classes is on learning a choreography and performance. Improvisation is good for social and emotional well being because it doesn’t follow steps. It’s non-competitive because you make up the steps, and they don’t need to be perfect. There is a skill to it, and you discover this along the journey it takes you. I love exploring space.
Space is a friend, and from my improvisations with DDC I have discovered this and have enjoyed experimenting with movement.
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