Viewing the video will give you the “experience” of what today’s post is all about.
Night of Swing Dance
In my experiences with dance, I have only done swing dancing one time. That was on a date. I do not remember my date’s name, but it was his birthday. We went to downtown Denver to an off-the-beaten path old two-story, Victorian house turned into an organic, vegetarian restaurant. The owners had probably opened the first veggie restaurant in Denver twenty years earlier. They had served spicy Indian dishes, tofu enchiladas, and rice dream instead of ice cream at their original location in an old brick warehouse with a bare cement floor.
In their new establishment, the second floor was an open-to-the-community free dance classroom a couple of nights a week. It had a large, refinished hardwood floor, and a stage for live orchestra music. My date and I truly enjoyed learning some fast moving partner dancing that night. To the sounds of upbeat music, we did steps, spins, slides, and he even “threw” me into the air – about half an inch – as I attempted to emulate the perfectly straight, stretched out bodies I had seen, and enjoyed being momentarily in flight. The evening was fun. Even exhilirating.
Swing is not a type of dance I would probably do very often. Still, as I look back that night is a reminder to me that dance is a universal language. It speaks to the heart through rhythm, flow, precision, freedom, dynamic expression, and the joy of movement.
When was the last time you danced? Recently? Years ago? Do you even like to be out on the dance floor? Not everyone does, though I cannot imagine being away from it for too long. I haven’t been dancing much for awhile, but I visited my favorite studio here in Denver, Studio Soma, last Tuesday. The music, the friendships, but best of all, the sensation of movement, is so enlivening and vital. I do NIA, which stands for Neromuscular Integrative Action. Part of the philosophy if Nia is to keep a sense of dancing through life. The name, actually, is misleading. A better description is to say that NIA integrates 3 different movements forms: martial arts, dance arts, and healing arts. And, it integrates 3 kinds of each form.
In martial arts, NIA includes tai-kwon-do, aikido, and the gentle flow of tai-chi. The dance arts are jazz, modern dance, and Duncan [Isadora] dance. The healing arts consist of yoga, the Feldenkrais Method, and the Alexander Technique. They have to do with the natural alignment of the body, breath, and where in the body various movements originate and are connected. Interestingly, the headquarters of Nia are in Portland. I have never been to their main studio, and, unfortunately, won’t get there during two visits this summer. But, Portland is such an inviting place, my return is imminent.
Actually, it’s very late so my very first “blog” on WordPress is going to be in contrast to the standardized title given every new account, “Hello world!” My message is simply a “Good night!”
