Me, May and Pamela
Find the Gem in the Slow-down of Summer
For many of us summer is a time to slow down, relax and regroup.
I have always hoped that my summers would change me in some way, I would go on a vacation or do something that would have a posotive lasting impact. Whatever I experienced would be like finding a gem.
Earlier this month I co-taught a Tarot in Motion workshop with my childhood friend May Kesler at the Bill Evans Somatic Dance Conference in Geneva, NY.
I was most likely the only participant, let alone presenter who did not have any formal dance training. May and I might have been the only presenters who weren’t part of the academic world. I was an outlier, which is really no surprise.
I am grateful to have had such an opportunity. What I gained was different then what I expected. I saw many wonderful performances, took workshops on mind/body awareness for dancers and heard lectures on inclusion of disabilities, all done by hard working talented dance educators. I now have greater clarity on dance performance versus dance healing and a rough outline for my next book.
May and I only had 1 hour to introduce Tarot in Motion to 20 dancers, none of whom had used Tarot before. It was fantastic. My only regret is that I did not personally get to hear what everyone’s process was.
I realized that what I have been exploring in the classes I have been taking, the performances I‘ve been seeing and in developing Tarot in Motion ARE the grassroots level. These ideas then trickle into the academic world and eventually becomes the mainstream. I’m affirmed in my own convictions.
With the mark of summer being half over I’ve already found my summertime gem.