I see a post on facebook beginning with “VULNERABLE SHARE”.  If it were truly vulnerable it would not require an announcement.

The border between vulnerability and exhibitionism is an excellent mystery.  In what direction does the energy flow between self and other?

To reveal oneself in service to the whole is different than curating exhibits of personal power.

My teacher asks me “For whose eyes are you dancing?”

My favorite dances are when we dance vulnerably for each other, shining our light on the mystery while acknowledging our shadows.

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

Prosody refers to the auditory components of our speech—like rhythm, intonation, and volume.    In prosodic speech there is variance in these auditory components.  Prosody in speech has been linked to a feeling of safety, and to a corresponding state of ease in the nervous system.  When prosody is missing someone may sound like a robot.  And, we’re less likely to feel safe with them.  Our tone often says more than our words.

It is clear to me that movement is also prosodic.  The variations in our movement quality are a basis for subtle communication.  And, we regulate our nervous systems in tandem with the movements of those around us.  This is co-regulation.

At the end of Ecstatic Dance this past Sunday I witnessed a number of people holding their hands over their hearts in the finishing silence.  They weren’t copying each other—many had their eyes closed.  In moving together we had co-regulated into a state of group coherence.

People often ask me if Contact Improvisation(CI) and Ecstatic Dance(ED) are the same thing.  Usually its in the context of someone wanting to come to Ecstatic Dance, but feeling that they might not be ready to participate in Contact Improvisation.  This is A-OK, and I want to take this opportunity to dive a bit deeper into the relationship between these forms.

Convergent evolution is a concept in biology in which different species develop similar traits—generally in relationship to similar environmental forces.  For example, both fish and dolphins have fins, but as mammals dolphins are more closely related to dogs than fish.  This is what I see taking place with Ecstatic Dance and Contact Improvisation.  They are not the same thing, and they come from different cultural origins, and yet they embody similar ideals and often occur together.

Ecstatic Dance is like a night club where the alcohol has been replaced by a sense of communal prayer.  It’s a place of welcome and respect where anybody can move however they like, and where we all do our best to leave our judgements at the door.  Excepting some brief circle time to set the space and close it, ED is a non-verbal space generally held with prominent, bass-driven music.

Contact Improvisation arose in the 1970’s in the dance-art-performance scene of Western Massachusetts.  The experiment is simple:  What happens if we connect physically with each other—often sharing weight—without a set vocabulary of movements, and without controlling each other?  It’s worth noting that CI was and is often practiced without music, allowing the dancers greater sensitivity to each other and the texture of their movements. 

Where Ecstatic Dance has a root (among many) in night clubs, Contact Improvisation is more closely related to ballet in its origins.  And they are converging:  It is likely that you will find people practicing CI at any ED you attend.  Its because the underlying principles of the forms are compatible:

1)  They are improvisational.  The structures set the intention, not the movements. 

2)  They are relational.  Whether we touch or not, we affect and are affected by each other’s presence.

3)  They are co-creative.  Co-creativity is the result of improvisational relativity.  Optimally we reposition ourselves in the relational field by listening to rather than dominating each other.  We don’t owe each other a dance—we show up because it’s interesting and move on when it isn’t.

I believe co-creative play is a key lesson of our time.  We can respect ourselves by claiming our boundaries.  We can respect each other by listening.  And from what I’ve seen, we’re all pretty good at it when we bravely allow ourselves to try.

I grew up Jewish and attended Hebrew school for a number of years.  There was one teaching that always bothered me, and which I likely misunderstood:  That as a Jew I was one of the ‘chosen’ people.  After many years dwelling on the various ways I disagreed with this idea, I now find myself questioning my assumptions about it.

Who chooses ‘me’, and for what?

Life with purpose offers the opportunity for fulfillment.  What if the deeper teaching of my culture is that anybody can choose themselves for the purpose they seek to fulfill?  When I choose to be here in this body with gratitude, I am granted the opportunity to embody my ideals.  I do it imperfectly, of course, as my body-in-motion becomes connected with that which I wish to see in the world.  Purpose chosen, even just for a moment, makes it okay to be a bit uncomfortable; perhaps even meaningful.

The uncomfortable but empowering question:  What do you choose you for?

Dear Readers-

   I am the teacher coordinator this year for Northern California Dance Collective’s (NCDC) Summer Dance Camp.  It’s one of my favorite annual dance events, bridging the realms of conscious dance, social dance, and the experimental art of dance in an intimate micro-festival.  Of course these aren’t truly different realms, but they do often occupy different sectors of our society.  This year’s camp will run from June 12th-21st, and I’d encourage anyone reading this to consider attending.  

   I’m writing to ask your assistance in gathering your favorite dance and somatic embodiment teachers.  Please forward them this application to teach at NCDC.  And, many of my favorite teachers are on this list, so I ask you to please consider what you might like to contribute.  The turnaround on this is quick—I need your applications by January 5th please!  Please write me with any questions.  

   If you’ve read this far it’s time I share this video I created about NCDC two summers ago.  It’s a lot of fun.

Happy Holidays,

Matthew