Passion, please
At any given moment, we are the sum total of our experiences. They shape us and our perspectives on life. Movement, feelings and expression are all highly personal, even though it doesn’t always feel that way within a group of dancers. With this in mind, it’s clear to see that trying to compete with other dancers is a waste of time. There has never been and never will be another you. You dance the way that you dance, which is different from anyone else.
As a living, breathing entity, a dancer in turn breathes life into their dance by bringing honest feeling into the picture. The highest kicks and the greater number of turns mean nothing without heart. The people in the audience are all human, capable of a spectrum of feelings, and they come to a performance wanting to be moved. If you allow genuine emotions to be a part of your dance, it will be real, it will be yours, and they will come back.
Dance as Expression
When we dance, we use our bodies to express feelings and ideas. Movement is a powerful alternative to speech, and can often say much more in a shorter amount of time. Helping children learn how to use their bodies as an expressive tool can give them an entirely new emotional outlet to deal with feelings, which at times are intense or overwhelming. It is important and healing to have positive ways to deal with feelings and to move that energy out of the body, instead of squelching or repressing it.
Naming a feeling is the first step. Help the children get in touch with what they are feeling by standing still in one place, closing their eyes and focusing on their bodies. Ask the following questions to help them get in touch with their emotions. Do they feel heavy or light, hot or cold, hard, or soft? What is their face saying right now? Are they smiling or frowning?
There will probably be a range of answers, and of course, the ubiquitous, “I don’t know”. Use whatever clear answer comes first and work from there. As an example, suppose the answer is “Mad. My friend said something that I didn’t like.”
As a teacher, any feeling that arises is something to work with. Put on music and let them create a dance about how they are feeling. The response can be, “Great. That sounds like a very clear feeling. You are mad. How can you show that with your body? Can you show that feeling with movements instead of words? What does your body want to do when it is mad?”
We all need healthy ways to deal with intense emotions, and dance is a potent alternative to hitting a pillow or yelling from the peak of the nearest hillside. Humans are emotional creatures, which is both our greatest blessing and our largest challenge. Having the proper tools to ride those powerful currents can help make the ride a whole lot more fun.
