Poise. Posture. Power. Point. Process. Pain... I'm out of "p" words. This morning I observed the advanced class at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. History time: Martha Graham was an innovative dancer, specifically during the 1950's but the woman's career spans decades. Basically developed an entirely new technique all her own that shaped American modern dance. For further info, look it up or ask any dancer.
Back to my story, I snuck into a chair at the back of the dance studio, the accompanist was playing drum and piano as the class had begun their floor warm-up. The straight back of each dancer was contagious and made me sit up in my own chair. The focus each dancer maintained drew me into their movements as well. I found myself swaying with their movements. As they contract, my own core tightened; my head tilts back with them; my toes point and flex with the class; it was all I could do to spring from my chair when they did their jumps across the room! Right.
Knowing so little about dance, terminology, combinations, etc. I found it all the more impressive when the instructor quickly spouted out each exercise, doing half motions herself and then the music started and the class was in sync with each other. My eye continued to follow the same few dancers in the room; the stronger dancers who moved with more control, more full expression and grace. I would watch others but always came back to the same few. Its mesmerizing to watch such grace knowing that there is so much effort behind each beautiful movement. Come to find later that one I had continually spied was in the Martha Graham Company! Nice!
A memorable moment came when the dancers were warming up their jumps across the floor. They would do three little jumps then little kick, springy things moving forward (like my dance vocab?). They did two passes then the instructor stopped and turned to us and asked us if we had a comment. I probably had the most dumbfounded look on my face. I thought I was invisible and now I am being directly addressed with a question about their feet as they move across the floor. WHAT?! I just kinda laughed and said I had nothing to say. I didn't know what I would be looking for. I'm pretty sure anything I would have said would have been WRONG. Nothing like a good dose of humility.
Truly an inspiring and incredible experience! I'm wonder what else in NYC I can observe...
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Yoga = Peace (especially in NYC)
Upon returning to the anthill known as New York City, after possibly the most stressful weeks of the year, I found a rare peace and stillness and joy this afternoon. I know, that is a lot to find in one place. And the truth of it is those things are fleeting, but to truly know them for a few minutes is precious!
Yes, I am sweating my cheese off practicing Bikram yoga. Yes, its that crazy one where the class is 90 minutes in a room heated to 100+ degrees! I'm sure other practices of yoga are equally beneficial. I love the heat! It reminds me of a Texas summer and I feel at home. The small class moved well together and something about suffering the heat and physical strain on the body brings a collective energy to a group. Its a beautiful thing! Forgive my lack of yoga terms, but I was lying in our final relaxation at the end of a 90 minute class feeling so at peace with where I am at this moment. Possibly part of this reflection is b/c we've been given our last scenes for the first year and I'm coming up on my one year anniversary of living in the City (woohoo!) but I wouldn't trade any of it!
Granted I am experiencing the "honeymoon" stage of coming back to yoga, but I love the presence of mind it demands. Last week made me face the undeniable fact that so much of our lives are out of our hands. One of my favorite people in the City (also Bikram yoga instructor) told me the other night, "How does worrying help those you care about?" There is such truth in that! To throw out another quote, "Who by worrying can add a single hour to their life?... Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." [Mt.6]
Thank you to my incredible family in TX! It healed me in so many ways to be home for a week with all of you! Thank you my NY family! Your love (and hugs) astound me! ....Ha! This part kinda sounds like the end of people's biographies in the Playbill! Haha! I'm a geek!
Yes, I am sweating my cheese off practicing Bikram yoga. Yes, its that crazy one where the class is 90 minutes in a room heated to 100+ degrees! I'm sure other practices of yoga are equally beneficial. I love the heat! It reminds me of a Texas summer and I feel at home. The small class moved well together and something about suffering the heat and physical strain on the body brings a collective energy to a group. Its a beautiful thing! Forgive my lack of yoga terms, but I was lying in our final relaxation at the end of a 90 minute class feeling so at peace with where I am at this moment. Possibly part of this reflection is b/c we've been given our last scenes for the first year and I'm coming up on my one year anniversary of living in the City (woohoo!) but I wouldn't trade any of it!
Granted I am experiencing the "honeymoon" stage of coming back to yoga, but I love the presence of mind it demands. Last week made me face the undeniable fact that so much of our lives are out of our hands. One of my favorite people in the City (also Bikram yoga instructor) told me the other night, "How does worrying help those you care about?" There is such truth in that! To throw out another quote, "Who by worrying can add a single hour to their life?... Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." [Mt.6]
Thank you to my incredible family in TX! It healed me in so many ways to be home for a week with all of you! Thank you my NY family! Your love (and hugs) astound me! ....Ha! This part kinda sounds like the end of people's biographies in the Playbill! Haha! I'm a geek!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Lets Go METS!!!
First baseball game in NYC! Woohoo!
My bestest, best friend John Blair visited me on this beautiful spring day, and being the baseball enthusiast that he is, proposed we go see the Mets new stadium. Gorgeous! So well designed with the classic brick to make it just beautiful. There was a big, giant #42 inside the entrance. Neither of us knew why, so we made a bet that whoever could figure it out bought the other a Shake Shack shake (redundant?). [side note: just now realizing i won the bet and haven't collected] Its Jackie Robinson, by the way. According the my baseball encyclopedia (Blair) all the ball clubs retired his number this year.
We decided to walk in the opposite direction from our seats so we could look at the whole stadium. In center field we stumbled upon the Shake Shack and waited in a fast line for our yummy, over-priced little burgers. Delicious! Then made our way up to the nose-bleeds. We did the typical "sit in the empty seats until the real owner of the seats shows up and you bump down one". However, the owners of the seats we parked in were a group of middle school Canadian kids who got up every two seconds to go get more food or walk around or do anything but stay in their seat for 2 minutes! It was amazing how often we had to move for them to get out of the row. AH!
The game ended in extra innings with a walk off walk. Did I say that right? It was exciting! Blair and I had made our way down to the lower level in the 9th inning, so we scrambled to peak over heads to see the final innings. As soon as the game was over we literally ran to the subway! Down the stairs, out the stadium, across the parking lot, up the subway platform and onto the train... where we had to wait until the train was full but we did get to sit down. That was one of the most fun parts. Our mad dash to the train! We beat the thousands of people coming from the stadium though!
Go METS!!!
My bestest, best friend John Blair visited me on this beautiful spring day, and being the baseball enthusiast that he is, proposed we go see the Mets new stadium. Gorgeous! So well designed with the classic brick to make it just beautiful. There was a big, giant #42 inside the entrance. Neither of us knew why, so we made a bet that whoever could figure it out bought the other a Shake Shack shake (redundant?). [side note: just now realizing i won the bet and haven't collected] Its Jackie Robinson, by the way. According the my baseball encyclopedia (Blair) all the ball clubs retired his number this year.
We decided to walk in the opposite direction from our seats so we could look at the whole stadium. In center field we stumbled upon the Shake Shack and waited in a fast line for our yummy, over-priced little burgers. Delicious! Then made our way up to the nose-bleeds. We did the typical "sit in the empty seats until the real owner of the seats shows up and you bump down one". However, the owners of the seats we parked in were a group of middle school Canadian kids who got up every two seconds to go get more food or walk around or do anything but stay in their seat for 2 minutes! It was amazing how often we had to move for them to get out of the row. AH!
The game ended in extra innings with a walk off walk. Did I say that right? It was exciting! Blair and I had made our way down to the lower level in the 9th inning, so we scrambled to peak over heads to see the final innings. As soon as the game was over we literally ran to the subway! Down the stairs, out the stadium, across the parking lot, up the subway platform and onto the train... where we had to wait until the train was full but we did get to sit down. That was one of the most fun parts. Our mad dash to the train! We beat the thousands of people coming from the stadium though!
Go METS!!!
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