that sound!

Last week, a small group of us were in Costa Rica, dancing.

The first early morning there — 3, 4am — a haunted house breathy sort of sound moved through. Many of us woke, and wondered what it was.

A few hours later, we found our way to dancing, in a round, open air studio, surrounded by that same sound of breath and of thunder.

That sound, it shot through our bodies.

It buried us beneath it’s call before fading to quiet, over and over again.

Throughout the week with that sound, others too, there were moments.

 Like:

 We had been quiet and still in our dancing for a long time.

 Outside it was also quiet….barely any sound.

 Without any warning or preamble, a wave of movement poured through the space, in a sudden rush, rippling out to each and every body in that round room.

At the exact moment of movement, that steady stream, the sound came too, synching up to the rush, matching our force. 

The howl and the breath.

Like:

One day, also when it had been quiet outside for a long stretch of time, I said “Notice how far the ensemble extends into space” and before we could — notice — the sound wooshed in and planted itself, in the center of us.
 

Like: 

It had been loud outside, very loud, with frogs and other animals, and then we got loud, really loud. Our own howls, screams, and grunts.

When we came to pause, to feel our feet on the ground, it had gone still out there, almost silent, as if the animals — all of them — were listening.

I couldn’t have imagined last week, dancing in Costa Rica.

I mean, I did imagine, for many months what it would be like, and that imagining was close to nothing of what it actually was, which was sort of soft, but also not.

Easy, almost always.

Quiet a lot, but also loud when that was called for.

Kindness, and laughter...so much laughter.

Some crying too.

And loneliness, here and there as some, not all, wondered from time to time where we were and why, and then, not any at all, loneliness.

Only that sound.

That rush of sound and breath that shot through our bodies, and stayed.

It was good.

Dancing in Costa Rica was good.

And that sound…it is wild and it is free.