i don't think you can dance
/I KNOW YOU CAN.
Last week I asked you to stop whatever you were doing and just move for 10 seconds.
Let’s do that again.
Stop reading and start moving.
However you want.
In whatever way feels good to you.
Fast or slow or clunky or smooth or unsure, with longing or without, with a calm mind or with a crazy fast moving mind that just won’t stop.
The only rule is to notice your breath, and notice how you feel.
Just do it:
I will count again:
1
potato
2
potato
3
potato
4
potato
5
potato….etc., and you can count the rest.
How did that feel?
Sometimes it's easy to forget how easy it is to just start dancing.
For example:
I was getting my passport stamped at the airport in Norway.
Every time someone came up to his window, the passport stamper guy would say:
“Name. Age. Occupation”
in a horribly monotone voice that droned on and on and on.
When it was finally my turn to get my passport stamped and I answered his 3 question, ending with my occupation — choreographer — the passport stamper guy looked up, gave me a huge smile and said:
“Oh. You mean like this?”
He stood up and did a dance in his little plastic passport booth.
Yes, I thought to myself.
Exactly passport stamper guy, exactly.
I asked my students the other day to tell me why they dance.
This was one of the responses I got:
“I'm dancing so that I can remember who I am. I'm dancing so that I can re-member my body.”
— Paulette Fire.
Yes, I thought to myself.
Exactly Paulette, exactly.
If the passport guy in Norway can dance in his little plastic booth with vitality and bravado, then you can too.
If the reason to dance is to remember who you are, then get to it.
There are parts of you just longing to be remembered, so don’t ignore them. They deserve more than that.
The next dancing session that I am offering starts on June 13th.
That gives you a little over a month to dust off your dancing pants and come join me.
What you need to know before I dive into the logistics of how things are going to go this summer, is that this class isn’t for everyone.
I’m not interested in having you make a pretty line or do it the right way,
and
I’m not interested in having you dance to the right counts,
and
I’m not interested in how high you can leap or how fast you can spin,
and
I’m not interested in your grace or your strength or your agility.
I’m interested in your imagination, your honesty, your curiosity, your instincts, and your dreams.
I’m interested in guiding you to find extraordinary freedom in your body and your dancing.
To take a class with me, you have to be interested in not knowing and be okay with not knowing.
There needs to be a level of trust that one thing will lead to the next.
Or that it won’t, and that is just as good.
There is a feeling in my classes that you can do more than you thought you were capable of doing.
That you are free to try.
The dancing starts to become more then you ever could have imagined.
That is when the magic happens.
If this piques your interest, keep reading to get more information about the logistics of how everything is going to go.
If it doesn’t, or if you aren't local, then scroll on down to the bottom of the page to get your dance mission for the week!!
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I am making a few changes for this upcoming session.
The 1st change is that the price has gone up to reflect the longer class time, added events, and merchant fees.
The 2nd change is the that I am going to try out a punch card system to give you more flexibility in your comings and goings.
The 3rd is that all payments will now be processed through pay pal to make it easier and more convenient for you.
So here’s the dealio:
1. Class Times and Locations:
The summer session will run from June 13th-August 15th and will take place in the upstairs dance studio (The Trixie Room) at The Boulder Circus Center.
Classes will take place on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays:
Tuesday: 11-1pm
Thursday: 11-1pm
Saturday: 10-12pm
THERE WILL BE NO CLASS ON:
SATURDAY, JULY 4TH
TUESDAY, JULY 21ST
THURSDAY, JULY 23RD
SATURDAY, JULY 25TH
PLEASE NOTE: Saturday, July 11th will be a site-specific dance day on the St. Vrain Trail, just outside of Jamestown. This will be a longer day than normal because of the location and nature of this particular class. Please set aside 5-6 hours that day for class. This time will include driving time, dancing and writing time, and a picnic lunch. I will include more details as we get closer to this date.
2. Fees and Punch Card and Make-Ups:
1 class per week (8 classes for the session): $206
2 classes per week (16 classes for the session): $382
3 classes per week (24 classes for the session): $573
If you don’t use all the punches on your card by August 15th, you can bring a guest to class to use that extra punch.
The Enrollment Period will be from: June 1st-June 12th.
I will send you a link to register for your punch card of 1, 2, or 3 classes per week throughout June 1st and June 12th so that you have ample time to enroll.
3. Refund Policy:
If you get to the end of the session after participating in all of the classes that you have signed up for and are disgruntled and dissatisfied, then I will happily refund 100% of your money.
NOTE: To be eligible for a refund, I require that you attend all 8, 16, or 24 classes that you sign up for when you purchase your punch card.
It is important to me that this class provides you with freedom and magic in your dancing. This means you must show up.
I know that if you continually show up, you will access parts of yourself that you didn’t know were there, just waiting to be remembered.
If you show up and still don’t get value from your experience, then l will refund you 100% of your class fee, no questions asked.
4. Performance:
On Saturday, August 15th there will be an informal performance of the work we have been practicing together over the summer. You choose if you want to participate in this event or not.
YOUR DANCE MISSION:
Your dance mission for the week is to dance to these 3 songs, in any order you want, at anytime of the day that you want. THEN dance for 3 minutes in silence. But you have to dance to all 3 songs including your 3 minutes of silence, before you get your next newsletter from me.
1. We Found Love by Calvin Harris and Rhianna
2.. Bowspirit by Balmorhea
3. Fyrsta by Ólafur Arnalds
Then:
Leave a comment about your experience here and share this blog with that one friend who is secretly yearning to dance, but hasn’t broken through.
As Always,
With so much Warmth,
Joanna
of
Joanna and The Agitators
sweetly agitating/persistently upending
www.joannaandtheagitators.com