is that a mini-snake?

asked the same friend who asked me for my “animal” instead of my email a few weeks ago. Technically, it was not a mini snake, it was a millipede.

But hey, we all see the world differently so if she saw a mini snake, she saw a mini snake.

It is sort of the same with post-modern/experimental/post-post-modern//next wave/call it what you will/ DANCE.

Some people see a mini snake. Some people see a millipede.

One is not better than the other.

For example: You go to see a post post post post modern dance performance with a friend.

You see a story about women hitting the glass ceiling over and over again. She sees a portrait of her grandmother.

You see the wild of the world strutting toward midnight. She sees a war that will never end.

You are bored out of your mind. She is riveted and spellbound.

You see a mini-snake. She sees a millipede. And the guy sitting next to you sees a squiggly line on the ground.

That’s just sort of how it goes.

The people in the front row might be laughing their asses off, while you are sitting very still, holding your chin in your hand, contemplating the images swirling in front of you.

Trust it.

There is nothing to get or understand or figure out. Just feel what you feel, let it take you where it will, and trust your own experience of this world that is being created just a few feet away.

Then go out to dinner and talk about what you just saw with your friend. You don’t need to figure it out. Talk, listen, and stay curious.

Seeing live performance is a bit risky. You can’t switch channels or scroll down to the cute cat video. You can’t skip ahead, or go back and read it over. You most likely won’t walk out,

(Full Disclosure: I did walk out when the performer was taking huge bites out of a struggling to stay alive very large silver fish. I would suggest walking out when you are witnessing something of this nature)

and you most likely won’t be eating a snack,

(Full Disclosure: I did eat bacon one time that I had hidden in my pocket. I would suggest bringing bacon if the performance is over 3 hours long).

So this basically means that you will just be sitting there, watching what is unfolding. You might not like it. You might be bored. You might be angry or sad or uncomfortable or confused.

You might be elated. You might be surprised. You might be delighted, enchanted, and captivated.

The performer or performers might be having an off night, or they might be so on that the room is sizzling.

That’s the risk you take. You just don’t know.

I believe this is a risk worth taking because the pay off is enormous.

Something profound and far reaching happens when we see live performance.

Cells reorganize in our bodies, bodies reorganize in space, and then the space we inhabit becomes more vivid, arresting, and remarkable.

What has been borrowing underneath the surface of everyday activity emerges into the light.

Like a millipede. Or a mini snake.

Napping in sun. . You have two dance missions this week:

The first dance mission is to dance for one minute before you go to sleep tonight.

The second is to see a live dance performance with a friend. Go out to dinner afterward and talk about the show you just saw.

Write about your experience or post a video on the blog: http://bit.ly/1v7PtjZ

or on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1tndQsd

Either way, I would love to hear from you. On another note: Thank you to everyone who came out to see dirtland these past two weekends. We had great audiences and it was a pleasure to share this work with you. With Warmth, Joanna of Joanna and The Agitators sweetly agitating/persistently upending

i will not be going to mars

Have you heard this?On the radio, driving home from a long day of working and dancing and grocery shopping and errand running and tea drinking with friends? That a group of 4 people will go to Mars in 2023? 4 people. Two women and two men -- are set to leave for Mars in September 2022. They will land in April 2023. And they only get a one way ticket. That means they can't come back.

No matter what. Egads. That sounds AWFUL.

I am a pretty adventurous, but a one way ticket to MARS?

Not in this life. Or the next.

Okay, maybe the one after that, but only if I get to come back to Colorado every year in the fall.

This got me thinking about what an adventure is and who is drawn to what sort of adventure when.

I feel like for me, my adventures have softened.

Did I really just say that? Am I already at that stage in my life when I have soft adventures instead of loud and raucous ones? Is this what they call radical acceptance?

But it's true, they have softened. I still love hiking and traveling and being outside, but I also love being home and moving slowly through the day. And that feels like an adventure because I get to follow each moment with precision and care.

Laura Ann came up yesterday, last minute, and we spent the day together improvising in the morning and then catching up on work in the afternoon. We ate fermented food (I chewed, she gulped the juice down like it was water) and talked and were slow.

And right now I am sitting in the kitchen. There is a bouquet of lavender tulips on the table and I can smell them and it is glorious. The sun and the breeze and the quiet. I am aware of how big the universe is, and yet Mars seems like it is right next door.

And what I mean when I say that is this: Improvising is like traveling to Mars.

Because it too is unknown. And once I am in, I am in. I follow what is in front of me. I sense my body. I sense the world. I notice who I am close to and who I am far away from. I notice what is needed in the space and at what point. I follow the internal pull for movement and for stillness. When I am improvising, I become limitless.

So, all I am saying is that you don't have to go to Mars to become infinite.

You can do that everyday at home, even if it is just for a second.

So, whatever you are doing, stand up now.

Notice how long your exhale is. Notice how long our inhale is. Notice the gaps in between the exhale and the inhale, and the inhale and the exhale. Feel your feet on the earth.

Bend your knees slightly. Lift your toes up, spread them out, and set them down again. Look up. Look down. Look straight in front of you. And then look somewhere else. And somewhere else. And somewhere else.

Now move your arms continuously for 10 counts. Noticing your breath as you move.

Take 3 steps forward and do this sequence again. And again. And again.

Let me know how it goes by posting about it on my newly furbished website:

http://bit.ly/1u1Ytu1

or on the facebook dance missions page:

http://on.fb.me/1tndQsd

I would love to hear from you.

With Warmth, Joanna of Joanna and The Agitators

I don't play racquet ball...do you?

The Fringe Festival is upon us, and that means performance, performance, performance. So much is happening these next two weeks, and one of those things is happening in the Racquet Ball Court at The North Boulder Rec Center.

We (me, Chrissy, Johannah,  Peg, and Toby) have been working on this site specific dance project for the last 5 months and we would love for you to come and see what we have been doing all this time.

We will be performing on Saturday, Sept 20th at 6pm Sunday, Sept 21st at 4pm Friday, Sept 26 at 6pm Saturday, Sept 27 at 4pm.

and oh yeah...

IT'S FREE!

Because of a generous grant from the Boulder Arts Commission, and because of an incredible and surprising donation from a long time student of mine, we are offering a free performance in this year's Fringe Festival.

So here's the deal: the space is small. I think we can fit 40 people in the audience comfortably...maybe 50. So if you want to come, and I hope you do, I would suggest reserving a ticket online through the Boulder Fringe website.

You can do that here: http://bit.ly/Xk8apl. AND

OMG,

I just saw Laura Ann's rehearsal for Kitsch and her show is great. It is weird and funny and strange and unknown. All of the things I love about live performance.

So check out her show too at http://bit.ly/1wqROrn.

And there are so many other wonderful live performances happening in this hamlet of ours: The Awkward Art of Flying; Flying Dreams; Wanda and The Wave; Shadows in Bloom; I miss my MTV, to name just a few.

Go to http://bit.ly/YTI4v2 for a full listing of all the shows happening around town these next two weeks. Your dance mission for this week is TO WATCH a dance.

It can be live. It can be on youtube. It can be your two-year old dancing for you before she takes her bath.

The next day, you are going to take out that notebook you keep by your bed (the one with your headlamp next to it), and you are going to write down the dance you saw. Don't worry about "how to write a dance down" just do what feels right to you. Do it quickly, without thinking too much about it.

The day after that, you are going to do the dance that you saw live, or on youtube, or that your daughter did for you before her bath.

Then,

(oh yes, there is a then)

you are going to post the dance you just did SOMEWHERE.

Here: http://on.fb.me/1tndQsd or Here: http://bit.ly/1u1Ytu1 or somewhere else that feels good to you or nowhere at all.

The most important part of this mission is to watch a dance, let it sit for a bit, do that dance you saw, trusting you are doing it exactly as it should be done, be curious about it all.

See you in the Racquet Ball Court.

With Warmth, Joanna of Joanna and The Agitators sweetly agitating/persistently upending

did you use your headlamp this week?

I know how important sleep is and how yucky it feels to wake up at 3am. But when an amazing and off the wall image comes to you, take it seriously. In my humble opinion, that is a moment that is more important than sleep. If you are going to pursue an artistic life, when those images come to you, whenever they come to you, wake up and write them down. I have lost SOOOOO many of these early morning down in the dirt holly roller snap shots because I didn’t want to wake up. I am not a religious person. I don’t believe in god. I don’t believe in any type of saviour. I believe that we live in a random, chaotic, and stunning universe. But the way these moments of wild come to us at 3am, the way we collapse them and then collage them together as artists, the way we let the illogical build and build and build until it becomes logical, that is like Ellijah actually showing up for a sip of wine at the passover table.

So if something comes at 3 in the morning, put your head lamp on and write it down. Know you are not alone. If I am lucky enough, I am hopefully doing the same thing. Then go back to sleep. Or don’t. If it is that good you might be up for awhile, so relax. Make some mint tea, have some toast. Yeah, so you’ll be a little tired the next day. That’s the price you pay my friend. That is the price you pay for this kind of magic.

When I dance, when I improvise, when I am in the throes of an artistic process, I feel the curve of the earth beneath me and the expanse of the sky above.

I don’t feel this all of the time.

Not even most of the time.

Maybe it happens once in a blue moon.

I glimpsed it on Saturday at the last summer dance vacation, and I felt it on Sunday at a family dance day. I saw it on Monday when I was watching Chrissy, Johannah, Peg, and Toby in the Racquet Ball Court at The North Boulder Rec Center rehearsing for dirtland.

And that is why I wake up, put my headlamp on, and jot down the meandering, twisty, and unreasonable moments of witchery that come to me when I am not looking.

I am not willing to let these moments slip by me anymore.

And the more I give these moments the time they are asking for at 3am, the more they start to knock on my door at a more reasonable hour. Like today, one came at 1:30pm and then again at 3pm, yesterday at 10am, and the day before that at 5pm. I wrote them all down, and gave them the respect and time they deserved by brining them to rehearsal today.

Most of these moments got thrown out, or put aside for another time. But the one that stuck, the one with the suitcases filled with dirt, I am ready to let that one in and stay awhile.

So little chicken.

Did you set your headlamp on your bedside table?

Is your notebook ready?

Are you ready to get to work and wait for her to knock on your door so you can welcome her in at an unreasonable hour?

Because if you do, she will start showing up more and more often, and at a more convenient time.

The dance mission for this week is to dance before dinner and to dance before bed.

Have your headlamp ready to go and see what happens.

I will be right there with you, making my tea and toast.

With Warmth,

Joanna

of

Joanna and the Agitators.

someone keeps knocking on my door...at 3 A.M.

It’s her.Knocking away. at 3 AM in the morning.

AGAIN.

Creeping into my bed and whispering:

“You should have stuck with your idea of becoming a middle school gym teacher. Then you could wear a jogging suit everyday. The kind with the stripes and the shiny pants. AND you would get your very own whistle.”

I roll over, trying to get back to sleep, and think of myself as a gymnast, on the uneven bars, winning a gold medal at the Olympics.

As I am drifting off to sleep, just as I dismount, “stick it” on the mat, and get a 10 from the judges, she taps my shoulder again.

This time I am sitting straight up in bed with a headlamp and my notebook.

I am writing down everything she is showing me: Vacuuming grass in red high heeled shoes. Meditating on a large, raw, slab of t-bone steak. Pouring skittles over my head. Duct taping food to a dining room table. Dancing in a room piled high with dirt. Dancing in a river with two red chairs. Dancing on a car in white dresses and silver high heels. Sliding down a plexiglass wall in a prom dress. Running as fast as I can singing “I Feel Pretty.” Wearing a cat costume that is soaking wet.

The next day I am rehearsing for a show.

This entails a lot of lying down, some slow rolling, focused breathing, and thinking about my grocery list.

There is some imagining of what color gym outfit I am going to wear when I quit making dances and am teaching wiffle ball instead.

At some point I find myself colliding these early morning images. This one on top of that one with that one underneath. Over there, that one will rest in the corner and then hurl itself through space RIGHT NOW.

A murky collage starts to form. I make a quick little choreography that sends this image into the next image. I start fiddling with music. I take some notes. I begin to sing. To roll. To crawl. To tiptoe. To jerk my elbows this way and then that way. I bite the air. I hop and fall. Hop and fall. Hop and fall. I jot down some notes and make a choreography that expands the images from my early morning muse, and then shrinks it down to a miniature version of itself.

I lie down again.

I begin to imagine how the dance will begin. And how it will end.

I don’t know why she insists on visiting me at 3am in the morning. I wouldn't mind a visit at say, 1pm, 8pm, or even 10pm.

But 3 A.M????

I guess thats how she rolls. She doesn’t show up for months, even years sometimes and just as I am about to say enough, I have nothing. Nada. Zilch. I am done. No more dancing for me She goes, “Hmmmm…really??? Are you sure? Because I just met this guy who sells meat right off of the cow and you can get it directly from him and I just think you should give it one more shot and then make up your mind. And look, there are 3 dollar prom dresses at Savers right now, so just try it. You’ll like it. I promise. You’ll like it.”

So I put away my jogging suit and whistle. I put away my new sneakers I was going to wear the first day of school. I put away my wiffle ball and my wiffle bat, and instead I get my notebook and my headlamp all set up next to my bed.

I fall asleep, secretly hoping she’ll knock on my door tonight.

Your dance mission for the week is to get your notebook and your headlamp out and to write down what arises that makes you go “WHAAAAAAAAAT?????” I was with a friend yesterday, and by accident, she said “What is your animal” instead of “What is your email.” And I said, “WRITE THAT DOWN. That was weird and strange and beautiful. And it might be the start, or the middle, or the end of your next dance/poem/song/puppet show. It might not be. But it might be. So write it down.” Right after you finish reading this email, I want you to start to make a list of those weird little moments that make you turn your head, catch your breath, and sit up straighter. This might happen when you hear something on the radio, it might happen when you see something in nature, it might happen when you are in a formal or not so formal dance experience, it might happen when you are having a conversation with a friend.

Write it down and make a list of these moments.

These are the moments that can get you started on a very singular and astonishing journey to making a dance, a poem, a song, a puppet show, a diorama.

(I am about to switch to all caps AND bold now because this is important):

I WANT YOU TO SEND ME YOUR LIST ON MONDAY NIGHT. ON WEDNESDAY I AM GOING TO SEND YOU BACK THE NEXT STEP. I CAN’T SEND YOU THE NEXT STEP IF I DON’T GET YOUR LIST. SO SEND ME YOUR LIST. You can send your list directly to this email, or if you want to share what you have written, and see what other people have written, you can post your list on the facebook dance missions page at: http://on.fb.me/1tndQsd I can’t wait to read what you come up with for this Dance Mission.

some things are more important then dancing

On Monday I went to a vigil for Michael Brown. I stood very still and held onto my candle. I learned the difference between “murder” and “homicide”

There was a moment when the anger I felt almost knocked me to the ground.

But then I heard the phrase “revolutionary love” and I felt the earth shift beneath my feet.

The undertow of the conversation was about forgetting. Who has the privilege to forget and who doesn’t? Last night I dreamt that I was at the campus where the vigil took place. I was on top of the buildings and I was running. I kept slipping and sliding down the slanted roof of the building and falling into a black hole. I would climb out and start running across the rooftops again. I would slip and fall into the same black hole, over and over again. And then I would climb out and start running again. You know that I love dancing. But on Monday night I just couldn’t do it.

Something more important was happening. Today I will dance.

It will be a slow dance with barely any movement at all.

Falling slow from upright and descending deep into the bottom of time.

Do you want to do it with me?

This slow fall.

Start standing or sitting.

Feel the pull up from your head and the dropping down from your tail.

Rooting so you can rise.

Notice your breath.

Notice how you feel.

and begin to fall slow.

just let yourself sink and and descend and see where you land.

And come back to upright, and do it again. And again. And again.

Go down under and submerge yourself in what is there. See what you see

and

Notice what you remember.

With Warmth, Joanna of Joanna and the Agitators.

a weekend in paris

Well, it's not Paris, but it's close. A group of us met up at my house this past Saturday for the 3rd Dance Vacation and it was marvelous. I always get a little nervous before hosting one of these events:

Will the house be clean enough: (probably not). Will the car be clean enough since I am driving everyone back and forth from Boulder:(definitely not). Will the food be good enough: (I hope so). Will the dancing be wonderful enough: (You just never know).

And yet, it seems to work out most of the time.

I see people finding their way through this maze of dancing with a fierce and fervid questing that inspires me to quest more deeply, and more keenly myself. Questions of what it means to be seen came up a lot at this last dance vacation: Who is seeing me and what are they seeing? Does being seen change my dancing? Why is it so scary to be seen? or Why is it not so scary to be seen?

Will a part of me die if I am seen?

And these are questions that I can't answer, because I don't know.

All I know is that dancing with "no one" seeing me and dancing with "some one" seeing me are different. One is not better then the other. They are just different.

When I am dancing alone, either in my house or in the woods

(for some reason if I am in an actual dance studio dancing by myself, I usually end up taking a nap...go and know),

I am just feeling my body, feeling my connection to the larger world, and also feeling my connection to the tiny world beneath my feet. When I am being seen, I am feeling all of those things too,

(full disclosure: Sometimes I actually don't feel any of that. Sometimes I feel spaced out, unsure, preoccupied, scared, twisted up, perplexed, empty. It is just the nature of the practice I think.

That divine moment, when all things are aligned, when the dancing is coming from inside of you and also outside of you, when you are just following that blessed current of creative inquiry, when you are whirling without realizing you are whirling, but also so attuned to the whirling that you can actually feel every cell in your body connected to every single cell in all of the bodies...

that doesn't happen all the time.

At least for me.

It just happens some of the time. And because it happens some of the time, I am willing, very willing, to put up with the times it doesn't happen because then something entirely different emerges)

AND I am aware that there are eyes on me. In some inexplicable way that changes my decisions, my actions, my emotional arc in the dance. Sometimes it changes it slightly, and it is barely noticeable. Sometimes it changes it drastically and then I feel utterly alive. Or I feel like I have died a little bit. I just never know how it will play out.

So I keep breathing. I notice when I inhale. I notice when I exhale. I notice the gaps in between my breath. I notice the sensations in my body. I feel my feet on the ground. Then I stop noticing,

and

I am just dancing. Your dance mission for the week is to let yourself be seen in your dancing and to notice how that feels to you.

That might mean signing up for a dance class. That might mean going out to a club and dancing in the front of the house rather then the back of the house. That might mean having a dance party with your family. That might mean dancing by yourself and having someone take photos. That might mean dancing by yourself and having a friend watch you. Then maybe the friend dances, and you watch them. That might mean dancing in a public space.

And that might mean that there is no way in hell you are doing any of these things, so you do what you did last week (and if you didn't do it, here is your chance to do it again):

Tonight, when you lie down to go to bed, imagine yourself dancing. You alone will watch yourself dancing.

Post about your experience here:

http://on.fb.me/1lWV46w

And....

So much fun stuff coming up in the next couple of months! (I think that deserves at least ONE exclamation point):

1. dirtland: oh yes oh yes, it is getting close...

Created by: Joanna Rotkin Performed by: Johannah Franke, Toby Hankin, Chrissy Nelson, Peg Posnick, and Joanna Rotkin

At The North Boulder Recreation Center as part of the 2014 Boulder International Fringe Festival on Saturday, September 20 at 6pm Sunday, September 21 at 4pm Friday, September 26 at 6pm Saturday, September 27 at 4pm

All performances are FREE and Family Friendly

dirtland is funded in part by a major grant from the Boulder Arts Commission.

2. Class, Class, Class:

Dance Classes for Adults: “Joanna is the Richard Freeman of the dance world.” – Marcie Goldman, Founder and owner of Mojo Mastery

Click here for more info http://on.fb.me/1ovuR62

Dance Class for Girls, Ages 10-13: “I am incredibly awed by seeing my daughter so freely participate in an activity that she previously never would have dared to do. We are grateful she had the opportunity to explore new parts of herself. She also made a good friend.” – A happy parent

Click here for more info http://on.fb.me/1kChOid

Dance Class for Children, Ages 6-9: "I thought I was going to learn ballet. But this is WAAAAY better then ballet....this is rock and roll." -- Giovanna, Age 6, after dancing to Hava Nagila.

Click here for more info http://on.fb.me/1pOu5zc

Dance Class for the Whole Family: "We are dancing so much more as a family after taking this workshop. When is the next one? We are in." -- a family of 5

Click here for more info http://on.fb.me/1ra6AUW

and so many projects that are just getting under way now: A new duet with Leeny Sack. A new duet with Emily K. Harrison for The Failure Festival, curated by Laura Ann Samuelson. Working with Carolina Tabares Mendoza on developing The Great Green and bringing it back to Mexico. Residency with Sharon Mansur. Continuing to figure out how to run an itty bitty dance business with Marcie Goldman. And walking the dogs, hanging with my favorite niece, and taking long summer naps.

With Warmth, Joanna of Joanna and the Agitators

3 simple steps to get rich quick (yeah, right)

Glen and I are leaving tomorrow to take my niece and her friend to Denver for a few days, so I am writing you today.

My plan was to take a VIDEO in our brand-spanking-new culvert that just got put in after the flood last September.  

Because it is silver.  And big.  And I can walk in it and do a little dance.

But.

It is raining.  

Hard.

And there are flash flood warnings.

So.

I am not going to take a video of myself in the culvert today.

Instead I am going to give you 3 simple tips to get rich quick.

(Are you laughing out loud? I am….)

STEP 1:

Ummmm….. Ahem. Uh….

STEP 2:

Well…. Sheesh, I dunno…

STEP 3:

Fuggetaboutit. I just can’t help you with that one.

Well shoot.  Try to step out of your comfort zone and look what happens.

So I am stepping back in.

But before I go, a quick little tidbit about someone who did step out of their comfort zone this weekend at the Family Dance Day, and it was AMAZING.

A dad came, thinking he was going to sit on the sidelines and watch his kids dance while he clapped politely.

That is not what happens at a family dance day.

Oh no.

What happens is that families dance together. 

Wildly. Crazily. With zest and chutzpah.  

At some point, I usually say something like “Okay!  Who wants to do a solo??” And most of the time it is the kids who are raising their hands, begging to be picked.

Which happened. The kids all did solos.

And then I said, “Anyone else want to take a gander (is that the right way to use that word?  Gander?).”  Out of the blue this Dad, this straight up goes to the office every day and probably does know how to get rich quick kind of guy, stands up and says “I’ll do a solo.  I’ve never done it before, but I can give it a try.”

I put on some James Brown, and this dad dances like I have never seen before.

By the end, he is beaming and he says, “I didn’t know I could do that.”

His wife is astounded and delighted. 

Her mouth is hanging open. 

My mouth is hanging open.

Everyone is cheering and clapping.

And I am thinking: 

WOW.  

What just happened??

All that happened is that an unexpected someone unexpectedly started to dance and it shook the room to it’s core.   

Talk about sweet agitation.

Maybe one day I will be the one to step up and out of what I know, do something unexpected, and tell you how to get rich quick (though I think it will probably be YOU telling ME).

But for now,  how about some dancing?

Let’s go back to an old one:

Put on your favorite song,

AND DANCE.

It can be a big dance, or an itty bitty dace.  

Just listen and see what emerges.

Have a great week and I will look forward to connecting with you when I return from “The Big City.”

Warmly,

Joanna of Joanna and the Agitators. sweetly agitating/persistently upending

how to make a dance in 10 easy steps

Step # 1: Follow what excites you:

Keep a notebook at all times and write down what intrigues, tickles, repulses, surprises you when observing the world.

Step #2:

Improvise as much as you can:

Improvise in your kitchen.

At the grocery store.

Waiting in line at the bank.

Improvise while you are spinning the baby to sleep (thank you Lauraina, William, and Haya for that one).

Notice what movements emerge in these different settings.

Notice what moods and qualities and energies come from your body depending on where you are dancing.

Step # 3.

READ. WATCH. LISTEN:

Read books and newspapers and the tea leaves at the bottom of your tea cup.

Watch movies and the sunset and your child’s hand reaching out to you.

Listen to music and to the radio and to your own heartbeat.

Step #4:

Get out of the studio so you can get back in:

If you are not seeing, living, participating in the world outside of the studio, the work will be empty.

Know that it is acceptable and okay and sometimes a must to make your work in the kitchen, the bathroom, the closet, the porch, if that is what you have access to.

Step #5:

Be gently aware that the dance is already there, just waiting for you:

In some ways this is the hardest step of all. It takes a lifetime, maybe two or three, to listen closely to what your internal world is offering up to you. That you actually don’t need to “make” anything new or innovative or original or stunning. You just need to take the time to uncover, dig up, tunnel into, and excavate the dance that is waiting patiently.

To be found by you.

Step # 6:

Be accountable to someone:

Whether you are making a solo, a duet, or a group piece, show up when you say you are going to show up.

If you are making a solo, set up times to have a few people come in and look at what you are doing. If people are waiting for you to show up, you are going to show up with the material.

If it is just you, you may find that eating a bowl of ice cream and watching reruns of The Colbert Report better suits your creative endeavor (example taken from personal experience) and then the dance never gets made.

Step # 7:

Get feedback:

Be picky about who you ask to come in to give you feedback.

Getting smart, critical, and thoughtful feedback can propel you into a whole new direction. Getting the opposite can knock you into an orbit you don’t want to or have the time to inhabit.

Step # 8:

Know the difference between impressing and enthralling your audience:

See a lot of live performance and then ask yourself, were you impressed or were you enthralled?

If you were impressed, I am sorry, but this means the art does not stand on its own, and in the end it doesn’t work.

If you are enthralled, then IT WORKS and that is what you are going for in your own work:

To enthrall, intrigue, surprise, captivate, bewitch, delight your audience.

Think about your favorite books, movies, tv shows.

When you are reading or watching something truly amazing do you say to yourself : “Wow, that writer can devise a sentence like nobody’s business” or “My goodness, but those actors on Orange is the New Black are quite good at their craft.”

Are you so engrossed in the story, the imagery, the sensory output that you forget where you are?

Do you leave the experience a little bit changed, thinking about the world through a new frame??

Do you forget that someone made this thing you are experiencing and you are just experiencing it in all of its glory, wonderment, and exaltation?

If you are answering yes, then that is a piece of live performance that works.

One of the few gems I took away from Grad School was a book we read called The Invisible Actor.

There is a section in that book that goes something like this:

Imagine this:

There are two scenarios. In the first scenario a good actor is pointing to the moon. And the audience says, “Wow, that actor can really point to the moon!”

In the second scenario a great actor is pointing to the moon. And the audience says, “Wow, look at that moon.”

Step # 9:

Be prepared that most of the time you will not achieve step #8 in your work.

Keep making the work anyway:

I rarely am able to enthrall my audience.

But I keep making the work anyway.

Because when I can, on those rare occasions, enthrall and intrigue the audience, I know I have tapped into something that is bigger then me.

Something that is mystical.

Something that is magical.

These moments are as scarce as seeing a hen with teeth or seeing fur on a snake.

But the more work I make the more likely that these unlikely moment will occur.

And finally,

Step # 10:

Know that making dances is not for everyone:

This process is tedious. arduous, scary as hell, sickening, stressful, boring, grueling, breathtaking, mind blowing, and better then LSD. I have mixed feelings about god. When I make a dance I feel good about, those mixed feelings come into focus, just a little bit more.

Take of that what you will.

These 10 steps are just the beginning of something bigger and more mysterious then you ever could have imagined.

If you decide to go forward with any or all of these step, email me and let me know how it goes.

I would love love love to hear from you.

And!!!

With gratitude and appreciation I am please to announce that Joanna and the Agitators has received a generous donation from a long time student who wishes to remain anonymous. This donation will allow me to have a professional website made and to start a scholarship fund for those who are not able to afford the cost of taking a dance class. This is a brand new development that I am just starting to shape. I will keep you posted as to how the website and the scholarship evolve.

Enjoy the heat and hope you are doing well.

Warmly,

Joanna

of

Joanna and the Agitators.

I use too many exclamation points!

My niece read over my copy for the new Joanna and the Agitators website.

She told me I use too many exclamation points.  

I got a little defensive with her because I just get really really really excited when I talk about dancing.

She also told me I use too many superlatives.

I am working on not getting defensive about that comment as well.

Putting all of that aside, I have been thinking about what gets me all aflutter about dancing these days 

(I originally had a superlative in that sentence.  I heard my niece’s voice, so I ripped that superlative out with my teeth)

and I think the thrill comes from finding some acceptance and contentment in my dancing.

I am not comparing myself to anyone else.

I am not worrying about what other people think.

I an not feeling the need to explain myself.

My ambition is low.

This low ambition opens up a new found freedom in my dancing life.

When you watch little kids dance, they just do it.  No thought about what they look like, or the emotional landscape they are trying to create with their movement.

They are just dancing.  

As free spirits. As bodies in motion. As living beings in the world.

I am crawling, and sometimes clawing, my way back to the nitty gritty of dancing because I lose the juice from time to time due to the codification of movement.

And it’s good…the codification is all good.

No, I take that back.

It isn’t all good. Some of it is good Some of it is really fucked up (shoot, those damn superlatives).

I imagine that you have probably experienced this yourself in some form or another:

Standing in your underwear in front of the dance teacher your first year of college. Turning around slowly with your arms held out like wings as she writes down       everything that is wrong with your body.

Getting your dance scholarship taken away because you gained 5 pounds over winter break.

Having a serious conversation with the dance faculty about getting a breast       reduction and a tummy tuck.

Being told in no uncertain terms: never sit; only hover.  This will prevent the rapid development of cellulite and fat thighs.

Being told to go into dance criticism rather then dance performance because your writing is pretty good (ahem…not a peep about my overuse of exclamation points or superlatives) and your dancing is okay, but that body…no one wants to look at that body on stage.

Having a meeting with all of the dancers in the cafeteria to go over the nutritional plan for the semester to keep everyone on track with their weight program.  As everyone is nibbling at their teaspoon full of cottage cheese wrapped in a wilted leaf of you lettuce, you, being who you are, get up and fill your tray with a dozen donuts.  You come back to the table and eat them one by one,

 smacking your lips and saying 

 yum yum yum.

Then you drop out.

And you stay away from dancing for a long time.

Until you find a magnificent teacher at an itty bitty college in the desert 

(thank you Delisa.  You changed everything.  You opened up doors I didn’t know existed, and started me on this loopy little jaunt of becoming an artist).

There is only one dance class offered at this college in the desert.

It is called Movement Improvisation.

You take it over and over and over again.

And no one says a word about what your body looks like because everyone is focused on making these wild and crazy shows that happen in the dark with only one lamp lighting up the stage.  The whole cast is wearing trash cans on their heads, standing in glass bowls filled with skittles.  Someone spins, and because she can’t see since there is a trash can on her head, she crashes into the wall and then falls.  She gets up and does it again and again and again.

Sundays are spent improvising with live musicians from 10am-10pm at night.  The focus is on the dancing and the play and the spirit and the ensemble and the grit of staying in and then stepping out. 

Both of these experiences shaped me profoundly.  I learned as much about who I don’t want to be as a movement educator and performer as I learned about who I do want to be as a movement educator and performer.  

If I ever get to be President (you never know, you never know) I am going to add an amendment to the world constitution stating that everyone has the right to dance.  I am going to add a time to dance at all meetings, hearings, bill signings, policy making sessions, debates, and discussions on Capitol Hill.

When I am President, dancing will be become part of our everyday life experience here on this planet earth.  

Small dances with a hand might happen for some, and big dances that swoop through the land will happen for others. 

From sea to shining sea, there will be dancing.

And now onto the dance mission for this week.

I have been getting feedback that people are reading the dance missions, but not doing them.

So let me make it easier.

I got this idea from a friend:

When you lie in bed at night, imagine yourself dancing.

(When I lie in bed I always imagine myself as a gymnast in the Olympics on the uneven bars.  I am in a blue leotard with a green star on the front, and I jump onto the bars and spin and flip and twirl and then I fall asleep).

Okay, staying on task:  so tonight, when you lie down to go to sleep, imagine yourself dancing.

Post about this experience on the facebook page. I would love to hear about what you are imagining:

http://on.fb.me/1lWV46w

And lastly, 

this is what Joanna and the Agitators is up to this fall:

Update about Dance Vacations: This Saturday is the 3rd Dance Vacation and it is full.

However, the last Dance Vacation is on Saturday, September 6th and a spot just opened up.

If you want to join me for the last Dance Vacation of the summer, email me asap so I can save that spot for you.

Family Dance Days: Email me if you are interested in joining me on Sunday, August 31st for the next Family Dance Day.

dirtland: I will be presenting my current project, dirtland, at The North Boulder Recreation Center as part of the 2014 Boulder International Fringe Festival.  I have had the privilege of working with some amazing dancers for this show: Johannah Franke, Toby Hankin, Chrissy Nelson, and Peg Posnick.

We will be performing on Saturday, September 20 at 6pm Sunday, September 21 at 4pm Friday, September 26 at 6pm Saturday, September 27 at 4pm

All performances are FREE and Family Friendly

dirtland is funded in part by a major grant from the Boulder Arts Commission.

Dance Classes this fall: JUST GIRLS:  Dance Class for girls ages 10-13

JUST GIRLS will meet on Thursdays from 4-6pm at the Boulder Circus Center from October 16-December 11th.  NO CLASS on November 27.   The fee for JUST GIRLS is $300. 

This fee includes a Chipotle/Noodles & Company/Lark Burger sort of dinner at each class session.   (NOTE: this class is almost full already.  If your daughter is interested in taking this class, email me soon).

Creative Movement for kids:  Dance Class for children ages 6-9 Creative Movement for kids will meet on Tuesdays from 4-5:15pm at the Boulder Circus Center from October 14-December 9th.  NO CLASS on November 25th.The fee for Creative Movement is $160. This fee includes a snack that will be provided for the students at each class session.

The Anatomy of Improvisation:  Dance Class for Adults The Anatomy of Improvisation will meet on Tuesday and Thursdays from 11-12:30pm at The Boulder Circus Center from October 14-December 11th, 2014.  NO CLASS on November 25 or November 27.  The fee for Anatomy of Improvisation is $320 if you sign up for both days and $184 if you sign up for one day.

*Sign-up by September 15th to receive your free body work session with Avery Oatman.   Once you have signed up, you will receive Avery’s contact info so you can schedule an appointment for craniosacral work or a full body massage.  

That’s it for now.

Hope you have a lovely Wednesday evening and I am looking forward to hearing about where your imagination takes you tonight.

With Warmth,

Joanna of  Joanna and the Agitators

what does it mean to be human?

This. This is what it means to be human. It means being in relationship with each other and the world around us. It means watching change happen with a spirit of inquiry. It means diving into the creative process of living. I am acutely aware that I have the freedom, the safety, and the privilege to live the way I want to live and to dance the way I want to dance based on the random fact of where I was born.

If I had been born somewhere else, I don't know if this picture would have been, could have been, taken.

When I think deeply about that, I get nauseous and dizzy. The simple act of dancing as a family is not a given in so many places in our world.

That doesn't make sense to me.

The power, The greed, The inequality, The cruelty, that shape so many peoples' lives.

It knocks me flat on my back.

And then the dancing is not enough. The creative process is not enough. Making art is not enough.

Until it is.

And it becomes the only thing to do.

7 days ago The United States Senate voted to confirm William D. Adams as the 10th chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

"Adams’s formal education was interrupted by three years of service in the Army, including one year in Vietnam. It was partly that experience, he says, that motivated him to study and teach in the humanities. “It made me serious in a certain way,” he says. “And as a 20-year-old combat infantry advisor, I came face to face, acutely, with questions that writers, artists, philosophers, and musicians examine in their work -- starting with, ‘What does it mean to be human?' " -- from the National Endowment for the Humanities newsletter.

It is this question that propels me to get up off of the floor and dance.

To dance with my family. To dance with my students. To dance with my community. To feel my freedom keenly in the dancing.

I was in grad school at Bennington College when September 11th happened.

I remember going to class a few days later and the professor said, "How can we dance when this atrocity has happened?"

I remember thinking, "How can we not?"

How can we not dance?

How can we not dance?

How can we not dance?

Isn't that the essence of what it means to be human?

I would love to hear your comments, thoughts, disagreements, and any opposing views regarding this question.

You can email me directly

or

You can go to this link and post your comments on the dance missions page: http://on.fb.me/1lWV46w With Warmth, Joanna of Joanna and the Agitators

did you cross your midline today?

I haven’t yet. When I go to rehearsal for dirtland and start figuring out what happens next in this strange little dance I am making I will look forward to crossing my midline The moment my right leg crosses over to the left side of my body The moment my left elbow wanders down toward my right ankle in a new fangled manner, The moment I find myself spinning and then landing with a thud on the bench, crossing the midline quickly and with lots of momentum. Crossing the midline of the body (put your finger on the tip of your nose and then draw a line straight down from there…that is the midline of the body) helps integrate the body and the brain in a most tender and lovely way.

A lot of biking, hiking, running, walking, swimming happens, especially in Boulder.

Don’t get me wrong, I love doing all of these things (I just took an amazing run this morning that turned into a lovely summer hike and am looking forward to a bike ride tomorrow). But if I only do the kind of movement that doesn’t cross the midline, I get a little stiff. A little creaky. A little lopsided.

I miss the curve, the swoop, and the spin of my dancing body. My dancing body needs to cross the midline A LOT. When I find new positions and patterns of movement in my dancing, I gleefully cross my midline over and over again without even noticing.

It’s easy to do, and I notice that as adults we don’t tend to cross the midline as much as we did when we were kids.

So let’s start crossing the midline!

It’s fun, it’s easy and I bet it’ll make you super smart.

Your dance mission for the next two weeks is to cross your midline every time you hear the chirp of a bird. I know it sounds random, but see what happens if you every time you hear a bird chirp you cross your midline (that means that when the birds wake-up at 4am you better be up and out of bed crossing your midline!!! Just kidding, just do it when you are up and out of bed. If you are feeling ambitious and want to keep crossing your midline as the birds keep chirping, go for it).

There is such beauty in this type of randomness I think, don’t you??

Let me know how the midline crossing is going for you by posting your comments, photos, video, thoughts here:

Looking forward to seeing and dancing with you soon,

With Warmth,

Joanna of Joanna and the Agitators sweetly agitating/persistently upending

be careful or your face might just freeze like this

Do you think I should use this photograph on my website??? My friend Jun took it of The Great Green and I kinda love it in a strange and loopy sort of way. It reminds me of what happened this Sunday for the first Family Dance Day of the summer.

Everyone was open and willing to try anything. The crazy little dances that each family made were distinctive and unique to that particular family. Everyone was making faces and giggling, not caring about what they looked like or if they were doing it right. It was just about being together - dancing side by side.

Which, in my mind, is what the essence of dancing is all about.

When we let go of caring about what we look like, something magical opens up and we are able do more then we ever imagined.

When we let go of “Am I doing it right?”, the beauty in the dancing is elevated.

When we let go of trying to understand how it all fits together, a freedom begins to emerge in the body that is generous and spacious.

Serendipity and synchronicity start to become a daily occurrence.

So try this right now:

Get up from the computer, wherever you are, and just move for 10 seconds. It doesn’t matter how you move, it doesn’t matter what kind of movement it is, there is no right and there is no wrong. Just move and count to the number 10 and then sit back down. As you move for these 10 seconds notice your breathing. When do you inhale? When do you exhale? What happens during the gaps between? Feel your feet on the earth and see what is around you as your moving. If you are in a public space, like a cafe, you can move super small so no one sees you moving (I just did it myself and no one noticed me). If you are home, you can do it bigger if you like.

Do this two more times throughout the day. Stop whatever it is you are doing and move for 10 seconds. And NOTICE. Just notice what you are feeling. It doesn’t matter WHAT you are feeling, just notice what it is. Are you glad that the 10 seconds is over or do wish you could keep dancing?

If you are feeling courageous try to do your 10 seconds of movement on the ground so you change your body position in a more drastic way.

If you are feeling stuck, unmotivated, lethargic, confused, or bewildered in the next few days, change your position. Then change it again. Change it once more, and then dance for as long as you want to your favorite music. Or in silence. Or while humming.

I would love to hear how this goes for you, so post about your experience here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/285584598283231/

Hope you are having a wonderful week!!!!

Warmly,

Joanna of Joanna and the Agitators

i want to live here

I want to live on a planet where nature is perceived as equal to the human beings living here. I want to live on a planet where kindness is more valued then profit or power.

I want to live on a planet where intellectual, artistic, and creative curiosity are highly valued and integrated into every day living.

I want to live on a planet where children, all children, are taken care of with integrity, vitality, warmth, and resource.

I want to live on a planet where the elderly and those in need are taken care of with integrity, vitality, warmth, and resource too.

I want to live on a planet where it is part of our culture heritage and duty to make sure that everyone has enough: enough to eat, enough clean water to drink, a comfortable place to live, enough support to thrive.

I want to live on a planet where everyone gets to decide how and where they want to live.

I want to live on a planet where relationship and imagination are the foundation on which we build our lives. Where art making and creative expression are an expected and valued part of daily life for everyone. A friend of mine was dying. I saw her right before she passed away. I sat with her on her bed and she looked at me as said: “I got it. I know why we are here on this planet earth. We are simply here to love one another and to be true to our creative spirit. We are here to imagine a better world, and then to shape the world we envision through our relationships and through our creative expression.” So kiddos, let’s pay tribute to a vision of the world we want to build through our creativity, our imagination, and our kindness.

The Dance Mission for the next two week (option, you can do this whole thing, or just chose one or two days that speak to you. Trust what works for you):

For those of you who have fallen off the Dance Mission band wagon: GET BACK ON Today: Dance for 3 minutes in the living room and then call your mother. Tomorrow: Dance for 3 minutes on your porch while singing softly. The Day After Tomorrow: Dance for 3 minutes in the kitchen making contact with all kitchen appliances. The Day After That, which is a Saturday: Dance as soon as you wake up and be curious about how the day will unfold. Surprise someone. And on Sunday, Dance right before you go to bed. On Monday, Dance for 10 minutes to your favorite song and call a long lost friend. On Tuesday, Dance with your eyes closed for 10 minutes and then reach out into the world. And then on Wednesday, start this whole process over and repeat.

See if it feels different the second time around.

I know this is a lot.

I also know you can do it.

It’s just dancing:

Chart your progress. Stay curious. Practice low ambition. There is no way to do it wrong. Maybe you will feel numb, or shut down, or anxious, or despondent. Maybe you will cry. Or maybe you will feel totally alive. Most likely it will be different each time, but maybe not. Who knows what will happen. JUST DO IT (nike is in my blood…it must be the mountain air)

Write about it.

Draw about it. Film it.

Post about it here…….

http://on.fb.me/1nEqiSo

Looking forward to seeing some of you tonight at rehearsal for dirtland, some of you tomorrow night for JUST GIRLS, and some of you on Sunday for the first Family Dance Day of the Summer.

And looking forward to hearing from all of you whenever you feel like emailing and/or posting on Facebook about how the dance missions are going for you.

With Warmth,

Joanna

of Joanna and the Agitators: Sweetly agitating; Persistently upending.

dance with me

I would love it if you and your family came and joined me for Family Dance Days.I just started hosting family dance days a few months ago and they have been fabulous.

We are having so much fun. It is the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon together where you can expect unexpected connections to emerge within the family dynamic…as well as a huge amount of giggling.

Here is how it works:

You show up with your family (kids of all ages, grandparents, cousins, neighbors, moms, dads, etc.,) and I will lead you through a kinesthetically delightful and family friendly dance experience.

You don't have to do anything except show up.

What do you think?????

Warmly,

Joanna of Joanna and the Agitators

i'm in the dog house

I literally was in the dog house the other night. I poked my head in to see how the pups were doing and all of a sudden I found myself almost all the way in, snuggled up with Shiloh and Hershey. Then I thought, hmmmm….I think this is my next solo. Place a dog house on the stage, and slowly crawl out, or have half of my body in and half of my body out while talking to imaginary dogs.

Then I thought, hmmmm…..what about that suitcase idea? Walk on the stage with a suitcase filled with dirt (dirt is a reoccurring theme, as is food, as is astro turf, as is sod), set the suitcase down and stand in the dirt that is inside of the suitcase?

Then I thought, hmmm….what about filling the racquet ball court at the North Boulder Rec Center with dirt (see, I told you). I ran it by Jayson, who very sweetly stood outside of the racquet ball court with me for a good 10 minutes hemming and hawing about how amazing that would be, and then said “No fucking way is that happening”.

Then I thought, hmmm…no dirt in the racquet ball court at the North Boulder Rec Center, but I could fill it with astro turf (thank you Simone), plant fake flowers, and Chrissy and I could have a raucous, wild, and dissonant duet while the other dancers are standing in their suitcases filled with dirt.

Then I thought, wait a minute. This is a family show. For families with kids. Is that okay? Can kids handle dirt, and astro turf, and fake flowers, and suitcases. I think so. Yes. I think they can.

Then I thought, the parts I love aren’t so much about the dancing. The parts I love are about stillness rather then motion. The parts I love are about discordant and opposing images. The parts I love are about the people on stage just being the people.

The part I love most is when it becomes something I never could have imagined.

So I’m in the dog house.

Napping with the dogs.

Figuring out how this family friendly, accessible and free for all show is going to evolve and grow into something I can’t even imagine yet.

I have rehearsal tonight and I am bringing astro turf, fake flowers, suitcases filled with dirt, and a chocolate cake.

I think this will help move me toward a deeper understanding of what the hell this dance is about.

What do you think?

**********************************************************************************************

Dance Mission for the next two weeks:

(So, honestly, how are these dance missions going for you? I am not so good with the whole social media thing yet, so if you can give me feedback about how dance missions could be more helpful, fruitful, inspiring to you, I would love to know. ESPECIALLY those of you that are tech savvy/social media savvy/ totally know what you are doing on the computer kinda savvy, I would love to know how it is going and what I can do to make it better).

1.

Dance with your family.

Whoever your family is.

Take a few minutes and dance together.

Record it.

Document it.

Post about it here: http://on.fb.me/1tndQsd

2.

Let’s take a few steps back and start dancing every day again for just 10 minutes.

For two weeks.

Tell me how it goes.

Did you do it?

Did you want to do it but just couldn’t do it?

Did you do it once and then never thought about it again??

Record it.

Document it.

Post about it here: http://on.fb.me/1tndQsd

With Warmth, Joanna of Joanna and the Agitators

i'm changing my name to...

Joanna and the Agitators. Whoa.

Just had about a million mini panic attacks after writing that down and seeing it in black and white.

It feels freaky and scary to let go of TinHOUSE and to take hold of a name like Joanna and the Agitators.

But

(OMG, another panic attack just infiltrated my entire being…am doing my deep breathing and finding my feet underneath me)

it also feels exactly right.

Beautiful and technically amazing dancing just doesn’t cut it for me.

I wish it did because there are so many of you out there who are soooooo good at it, it makes my mouth water.

I have watched you my entire life in awe and wonderment.

But I am never going to be that sort of dancer.

I mess up the counts. I forget the choreography. I am terrible at following directions. I don’t do my pliés.

Instead I start thinking about how to get a truckload of dirt onto the stage without anybody noticing.

Sheesh.

This is what I am interested in:

Spending as much time outside of the dance studio as I spend inside to know what is happening in the world and to understand how that knowledge engages with the body. Sweet Agitation: A term Glen used on our hike the other day to describe the notion of stirring things up gently, without a lot of fanfare, to create a tiny rupture in how we perceive the world around us. Making dances and facilitating dance experiences that upend the status quo. And with that,

I am now Joanna and the Agitators: Sweetly agitating; persistently upending.

(panic attacks are still present but slowly abating).

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful spring day and are experiencing some sweet agitation yourself.

Warmly,

Joanna of Joanna and the Agitators

you can dance if you want to

Yesterday in our improvisation class, Linda said "I never have to change who I am when I am here." Bingo.

You just need to occupy the space.

It doesn’t matter if it is improvisation or choreography.

It doesn’t matter if you are dancing on a friday night at the local bar, or at a friend’s wedding in the ballroom of a swanky hotel.

It doesn’t matter if you have been dancing professionally since you were 3 years old or if you just started dancing last year.

It doesn’t matter if the last time you danced you can’t even remember because you “don’t dance yourself, you just watch."

It doesn't matter if you have hair growing out of your chin or if you gained 10 or 20 or 100 pounds this winter.

It doesn't even matter if your clothes are on inside out.

And it certainly doesn't matter if this is going through your head: "But I don't know how to dance."

Bulldoggy...everyone knows how to dance.

It is just a matter of remembering...

somethin' is a brewin' here

"I thought I was going to learn ballet. But this is WAAAAY better then ballet....this is rock and roll."-- Giovanna, Age 6.

And that is how my day started, with some good old fashioned Rock and Roll with a group of 5 and 6 year olds (note: we were dancing to Hava Nagila).

And so, it begins. This epic journey we are on of finding our way back into the giant world of the body.

But how?

By agitating complacency. By letting ourselves loose our minds a bit. By setting aside rational thought, to-do lists, productivity, and ambition. By seeing magic everywhere.

For those of you in Colorado, do you remember the flood? How everything shut down? stopped? got quiet? then loud? then super quiet again?

And we were scared and unsure and frantic. But also AMAZED at the awesomeness of the water rushing through our towns. We couldn't control it. And so at a certain point, a magical quiet descended, as we were trapped inside our homes, peering out the windows at the water. And there was nothing to do but wait, and see, and breath, and hold on, and then let go.

And I don't really know what I am trying to say here, except that there was a kindness, a generosity, an outpouring of love that moved through the towns. Neighbors helped neighbors who had never really spoken before. Families took in other families who had to leave their homes in the middle of the night. We helped each other carry pets, and babies, and kids, and grandmas across the raging river to get everyone safely into the helicopters.

So I think What I am trying to say is that to find our way back into the body, it means being kind. To ourselves and to each other. And it means watching the wild and unpredictable and scary and AMAZING rush of this life with curiosity and limitless wonder.

So that is your DANCE MISSION for the next two weeks: Be kind. Hold someone's hand who hasn't had their hand held in a long time. Offer someone food. Put on the music that your grandmother wants to hear. Say hello to someone you don't know. Ask someone to dance.

And then make a dance. A dance that is about seeing the world. A dance that is about being kind.

Or don't.

Ether way, let me know how it goes, what choice you made, and why.

Let's start to agitate complacency.

I want to hear from you so please post your comments, videos, photos, songs, dances, poems, thoughts, fears, ideas, on the facebook group, Dance Missions from Joanna at TinHOUSE dance:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/285584598283231/

or (for those of you who don't use facebook) go to my website and join in on the conversation there

http://tinhouse.weebly.com/dance-mission.html

And SAVE THE DATES!!!!

Tuesday, May 27 from 4-5:30pm at the Boulder Circus Center. Come and see what has been brewing in the TinHOUSE dance classes! There is a suggested donation of $10. This money will go toward the first "TinHOUSE scholarship fund", enabling more students to take class with TinHOUSE who are unable to pay the full class fee. Any other donations to this fund are always greatly appreciated.

Saturday, May 31: Free workshop from 3-5pm at the Boulder Circus Center. 3-4pm is for kids. 4-5pm is for adults. Come experience what TinHOUSE has to offer you this summer!! I will be offering 3 new workshops this summer and it would be great great great if you joined in. Email me ASAP if you are planning on coming.

Workshop #1: DANCE VACATION: Come Vacation with me up in Jamestown this summer! Cool off. Stay connected. Keep the pulse going with your dancing.

Saturdays from 10-2pm on June 7, July 12, August 9, and September 6.

Workshop #2: FAMILY DANCE DAYS: Bring the whole family in for dancing, laughing, and unexpected fun.

Sundays from 11-1pm on June 29, July 27, August 31, and September 14 (location TBA).

Workshop #3: JUST GIRLS This is a chance for girls ages 9-13 to move and dance and laugh and talk and sing and write together.

Thursdays from 5-7pm on June 12, June 26, July 10, July 24, August 14, August 28, September 11, September 25 (location TBA).

Lastly, sending a huge thank you out to Marcie Goldman of Mojo Mastery for her fantastic ideas in growing and evolving TinHOUSE.

Warmly,

Joanna

ps just a reminder: "quickies" are posted everyday on the facebook group and on my website. These are "quick" missions that should take 5 minutes or less. "dance missions" are posted every other wednesday on the facebook group and my website. These are more involved and will take some planning and time to complete.

You do what feels right to you. Change it, modify it, make it your own. And tell me how it goes.

this animal body

¡Que Tal Gallinas! I just returned from Performática in San Andrés Cholula, México and oh my oh my.

I am in love.

In love with this world where it is possible to gather as a community for one week in a small mountain town in central Mexico to dance & talk & breath & sing & mourn & laugh & cry & then laugh some more.

To share meals with one another.

To consider and discuss the loss of a spouse, the illness of a family member, the evacuation from a home, the occupation of a land, the culture we all share as human beings on this planet.

To consider and discuss, and then to dance and dance and dance.

As a self-proclaimed homebody who loves her own bed and idiosyncratic ways, this journey to Mexico, and specifically to Performática, left me hungry for another expedition into the larger world to understand the dancing body and its place in our planet’s history.

In San Andrés Cholula we traversed our own skin to know the skin of another.

I invite us all to do this as we begin our next DANCE MISSION today.

And the DANCE MISSION is:

Find a place in the city, town, village, hamlet, in which you live but have never spent time in before.

Spend time there, and dance.

With So Much Warmth and Excitement,

Joanna Rotkin