By Tony Wan
This post is part of 30 Days of Gaga. A Non-Dancer’s Diary of Dance. Read Day 1.
Day 5
The teacher steps into the room. He’s young, tan, and in a tank top. He looks like a lifeguard. His accent? Spanish. Maybe Portuguese. I’m sure some in the class wouldn’t mind being rescued by him.
The music is chill and we begin by floating, sensing the lightness in our bodies and limbs.
His first cue: a feather being blown by the wind.
I go with it.
You know that feather in the opening scene of Forrest Gump?
I am that feather.
Though the air in the studio is still, I imagine being lifted by a light breeze.
“Now imagine you are the wind blowing the feather.”
Around me, adults of all sizes are being blown all over the room. The last time I took to the air like this was at age seven, playing airplane.
I pay close attention to the other “feathers” in the room, particularly the large men.
Running into them would not be feather-like.
“Take pleasure in moving and being moved.”
Ah, opposites.
It sounds like the Kung Fu Master in my head.
I‘ve watched so many martial arts and Star Wars movies that I have a voice in my head that’s a cross between Master Kan and Yoda.
The teacher takes us through different ways of being moved.
Being blown by the wind…
Quaking…
Pretending there’s a hand on your back pushing you…
It feels spooky… like I’m tapping into some unseen energy around me.
OMG.
Is this the Force? This could totally be the Force.
No time to dwell. Teacher has just put us in a straitjacket. Must escape.
“Feel the contrast between freedom and limitation.”
Again, the opposites.
By first imposing limitation, we experience freedom differently. We comprehend it’s quality.
I wait for him to tell us, “And always dance without a straitjacket.”
These are words he never speaks.
I guess dancing in a straitjacket could be useful too. Like if you work a job that requires a suit. Or if you find yourself at an overrated club at two a.m. I don’t plan to go back to either.
This place is both Shaolin Temple and Dagobah. Knowledge is being transmitted via perplexing lessons. Secret knowledge hidden in plain sight.
I can’t see until I’m told where to look.
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Follow Tony Wan’s journey through a full month of classes with biweekly posts here and on his blog.
