*** Independence ***
The word independence has the meaning of: freedom from the influence, control, or determination of another or others. The word is associated with these words: free, separate, unrestricted, exempt, unconstrained, uncontrolled, clear, free and easy.
After noting that the etymology of the word ‘dependent’ comes from ‘pend,’ which means ‘to hang from,’ and to be ‘independent’ means to ‘no longer hang from,’ we danced.
Here are some of the observations that were made at the end of the jam:
*** I could not warm-up independently. I needed another body to get there.
*** I choose to independently follow whatever was happening.
*** The theme helped me with leaving and rejoining dancing: “I’m my *own* person, Harrumph!”
*** I was thinking a lot about independence and choice. I choose not to dance very much.
*** I was mostly choosing to not focus on the theme and consciously I tried to forget it, but the question kept coming up: “am I being independent?”
*** For me the focus came to independence of my parts. I worked with different parts of me being free to initiate.
*** Me too. Having two parts of me moving independently: independently moving parts.
*** I was aware of what depends on what to move sequentially.
*** I was quite aware of how I would deal if I was in midair and my partner disappeared on me. And I found myself midair more often that is usual, even for me!
*** I did more soloing tonight where I found my independence to be easier to track.
*** I was surrendering my being “mom.” At one point I was flat on the floor with Max laying her weight into me. When she left I surrendered the need to have her there as justification to just stay and surrender to the floor.
*** I didn’t want to initiate/interfere with people’s “independent” dances, so I entered less.
*** I was constantly reminded how much of this dance is about dependence. In the first place it depends on having a partner.
*** I love the ‘pending’ part, the hanging on part of dependence.
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