*** Surprise ***
How does this play a role in how we surprise ourselves, how the dance and our partner surprises us, and how we introduce (within the realm of safety) surprise to the dance.
Below are some notes from the observations that were given in the closing circle and that were emailed to me since the jam:
*** When I let go of my urgency and rushing for a sense of connection with my partner, I’m almost always surprised by what is already present and available in the dance. Somehow my desire for connection gets in the way of the connection that already exists by simply being in physical contact.
*** With some dance partners I don’t feel at all defensive. I don’t need to be protective of myself or my partner. There bodies are open and I know they can take care of themselves. It’s in these dances that I consistently open up to worlds of surprise.
*** In our dance we were doing handstands against each other and the wall and accidentally hit and swung open the kitchen door. Our first impulse was to move away from the door, especially because of the sign that says, “no children allowed.” But we both remembered the focus of the evening and danced right into the kitchen, with the rolling trash bins and on top of the stainless steal surfaces.
*** I was surprised at the level of altitude I was flying at tonight.
*** This focus gave me … or I gave myself with this focus … the freedom to investigate small and subtle sensations, the movement of a joint in a finger … and to stick with it.
*** I think of surprise as “something happening” but tonight I often found the surprise was in the absence of something happening that I had been expecting. I thought I would go up and then my partner went up. I thought I was going to fall to the floor, only to find myself falling up onto someone’s back…
*** There was a level of openness in the room. For the past three jams I’ve come and mostly slept but tonight the quality in the room gave me energy.
*** I found myself doing things that I did not know I had the skill to do.
*** In one dance I began reciting a poem that I know in German. The surprise was how it occupied my head in a way that made me more present to the dancing. There is something about distraction as a source of connection.
*** I was surprised that I ended up dancing in the last eight minute. I sat down to write in my journal—which was no surprise -- I often do this. The surprise was getting back on the dance floor.
*** This big guy spinning up in the air on top of me. Yes, that was a surprise.
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