This is (I think!) the last loose end which needs tying up. I haven't commented on the ambiance of dance yet, as I thought it had been scrapped from the assessment outline. Not so, so here goes :)
Before starting OT, when I thought of ambiance I thought of dim lights, background music, fancy restaurants and all that jazz. In part, it is, but it's bigger than this. Ambiance is defined as "a feeling or mood associated with a particular place, person, or thing". As OTs we get quite good at breaking things into parts - activity and task analysis requires us to break simple activities into the component parts. But I think it's important to understand ambiance - the feeling or atmosphere of the activity as a whole - so we don't focus so much on the piece of wood that we lose sight of the forest :-p
Dancing falls within the classification on play. Play is "often described as self-motivated or chosen, pleasurable, and important from a developmental perspective" (Christiansen & Townsend, 2010, p. 24). Play is primarily about relating to others, and how we establish ourselves in human society. I wrote a very cool essay last year on dramatic arts (poetry, performance and dancing) and how these and the notion of play fit within the umbrella of occupation and are therefore part of the essence of being human. I really enjoyed exploring what it is to be human, and how these are mediums to help fulfill this.
Dancing totally epitomizes the essence of play. When we went to the swing dance party the other week, play was a very central theme. We got dressed up, which is always a good start for a game don't you think? A group of about 7 of us went together, three in matching outfits :). While we learnt the basics, we rotated partners constantly. As friend 2 and I both knew what we were doing, we buddied up with some of the beginners. I learnt to be the lead, which was heeeeaps of fun! There was a lot of light hearted banter that went on as we introduced ourselves to new partners, apologised for our lack of skill and fumbled through the dances. Play is all about these social interactions, which were so, so important on the night. Another element of play was the anticipation and excitement of us all asking each other to dance. It's generally considered to be the man's job to ask, but because I learnt the lead and the number of follows grossly out weighed the number of leads, I felt like I played in character all night! I could be the perfect gentleman and ask the girls to dance. But when I got a bit sick of lead, I was so used to bending the rules I sought out the boys to ask them to dance. The shared experience of fun pretty much sums up play. Sweet!
Thursday 27 October 2011
Wednesday 26 October 2011
Tying up the loose ends
Here's a list of the other blogs which I've had a wee read of and commented on:
Anita and Affordances
Pip's Rambling
Kate's post on affordances
Gracie's Story
Here's a birds-eye view of the contents of the second part of the blog...
Post 1: Very quick introduction (08/09/11)
Post 2: Introduction (21/09/11)
Post 3: Affordance (21/09/11)
Post 4: Ergonomics (26/09/11)
Post 5: Aesthetics (10/10/11)
Post 6: the Need (10/10/11)
Post 7: Spirituality (12/10/11)
Post 8: Practical considerations and ergonomics (20/10/11)
Post 9: References (26/10/11)
Post 10: Comments on other blogs (26/10/11)
Post 11: Ambiance (27/10/11)
Anita and Affordances
Pip's Rambling
Kate's post on affordances
Gracie's Story
Here's a birds-eye view of the contents of the second part of the blog...
Post 1: Very quick introduction (08/09/11)
Post 2: Introduction (21/09/11)
Post 3: Affordance (21/09/11)
Post 4: Ergonomics (26/09/11)
Post 5: Aesthetics (10/10/11)
Post 6: the Need (10/10/11)
Post 7: Spirituality (12/10/11)
Post 8: Practical considerations and ergonomics (20/10/11)
Post 9: References (26/10/11)
Post 10: Comments on other blogs (26/10/11)
Post 11: Ambiance (27/10/11)
Alllllllll the references
References
(sorry I can't make the lines indent appropriately using blogger. Oops.)
A'Court, S. (2011). New Zealand School of Dance Students. Retrieved from http://www.nzschoolofdance.ac.nz/news_events/upcoming_performances/images/H2879 sml400wide.jpg
Caulton, R., & Dickson, R. (2007). What's going on? Finding an explanation for what we do. In J. Creek & A. Lawson-Porter (Eds.). Contemporary issues in occupational therapy. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Christiansen, C., & Townsend, E. (2010). Introduction to occupation: The art and science of living (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Pearson.
These two defined affordances for me. Although in class we haven't stuck to the exact definition which talks about the actions allowed by an object, their description really helped me get my head around what it means for an object or an occupation to afford. They used examples of doors and chairs, and how elements of their design inform us as to how they should be used. This really clear cut, explainable understanding made it easier for me to analyse the affordances of something more abstract - an occupation as opposed to an object. It helped me see that you have to break down the occupation into parts to see what they lead to - for example, dancing is physical, therefore lends itself to physical health and physical conditioning. Cool.
Degas, E. (1873). Ballet rehearsal [Oil on canvas]. The Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Gavacs, M. (2009). The dance of independence. OT Practice, 14(10), 32.
This is the coolest reading: I was so excited when completely fell across it. It made me excited about being an OT again, which is always good :) When talking about spirituality and affordances, I focused a lot on my own faith. This gives the most awesome example of a different kind of spirituality - and is totally the crux of being an OT. Only a child can see independence in such a simple, pure way which encapsulates completely the essence of the word. I guess this reading also backs up how dance can be used to express emotions of joy and excitement... I'm not the only one!!
Hagedorn, R. (2000). Tools for practice in occupational therapy: A structured approach to core skills and processes. Edinburgh: Churchill-Livingstone.
Hagedorn talks about ergonomics being a dynamic balance. This triggered lots of thought processes for me - I could have written much, much more on it! It ties in well with Caulton and Dickson's assertation that OTs have to be able to make slight, invisible changes to tasks so the outcome can still be met. My experiences of dancing are full of times in which one element of the POE framework is slightly out of balance, and therefore the others have to be adapted. It was also REALLY interesting to consider how you could maintain a balance if using dance as an occupation with client's with significant deficits in one area. Interesting!
Caulton, R., & Dickson, R. (2007). What's going on? Finding an explanation for what we do. In J. Creek & A. Lawson-Porter (Eds.). Contemporary issues in occupational therapy. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Christiansen, C., & Townsend, E. (2010). Introduction to occupation: The art and science of living (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Pearson.
These two defined affordances for me. Although in class we haven't stuck to the exact definition which talks about the actions allowed by an object, their description really helped me get my head around what it means for an object or an occupation to afford. They used examples of doors and chairs, and how elements of their design inform us as to how they should be used. This really clear cut, explainable understanding made it easier for me to analyse the affordances of something more abstract - an occupation as opposed to an object. It helped me see that you have to break down the occupation into parts to see what they lead to - for example, dancing is physical, therefore lends itself to physical health and physical conditioning. Cool.
Degas, E. (1873). Ballet rehearsal [Oil on canvas]. The Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Gavacs, M. (2009). The dance of independence. OT Practice, 14(10), 32.
This is the coolest reading: I was so excited when completely fell across it. It made me excited about being an OT again, which is always good :) When talking about spirituality and affordances, I focused a lot on my own faith. This gives the most awesome example of a different kind of spirituality - and is totally the crux of being an OT. Only a child can see independence in such a simple, pure way which encapsulates completely the essence of the word. I guess this reading also backs up how dance can be used to express emotions of joy and excitement... I'm not the only one!!
Hagedorn, R. (2000). Tools for practice in occupational therapy: A structured approach to core skills and processes. Edinburgh: Churchill-Livingstone.
Hagedorn talks about ergonomics being a dynamic balance. This triggered lots of thought processes for me - I could have written much, much more on it! It ties in well with Caulton and Dickson's assertation that OTs have to be able to make slight, invisible changes to tasks so the outcome can still be met. My experiences of dancing are full of times in which one element of the POE framework is slightly out of balance, and therefore the others have to be adapted. It was also REALLY interesting to consider how you could maintain a balance if using dance as an occupation with client's with significant deficits in one area. Interesting!
John, E., & Hall, L. (2005). Electricity. On Official cast recording: Billy Elliot the musical [CD]. London: Angel Recording Studios; Shoefactory Studios.
This is a song from the Billy Elliot musical. For a full version of the lyrics, see here. I saw the music in London, and loved this song as soon as I heard it. In my blog I've talked a bit about the paradox that dance can be: you have to be very disciplined and in control to perfect technique, but at the same time you can be totally out of control. These two elements can exist a part: you can dance fully in control and be focusing 100% on technique, or you can forget all about any formal training and just go with the flow. For me though, they often exist together. I think the way Billy puts it in the song is better than I could ever describe how it feels to dance :)
Media.com. (2010). Street dance wallpaper. Retrieved from http://www.scenicreflections.com/files/Street%20Dance%20Wallpaper__yvt2.jp
New Zealand School of Dance. (2011). Balanchine's Emeralds. Retrieved from http://www.nzschoolofdance.ac.nz/news_events/images/nz-schoolofdance-Emeralds200wide.jpg
Singleton, W. (1972). Introduction to ergonomics. Geneva: World Health Organisation.
Unknown author. (2010). Quotations about dancing. Retrieved from: http://www.quotegarden.com/dancing.html
World Health Organisation. (1998). Review of the constitution of the World Health Organisation: Report of the Executive Board special group. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/gb/archive/pdf_files/EB101/pdfangl/angr2.pdf
I remembered this definition from a course last year and think it is a fabulous definition of health at it looks at the whole individual. When thinking about dancing and how it fits with the WHO definition of health, I was quite excited!! It totally helps maintain physical well-being, but also social and spiritual as my experiences prove. Meeeean!
WordPress. (2010). Sparks fly as ballet and street dance collide. Retrieved from http://artsyfutsy.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/ballet.jpg
Apparently the Bible doesn't get cited in a reference list, but that was one of my handy sources. All of the literary references here have been extremely useful in shaping my understanding of dancing, and why I find meaning in it. I've chosen five to elaborate on, but the others are also extremely valuable.
This is a song from the Billy Elliot musical. For a full version of the lyrics, see here. I saw the music in London, and loved this song as soon as I heard it. In my blog I've talked a bit about the paradox that dance can be: you have to be very disciplined and in control to perfect technique, but at the same time you can be totally out of control. These two elements can exist a part: you can dance fully in control and be focusing 100% on technique, or you can forget all about any formal training and just go with the flow. For me though, they often exist together. I think the way Billy puts it in the song is better than I could ever describe how it feels to dance :)
Media.com. (2010). Street dance wallpaper. Retrieved from http://www.scenicreflections.com/files/Street%20Dance%20Wallpaper__yvt2.jp
New Zealand School of Dance. (2011). Balanchine's Emeralds. Retrieved from http://www.nzschoolofdance.ac.nz/news_events/images/nz-schoolofdance-Emeralds200wide.jpg
Singleton, W. (1972). Introduction to ergonomics. Geneva: World Health Organisation.
Unknown author. (2010). Quotations about dancing. Retrieved from: http://www.quotegarden.com/dancing.html
World Health Organisation. (1998). Review of the constitution of the World Health Organisation: Report of the Executive Board special group. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/gb/archive/pdf_files/EB101/pdfangl/angr2.pdf
I remembered this definition from a course last year and think it is a fabulous definition of health at it looks at the whole individual. When thinking about dancing and how it fits with the WHO definition of health, I was quite excited!! It totally helps maintain physical well-being, but also social and spiritual as my experiences prove. Meeeean!
WordPress. (2010). Sparks fly as ballet and street dance collide. Retrieved from http://artsyfutsy.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/ballet.jpg
Apparently the Bible doesn't get cited in a reference list, but that was one of my handy sources. All of the literary references here have been extremely useful in shaping my understanding of dancing, and why I find meaning in it. I've chosen five to elaborate on, but the others are also extremely valuable.
Thursday 20 October 2011
Practical considerations (with a dash of ergonomics at the bottom)
I've neglected to look at the practical considerations of dancing thus far. Oops.
When we were introduced to this course, we were given the challenge of choosing an occupation that we could do for at least two hours a week, for the next nine weeks. I had lots of bright ideas, but in the end (obviously) chose dancing. Why? Eeeeveryone seemed to be doing cooking, which is something I definitely spend a couple of hours on a week due to the demands of living in a flat. But I decided to swim against the current and not do cooking. When I started looking at other possibilities, I realised that although I have super busy weeks and have something on most nights, none of these 'occupations' really cut the mustard for being done mindfully and for the necessary length of time and regularity. The other occupation I nearly chose was leading at a local youth club. This would definitely tick all the boxes, would be extremely rewarding to write about, and seems to lend itself really well to this assignment. However, I decided that I'd rather not write about it as our blogs and assignment require a lot of depth and detail. This being the world wide web and all, I didn't want to create a situation that would jeopardise the kid's confidentiality. Even if I changed all the names and was extremely evasive, Dunedin is a pretty small place and if someone stumbled upon this blog and managed to put two and two together, I probably wouldn't feel so flash about it. That probably just my paranoia, but hey ho. And so we got to dancing, which I had recently decided to start again anyway. I seemed pretty perfect, and has proved pretty perfect, so it was win win!
In the occupation and environment part of ergonomics we looked a lots of the other paractical considerations around dancing. They were things like......
On Saturday night I went to a swing party... wee hee! It was organised by the swing club in Dunedin. We knew it was coming up, but I pushed it to the back of my head and didn't really think I'd go. The evening started with a crash course in lindy-hop (the breed of swing we've been learning) - so even people that had never done swing before could come. Suprisingly, when I mentioned it to my flat mates they were super, super keen! There was a best dressed competition on the night, so we decided to get properly dressed up. My friend's and I spend aaaaaaaaaaall of Saturday morning in town combing the opshops. This was extremely time consuming and very exhausting. It started out as a whole lot of fun, but as we got a bit more hungry and grumpy, the fun eventually started wearing off. We scrapped the opshop idea, and went to Spotlight to buy some fabric. My super talented, selfless, creative, fantastic flatmate whipped us up some circle skirts, and suddenly we looked like we were straight out of Grease. The time that went in to even preparing for the dance was pretty intense, but can't be separated from the dance itself as we felt so much more the part!
The dance was held in an old church that has been renovated into a bar and cinema. We had so much fun, but because the turn out was so, so good, there was very limited space. I smacked into so many people (I'm not the most observant or coordinated at the best of times). We really struggled with this, and I think the organisers realised it was definitely worth considering a bigger space for next time.
This also demonstrates ergonomic properties of dancing, as the fit between the person/occupation and environment wasn't particularly good. Friend 2 and I are both pretty tall (friend 2 especially), and one of the core moves of swing - the swing out - requires a bit of stepping and spinning and space consuming. Due to the unsuitability of the environment, we did the same basic move over and over and over again as we are yet to develop the mastery to adapt the moves we've been taught to fit the environment. This wore thin quite quickly. Interesting point though - when making Caulton's (2007) "slight invisible changes" (p.93) to create best fit between the POE components, the fit can be made by adjusting any one of the components. Hagedorn (2000) says that there's a dynamic balance that is ergonomics... see my post on ergonomics. Fit could most obviously been created by giving us a bigger space to dance in... but it could have been created by us developing the mastery to do smaller, tidier moves and thus fit our dancing to a smaller stage. Or we could have flagged swing entirely and done some of that club dancing that requires next to no space. But then that wouldn't achieve the outcomes for the activity, which were around practicing our swing in a social environment and having fun: I probably would have been grumpy, so I like the earlier two ideas better.
References
Caulton, R., & Dickson, R. (2007). What's going on? Finding an explanation for what we do. In J. Creek & A. Lawson-Porter (Eds.). Contemporary issues in occupational therapy. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Hagedorn, R. (2000). Tools for practice in occupational therapy: A structured approach to core skills and processes. Edinburgh: Churchill-Livingstone.
When we were introduced to this course, we were given the challenge of choosing an occupation that we could do for at least two hours a week, for the next nine weeks. I had lots of bright ideas, but in the end (obviously) chose dancing. Why? Eeeeveryone seemed to be doing cooking, which is something I definitely spend a couple of hours on a week due to the demands of living in a flat. But I decided to swim against the current and not do cooking. When I started looking at other possibilities, I realised that although I have super busy weeks and have something on most nights, none of these 'occupations' really cut the mustard for being done mindfully and for the necessary length of time and regularity. The other occupation I nearly chose was leading at a local youth club. This would definitely tick all the boxes, would be extremely rewarding to write about, and seems to lend itself really well to this assignment. However, I decided that I'd rather not write about it as our blogs and assignment require a lot of depth and detail. This being the world wide web and all, I didn't want to create a situation that would jeopardise the kid's confidentiality. Even if I changed all the names and was extremely evasive, Dunedin is a pretty small place and if someone stumbled upon this blog and managed to put two and two together, I probably wouldn't feel so flash about it. That probably just my paranoia, but hey ho. And so we got to dancing, which I had recently decided to start again anyway. I seemed pretty perfect, and has proved pretty perfect, so it was win win!
In the occupation and environment part of ergonomics we looked a lots of the other paractical considerations around dancing. They were things like......
- Money... lessons aren't very cheap
- Space - you've got to have room to practice
- Time - practice makes perfect!!
- Equipment and gear
On Saturday night I went to a swing party... wee hee! It was organised by the swing club in Dunedin. We knew it was coming up, but I pushed it to the back of my head and didn't really think I'd go. The evening started with a crash course in lindy-hop (the breed of swing we've been learning) - so even people that had never done swing before could come. Suprisingly, when I mentioned it to my flat mates they were super, super keen! There was a best dressed competition on the night, so we decided to get properly dressed up. My friend's and I spend aaaaaaaaaaall of Saturday morning in town combing the opshops. This was extremely time consuming and very exhausting. It started out as a whole lot of fun, but as we got a bit more hungry and grumpy, the fun eventually started wearing off. We scrapped the opshop idea, and went to Spotlight to buy some fabric. My super talented, selfless, creative, fantastic flatmate whipped us up some circle skirts, and suddenly we looked like we were straight out of Grease. The time that went in to even preparing for the dance was pretty intense, but can't be separated from the dance itself as we felt so much more the part!
The dance was held in an old church that has been renovated into a bar and cinema. We had so much fun, but because the turn out was so, so good, there was very limited space. I smacked into so many people (I'm not the most observant or coordinated at the best of times). We really struggled with this, and I think the organisers realised it was definitely worth considering a bigger space for next time.
This also demonstrates ergonomic properties of dancing, as the fit between the person/occupation and environment wasn't particularly good. Friend 2 and I are both pretty tall (friend 2 especially), and one of the core moves of swing - the swing out - requires a bit of stepping and spinning and space consuming. Due to the unsuitability of the environment, we did the same basic move over and over and over again as we are yet to develop the mastery to adapt the moves we've been taught to fit the environment. This wore thin quite quickly. Interesting point though - when making Caulton's (2007) "slight invisible changes" (p.93) to create best fit between the POE components, the fit can be made by adjusting any one of the components. Hagedorn (2000) says that there's a dynamic balance that is ergonomics... see my post on ergonomics. Fit could most obviously been created by giving us a bigger space to dance in... but it could have been created by us developing the mastery to do smaller, tidier moves and thus fit our dancing to a smaller stage. Or we could have flagged swing entirely and done some of that club dancing that requires next to no space. But then that wouldn't achieve the outcomes for the activity, which were around practicing our swing in a social environment and having fun: I probably would have been grumpy, so I like the earlier two ideas better.
References
Caulton, R., & Dickson, R. (2007). What's going on? Finding an explanation for what we do. In J. Creek & A. Lawson-Porter (Eds.). Contemporary issues in occupational therapy. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Hagedorn, R. (2000). Tools for practice in occupational therapy: A structured approach to core skills and processes. Edinburgh: Churchill-Livingstone.
Wednesday 12 October 2011
Spirituality
Wednesday 12 October
Spirituality is just one of those words. I've heard it thrown around in conversation numerous times - in fact, I've probably used it once or twice. But when I actually can to write a blog post on it I realised I actually wouldn't have a clue how to explain it to someone who actually took the time to ask instead of just absorbing it into their vocabulary through osmosis as I seem to have done.
Spirituality is just one of those words. I've heard it thrown around in conversation numerous times - in fact, I've probably used it once or twice. But when I actually can to write a blog post on it I realised I actually wouldn't have a clue how to explain it to someone who actually took the time to ask instead of just absorbing it into their vocabulary through osmosis as I seem to have done.
The World Health Organisation defines health as a "dynamic state of complete physical,
mental, spiritual and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" (WHO, 1998).
mental, spiritual and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" (WHO, 1998).
Spirituality is clearly important! But what is it? Google has approximately 35,200,000 hits for "spirituality definition" - not hugely helpful! The themes I'm picking up on is that spirituality has to do with the immaterial rather than material and the human spirit. Spirituality is doesn't find it's substance in worldly things, but is to do with our relationship with ourselves, our beliefs and values, and/or a higher power, and encorporates our world views. It's not a word I particularly like; maybe coz I've heard it used in extremely airy-fairy contexts, or with really negative connotations. So if you're one of those people who doesn't particularly like it either, forgive me!, you'll get the gist eventually!
Last night I was anticipating having to write this post, a bit unsure of how to go about it. Bang! I've got a cool example of how my dancing and spirituality parallel each other beautifully. When doing swing (and ceroc last semester), I'm pretty bad at trying to be the lead. For those who aren't dancingly minded, the lead is usually the male, or the partner that directs the other. I am not the lead. When I try and be the lead we end up either a) doing two different moves; b)tripping over each other; c) me having freaked him out/thrown him off; and always d) in a bit of a pickle. When I have a really strong lead I guess it's easier to follow, but it remains a bit of an issue.
The last few weeks I've had quite a lot of big decisions to make, little pickles to sort out, and interesting questions arise. I like to think I've been really seeking God on them. But I know that whilst I'm quite good at saying "here, God, please can you deal with this?", I'm also very good at asking him to do exactly what he wants, but please could he have an answer by Wednesday, tick boxes a, b and c, and I don't know if it matters but I would really like x, y and z to be the answer. Conscious of this, I thought I'd made a pretty good effort to be completely open. However, last night I was talking to my flat mates, and one of them reminded me that I just need to let God be in control. He used the analogy of driving a car, but it also parallels perfectly with my dancing. When I keep trying to be in control, the end product is obviously going to be sloppy seconds compared to what my lead, or God (the best lead) has planned. Interesting!
For me there's quite a strong link between dancing and spirituality. As I've said, dancing is often how I express excitement, burn off energy, channel frustration and detach. You know how some people get louder and louder and louder and louder when they're happy? And some people giggle uncontrollably (I have to admit, I do that too)? And some people go into a state of complete bliss and appear totally unaware of the world around them? I move. I jump. I flap. I frolic. I leap where appropriate (and occasionally where not).
In the Bible, there are lots of references to dancing. It's pretty much always in the context of worship or rejoicing. Psalm 30:11 (English Standard Version) says "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing". Dancing is the antithesis of mourning, wailing and sorrow. I love verses like "Let them praise his name with dancing" (Ps 143:3). I totally relate, as like I've said dancing is the best way to release excitement and get excited for God.
While trying to research group work ideas for emotional expression for a totally different paper, I stumbled upon the following article. It's about a little boy who finally manages to dress himself independently after resisting for aaaaaages. When he does, he breaks into a dance. The Ot giggles and asks him what he's up to... he replies : "I am doing what you said, when I do things by myself, I can do the indepen-dance" (Gavacs, 2009). This is so cool! You should definitelt read the article, as my thoughts now totally mirror that of the author: "For me, the word independence will now be associated with a dance that expresses the spirit of the person, not just a task" (Gavacs, 2009).
In the Bible, there are lots of references to dancing. It's pretty much always in the context of worship or rejoicing. Psalm 30:11 (English Standard Version) says "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing". Dancing is the antithesis of mourning, wailing and sorrow. I love verses like "Let them praise his name with dancing" (Ps 143:3). I totally relate, as like I've said dancing is the best way to release excitement and get excited for God.
While trying to research group work ideas for emotional expression for a totally different paper, I stumbled upon the following article. It's about a little boy who finally manages to dress himself independently after resisting for aaaaaages. When he does, he breaks into a dance. The Ot giggles and asks him what he's up to... he replies : "I am doing what you said, when I do things by myself, I can do the indepen-dance" (Gavacs, 2009). This is so cool! You should definitelt read the article, as my thoughts now totally mirror that of the author: "For me, the word independence will now be associated with a dance that expresses the spirit of the person, not just a task" (Gavacs, 2009).
The following are some fabulous quotes about dancing and spirituality...
The truest expression of a people is in its dance and in its music. Bodies never lie. ~ Agnes de Mille
Dancing faces you towards Heaven, whichever direction you turn. ~ Terri Guillemets
To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. ~ Agnes De Mille
Dancing with the feet is one thing, but dancing with the heart is another. ~ Author Unknown
Dance first. Think later. It's the natural order. ~ Samuel Beckett
Stifling an urge to dance is bad for your health - it rusts your spirit and your hips. ~ Terri Guillemets
Stifling an urge to dance is bad for your health - it rusts your spirit and your hips. ~ Terri Guillemets
Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is not mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself. ~ Havelock Ellis
Dance is a song of the body. Either of joy or pain. ~ Martha Graham
References
Gavacs, M. (2009). The dance of independence. OT Practice, 14(10), 32.
Unknown author. (2010). Quotations about dancing. Retrieved from: http://www.quotegarden.com/dancing.html
Gavacs, M. (2009). The dance of independence. OT Practice, 14(10), 32.
Unknown author. (2010). Quotations about dancing. Retrieved from: http://www.quotegarden.com/dancing.html
World Health Organisation. (1998). Review of the constitution of the World Health Organisation: Report of the Executive Board special group. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/gb/archive/pdf_files/EB101/pdfangl/angr2.pdf
Monday 10 October 2011
What a girl needs...
Friday 7 October
Hello!
This week I have been asked to explore why dancing is important tin my life RIGHT NOW! I think I'm going to struggle with this post, as I feel like I've pretty much covered this in my previous posts. So to save reinventing the wheel I'm going to create a nice bulleted list, and expand on anything later if necessary.
Hello!
This week I have been asked to explore why dancing is important tin my life RIGHT NOW! I think I'm going to struggle with this post, as I feel like I've pretty much covered this in my previous posts. So to save reinventing the wheel I'm going to create a nice bulleted list, and expand on anything later if necessary.
- Relationships - I've made so many new friends over the last semester who I'll definitely be keeping up with
- It's also strengthened my relationships with friend 1, friend 2 and flatmate.
- Maybe I'm starting to get a wee bit fitter, a wee bit more co-ordinated, and a wee bit of flexibility back?
- Dancing is the best way of channeling excitement and 'joy'
- It's good for my mental health
Aesthetics
Friday 30 September
Aesthetics "pertains to a sense of the beautiful" or "pertains to, involves, or is concerned with pure emotion and sensation as opposed to pure intellectuality" ("aesthetic", 2002). I like the latter definition the best. I could write a very long essay on different beliefs around the aesthetics of dance, but given this is a blog, and you're probably a bit over essays, I'm going to let other people's art and words do the talking.
Aesthetics "pertains to a sense of the beautiful" or "pertains to, involves, or is concerned with pure emotion and sensation as opposed to pure intellectuality" ("aesthetic", 2002). I like the latter definition the best. I could write a very long essay on different beliefs around the aesthetics of dance, but given this is a blog, and you're probably a bit over essays, I'm going to let other people's art and words do the talking.
(Degas, 1873)
Figure 1: Balanchine's Emeralds (Source: New Zealand School of Dance, 2011)
Figure 2: New Zealand School of Dance Students (Source: Stephen A'Court, 2011)
Figure 3: Sparks fly as ballet and street dance collide (Source: WordPress, 2010)
Figure 4: Street Dance Wall Paper (Source: Media.com, 2011)
"Dance is a delicate balance between perfection and beauty" ~Author Unknown
"In a dancer, there is a reverence for such forgotten things as the miracle of the small beautiful bones and their delicate strength" ~Martha Graham
Yo!
Tonight I was just minding my own business, doing my usual weekly thing, and suddenly an amazing opportunity to blog about the aesthetics of dance appeared.
Every Wednesday I hang out with a bunch of intermediate kids. It's often one of the highlights - between the kids and us 'leaders' we have such a ball! On club nights we play heaps of games. This week I was put in charge of the "dance off". Pretty easy really: all I had to do was play some 'cool' music and get a kid from each team up to dance.
Street dance and hip-hop are probably the two most controversial forms of dance in regards to their aesthetic qualities. Two of our boys got up in front of the group of 40 odd kids, and completely and utterly carved up with their dancing! It was most definitely "street dance" - but man they have some talent! I haven't been so captivated by dance in such a long time. Here were these tough kids (who can be really challenging at times!) totally shining. I was 100% floored by the unique ability that these kids have. I guess this leads in to spirituality too - I got an amazing sense of how big God's plans for their futures are - dancing or not!
-----------------------------------------
Yo!
Tonight I was just minding my own business, doing my usual weekly thing, and suddenly an amazing opportunity to blog about the aesthetics of dance appeared.
Every Wednesday I hang out with a bunch of intermediate kids. It's often one of the highlights - between the kids and us 'leaders' we have such a ball! On club nights we play heaps of games. This week I was put in charge of the "dance off". Pretty easy really: all I had to do was play some 'cool' music and get a kid from each team up to dance.
Street dance and hip-hop are probably the two most controversial forms of dance in regards to their aesthetic qualities. Two of our boys got up in front of the group of 40 odd kids, and completely and utterly carved up with their dancing! It was most definitely "street dance" - but man they have some talent! I haven't been so captivated by dance in such a long time. Here were these tough kids (who can be really challenging at times!) totally shining. I was 100% floored by the unique ability that these kids have. I guess this leads in to spirituality too - I got an amazing sense of how big God's plans for their futures are - dancing or not!
References
A'Court, S. (2011). New Zealand School of Dance Students. Retrieved from http://www.nzschoolofdance.ac.nz/news_events/upcoming_performances/images/H2879sml400wide.jpg
Degas, E. (1873). Ballet rehearsal [Oil on canvas]. The Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts
A'Court, S. (2011). New Zealand School of Dance Students. Retrieved from http://www.nzschoolofdance.ac.nz/news_events/upcoming_performances/images/H2879sml400wide.jpg
Degas, E. (1873). Ballet rehearsal [Oil on canvas]. The Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Media.com. (2010). Street dance wallpaper. Retrieved from http://www.scenicreflections.com/files/Street%20Dance%20Wallpaper__yvt2.jpg
New Zealand School of Dance. (2011). Balanchine's Emeralds. Retrieved from http://www.nzschoolofdance.ac.nz/news_events/images/nz-schoolofdance-Emeralds200wide.jpg
Unknown author. (2010). Quotations about dancing. Retrieved from: http://www.quotegarden.com/dancing.html
WordPress. (2010). Sparks fly as ballet and street dance collide. Retrieved from http://artsyfutsy.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/ballet.jpg
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