..in a world of couch potatoes, we need to move...even if it's only our fingers reaching up to the heavens as we yawn in the morning like the tendrils of a paperwhite, we need to move! Toe tapping, fingers drumming, woodpeckers drilling, lawn workers mowing---we need to move! Dance unlocks spiritual depths, its images sear souls, dancers embody life as we know it. Where would I be without dance? I am pondering that question as I recover from a hip cleanout (40 years is a long time to be turning out!) in hopes of gaining a little more time in the profession. Who would I have been without seeing dance on television and taking that first creative dance class? That is a question I will never know the answer to...but how has it enriched my existence? Kept me in good health and shape, better than my siblings, I'll warrant. Given me a living as a classical ballerina ( a black one in a practically all white world) and given me expression as a dance maker. Revealed gems of history and culture to me, showed me how to love and to be disciplined and to stick to your dreams. It takes tenacious pursuit---to be a dancer. Every decision impacts its practice, from what I eat, to what shoes I wear, to how much sleep I get , to...who I am without it? To see it is the beauty we crave; to feel it is to feel the heights of joy and the depths of sorrow we cannot fathom. Dance is the persevering spirit that transcends the limitations of body and mind. It reaches into old men and makes them cry, it transforms teenagers longing to be understood, it lives in the play of our children. It is such a natural expression. I imagine life without dance as a stagnant pool, that muddies and dries up for lack of restorative replenishment. Dance has mattered to me and even if I don't get to be one of its performers or makers in a public way one day, I will still dance before the LORD as David did, regardless of what anyone thinks. It is not only an acceptable offering before the audience of ONE, but a fitting joyful response to LIFE abundant and free.
