Reflections from the Dance

This section is is a space for dancers to share deeper experiences in a thoughtful way: very often inspirations emerge into words at odd times but insistently, and we reach for that back-of envelope when some feelening becomes thinging becomes crystalised into a justso expression.

You can Comment' (a quicker, direct route); you can write an Article. There are sections for each on this page.

We hope that everyone can contribute to this, sharing their feelings and thoughts  - emotions recollected in tranquillity, as our nature-dancer Cumbrian friend Wordsworth reflected. Write when where and how you are inspired, in the spirits of your encountering and understanding the five rhythms of the dance, and your own vivacity and wisdom. 

And to the 5Rhythms teachers with whom we dance: we welcome your voices also -  these could potentially spark/deepen conversations and reflections from dancers.

You can directly post Comments via this page; if you have a longer reflection you would like to show as an Article, please email it to robin@cumbriawave.dance.

 

 

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  • This commment is unpublished.
    · 24/04/2024
    Wow, what a fantastic night! Still feeling elated after the dance with Angela Lord and all 34 people that joined us ????????
    I absolutely loved dancing with you all to Café Del Mar Energy 52 while the sun went down behind the Lakeland fells ????
    Looking forward to the May Wave with Rachel. Spaces are filling up fast so get booked on quick. Then we have a fabulous summer of weekends to get your toes tingling ????
  • This commment is unpublished.
    · 17/02/2024
    So glad to have blown the cobwebs out last night. It’s such a lovely space where I feel able to show up exactly as I am. Loved Liz Collier’s generous sharing of energy and reassurance that it might not always feel that magical - and that’s ok. At times I felt transcendent moments of joy and dissolution, but also grief and disconnection. Trying to let all be welcome.
  • This commment is unpublished.
    · 22/01/2024
    I'm still glowing from my first ever experience of 5 Rhythms on Friday. I have always been incredibly self-conscious and have been slowly finding ways to loosen up. The group was lovely and I was made to feel so welcome by Rachel, Helen, and Robin. It felt like a significant shift for me and I am so looking forward to the next ones and staying with this journey. Thank you!
  • This commment is unpublished.
    · 15/12/2023
    Thankyou for such an amazing experience for my first time attending. I felt so free and can't wait to join again. Thankyou Rachel and everyone
  • This commment is unpublished.
    · 16/09/2023
    Last night was my first time dancing 5 rhythms since moving to Cumbria early last year. It felt so freeing and creative to move and dance again in this concious and supported way. Rachel Kurtz held the space beautifully, offering the opportunity to dance with a body part as an anchor; be it a place that felt comfortable or tender or otherwise. This worked well for me last night, especially after such a pause in dancing this way and not knowing anyone in the room. The rhythm of stillness brought a warm and soothing yet uplifting energy exchange with a lovely lady in blue ???? Thank you!
  • This commment is unpublished.
    · 16/06/2023
    3 days since the weekend of dancing in Ambleside with Andrew Holmes and a glorious group of people and I'm still buzzing! So many beautiful and moving experiences as we connected on the dancefloor. Andrew's delightful mix of music and gentle yet potent guidance enabled us to deeply explore the theme of "Me and You". Who are we in relationships, how can we see the divine in ourselves and others and how can we bring love into our daily connections? So much rich learning from the dance. Thank you to Andrew and everyone who joined us over the weekend.
  • This commment is unpublished.
    · 21/04/2023
    From the very start, warming up with Vaughan Williams Thomas Tallis, through a T Rex boogie and a chaotic gay Gordon’s in the middle, Angela very gently led us all out of ourselves.
    My dancing muscles have only just quietened down!
    More of that please.
  • This commment is unpublished.
    · 25/11/2022
    I really like St Andrew’s as a venue; a great space, great floor.

    I am ever appreciative of the opportunity to dance with others; even when I’m feeling insular, introspective. I am held by a group even when I might be avoiding everyone and dancing on my own. I always find the collective energy, intention and the facilitation so supportive. Invariably when I am wishing for some connection there will be, within the dance, some moment or moments of magic that make showing up to dance always worth it.
    As ever, so very grateful to Robin, Helen, Fiona and Rachel for bringing it to Cumbria.
    • This commment is unpublished.
      · 12/08/2024
      Thank you so much to Racheal and team for a wonderful evening of dancing the storm,

      xx 

Articles

Details
Hits: 776

It would be great to have the unalloyed simplicity of Chance the Gardener in the classic film 'Being There.' Wouldn't it?

No distractions; simple, deep and naïve relationship and expectation of being and life ....

Sometimes though, we get distracted – and we leave mentally and sometimes actually. Our attention 'climbs out the window'; we might become preoccupied by our brain's chattering, by self-consciousness, embarrassment, a thought, an emotion  – and we leave and stop.

There are always convenient distractions, a beautiful sunset through the window, an absorbing thought, the call of tiredness to go lie down, a door to the kitchen or garden maybe open to let in the coolness. Swimmers in the community swimming pool. 'That' thought.

What to do?

Read more …

Details
Hits: 1855

Andrew Holmes encourages us to dance more!

September 1st 2022

Most of us begin dancing the 5 Rhythms with an evening..

(In the very earliest days, that wasn’t possible. There were very few teachers, and someone only came to London, where I lived, once a year.. So my first experience was a four day workshop!)

But most of us dip a toe in for a couple of hours, to see whether we like it.

And if we do, then we come back.

Evenings are easy. They don’t ask too much of our time or money.

Evenings are fun. They give us a good workout, blow away the cobwebs, connect us with others.

And they’re useful. They help to bring us back to centre, to process the ups and downs of our daily lives.

If an evening is all that you’ve tried, then you may begin to feel that you know what this dancing is about ...

Read more …

Details
Hits: 1372
- the day after the night before -

Rachel Kurtz, Saturday 7th May 

 

If you're old enough you might remember the Vogons saying that in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. If not, and you're curious, you can find out about Vogons here. Resistance to Vogon capture is understandable but often we resist things that are in our own interests. Resisting nourishing practices does not serve us and brings us closer to a Vogon-esk existence of monotony and loss of perspective. This type of resistance is best dismantled.

 

I have been dancing 5 Rhythms since winter solstice 1997 - that will be 25 years this winter - and I can still be blind to how easy it is to get in my own way. Then my resistance was suspicion and my own insecurities. I had seen Gordon and Joy who led the local 5 Rhythms group, many times around Whitley Bay but had never spoken to them. I was projecting all sorts of things onto them that I felt I wasn’t - cool, confident, unconcerned by other people’s judgements and I was intimidated by this.

Read more …

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Hits: 1337

It was my first 5 Rhythms.

I wasn’t sure how my 73 year old body could handle it, nor my introverted personality.

I felt instantly safe in the room - damn cold but it soon warmed up (and how, didn't need heating after a while).

The whole process felt so natural…a return to childhood in a sense when I wanted to dance freely but of course in those days ‘not allowed’.

It was a deeply spiritual experience, full of insights, connection to Source and insights into self - those stuck places, old hurts, place of freedom.

Read more …

Details
Hits: 1981
Robin Duckett

(I wrote this after a Dance group in Bologna with Olivia Palmer)
I was touched by Olivia's reference to ‘the challenge of stillness’, and also have noticed the ‘lying on the floor’ trait in some dance groups. I’ve puzzled before about it, and after Olivia's comment, this is what I thought:
One of the complexities lies in the word ‘stillness’ in English; others lie in the idea of ‘still mediation’ and stilling the body to complete passivity, for other meditative/connective reasons. 

Read More

  1. Breathing, connecting, body, grounding. What a relief!

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