Dream, dance, shimmer, swirl, twirl through 2010...

We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the dancers, we create the dreams.

Author Unknown

There is a bit of insanity in dancing that does everybody a great deal of good.

Edwin Denby

(1903-1983)

Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance.

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.

Lee Ann Womack

(1966)

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

Neil Gaiman

(1960)

The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.

Abraham Lincoln

(1809-1865)

In 2010, I wish for dreaming, dancing, twirling, whirling, creating, exploring, growing, glowing... For you. And for me. For us. Every day. One day at a time.

With love and light, K

♥

[Flickr beauties]

Hold my hand and we'll dance across the sand and into the light

To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful.

Agnes De Mille

(1905-1993)

We ought to dance with rapture that we might be alive... and part of the living, incarnate cosmos.

D.H. Lawrence

(1885-1930)

Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think.

Robert Henri

(1865-1929)

The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace.

Kate Chopin

(1850-1904)

I dream sometimes very vividly and I know that it's considered a good idea to write down the fleeting details of a dream so that one can contemplate later what it is one's subconscious is trying to say. I try to do this more often than not. Sometimes though a dream I have is simultaneously vivid but unclear. The outstanding recollection is one of the emotions, sometimes very strong emotions or sensations, but only snippets of a storyline rather than something fully realised. Isn't that the wonder of dreaming?

In order to record these dreams too, I found several years ago that pictures sometimes serve me better than words and I started creating collages to capture them - just made very quickly with pictures torn from magazines or taken from the huge collection of pre-cut images I have in lots of little envelope folders (it's a compulsion I've had since I was a small child and is shared by my sister - I don't know why, but both of us do this. It's the same with quotations - I cannot stop myself. When I read or hear something that resonates with me, I write it down. I have a collection of thousands...). I still do these paper collages but I buy far fewer magazines now than I used to so I don't have as many to choose from that happen to fit the dream in question. Fortunately, now there's Flickr... source of so many gorgeous, evocative images.

This mosaic is one I made yesterday in response to such a dream. There was a man. A stranger but someone who I just knew I could trust. There was autumn light, and fairy lights, the beach and dancing... effortless swirling, swept-away-by-the-music dancing. I was a much better dancer than I am in real life because I floated. His shirt was crisp and smelt of soap and he held my hand as we walked (I was very conscious of that - I do miss holding hands) and I picked up feathers. The colours were all bluey greys and warm glowing chocolate shades. And that was it. Nothing more in the way of detail. But I woke up feeling all smily and soothed. Nothing profound or obscure in meaning here I don't think... just a sweet, gentle, wish fulfillment dream. But it was lovely. And this mosaic is how I'll remember it.

Perhaps it's time to start attending Tango classes again...

Or just dreaming more.

Happy Monday!
♥

[Thank you to these Flickr beauties for making it possible to capture and express this]

Swept away

The connection. I miss it.

[Flickr credits]

Post can be good

I can't say I generally look forward to my post, or mail for those of you across the Atlantic.

I don't dread it but, most days, it looks a lot like this...


Boring! It looks boring and it is boring - bills, statements, and a bit of junk mail.

But yesterday morning when I took it out of the box, there was also this...


As soon as I saw that cheerful package, I knew I was in for a treat!

And it did not disappoint.

Removal of layer one revealed...


Layer two off, and this gorgeous creature emerged...


And under it, this...


Tango, book and butterfly. Great combo! My dear, special, and thoughtful friend, thank you!!! I am touched and delighted. You made my day!

I am about to rework my inspiration board and the butterfly is going up. And I can't wait to start reading the book. Thank goodness it's nearly the weekend and I don't have too much planned.

I feel so lucky to have such special people in my life - people who hang in and always come through for me in their own ways (even when I can be hard to reach and really don't deserve it) and who enrich my life beyond description.

This was a gesture that reminded me to be thankful, on a day when I needed to be reminded. Thank you for that too!

Tango Turin Style

I spent this weekend at a Tango Festival: 4 workshops, 3 practica, 1 Milonga - 15 hours of dance.

I felt sometimes out of my depth and came away with seriously sore feet but there were moments of insight and moments of joy, which made it every bit worthwhile.



The teachers are a young Italian couple, Roberto and Mariana, who normally teach in Turin. For me they embody all that is lovely about Tango - style, grace and an obvious joy in the dance. Of course skill and an ability to teach was there too but that seemed incidental to the rest. Despite the fact that neither speaks much English and between us as a class we understood only a little Italian, they managed to convey the technique and the spirit of their method beautifully, patiently and with humour. It was a pleasure to be a part of it.

Thursday nights are Tango nights

Tango can be pure joy. I know this to be true because I have experienced it. Transcendent joy. I'm still such a rank beginner that the joy is measured in moments rather than minutes but it's enough.

Photograph by Diana Mansfield

Tango can also be painful, frustrating, unconnected. Tonight there was no joy. Not even a moment. Lots of the other stuff though.

Oh well, I guess there's next week.

The profound language of dance, or is it just the beautiful shoes that attract me?

I have a very dear friend who always manages to inspire and delight me and who, several years ago, encouraged me to attend an Argentinian Tango class when she visited me in London. I was instantly hooked. Unfortunately, my circumstances changed and I didn’t pursue it for long.

It has taken me almost two years since moving to the city in which I currently live to find somewhere to take classes again. Now Thursday nights are Tango nights. I've been going regularly for about six months and I definitely feel the addiction setting in….

One of the things I also love about this friend is that she really appreciates how, although it is undoubtedly about the music, the connection one makes through the dance, and the intensity of the emotions evoked, it is also about the shoes. Gorgeous shoes! She gets that.

This is my newest pair. Not something I would wear on the street. Not appropriate for my everyday persona. But for Tango… Perfect.