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By doriluthy, February 28, 2009 11:12 pm

Well, well. My faithful readers.

So it’s been a couple weeks since improv contact dance… oh, and life just keeps on propelling forward! You didn’t notice? Well let me tell you! …

Dustin left early yesterday morning for China for a few weeks, so I’m back to some quality me-time, which of course means I may write a few lists to amuse myself, and you! (stay tuned for favourite paint chip names and an alphabetical list of the types of tea I have in my cupboard.)

Actually, a few things are happening around here, including lots of big activity towards my jewelry biz making itself sustainable, a job interview on Tuesday for a small community arts grants coordinator position (part-time, thank you), and I bought a lovely new chair today for the living room!

A new chair? Well, seeing how Dustin is away for a few weeks, it seems to me to be the perfect time to make some efforts towards a little redecorating. You know, painting the downstairs, framing some pics, and this lovely new chair!! And since my blog is banned in China, I’m not worried about the secret home improvement projects leaking out to Dustin… Yes, I am banned in China. How awesome is that?!

The lucky dude is in Shanghai for a couple days before he heads north to Beijing. First reports from him in that lovely city- awesome architecture, awesome public transit. Two thumbs up from Dustin!

Ciao.

Comments (1)

By doriluthy, February 7, 2009 11:35 pm

Dustin and I just got back from Unwinding, a contact improv dance performance at EDAM dance studio. We went with friends Yin and Jeff. Yin had just completed a week long workshop at EDAM, and she wanted to expose us to a new experience, and it was incredible! Throughout the hour show, which involved improv jazz music/sound and improv stage lighting guiding and moving the 2 performers to wander their way in and out of touch and interaction and isolation, flowing through balancing, twisting, lunging, movements of all types, I was struck by a feeling- THIS is such a perfect analogy for a relationship.

Yin explained about “golden moments” in improv, those times when the performers and the audience can feel that incredible syncronicity happen, sometimes it can last for several seconds, several minutes, and occasionally for an entire performance (although I think that must be most rare)… This is the life of a relationship, so perfectly performed. At moments, when both performers are in such delicate harmony gathering the energy close and tight, the audience tense with anticipation, and then in a breath it can dissipate, or maybe it lasts a little longer? It comes and goes… Unpredictable (improv). And like those days, weeks, months and years that pass in a relationship- you find those golden moments can be fleeting, or somewhat lasting, but rarely last an entire lifetime… The “success” of your performance is dependent on the other person’s ability to read you, support you, let you wander off and have your moment of self-reflection, come back together and gather strength to roll over and over each other in tense twists of staccato exploratory movement. Subtle hand gestures that find rhythm and humor together, and those unspoken passive and active choices for who directs the movement for a time.

This, for those who ask, is 10+ years in a relationship.

This is such a perfect performance to see today, having just heard the wonderful news that two dear friends are now engaged to be married (we knew you could do it, D!). I recommend, as pre-marriage advice, to go see some improv contact dance and take some notes on how softly the performers give one another space, and support, all in one breath. If we could all learn how to give and take so readily, life would be so much easier.

Beauty, eh.