Hello my friends,

Welcome to the inside of my Dance Diary, again :).

Last Monday, we were learning head rolls in Viennese Waltz.

I had to focus to keep my frame open widely and yet fully release my neck, to keep my arms toned, yet allow my head to roll. Letting it go… all the way to the end … not to push it around and stop it muscularly. A discipline of freedom and control.

There was something a little bit scary about releasing my head, but it also felt good. My neck literally was free!

One roll, two rolls, three rolls, done.

And again…and again…

It was tempting – and all too easy – to relax everywhere when my neck released, and let the body collapse along with my head rolling.

As my head rolled to my right, my whole body really wanted to go with my head…that’s natural, that’s the way head weight works, but in this case, the demand was to isolate the action of the head and neck and still maintain a beautiful frame.

The head leads and sometimes the body is not allowed to follow.

I released the back of my neck and let my head roll with the movement from my partner, down and around, stop! Down the other way and around to the end, and back again.

I used my thoughts to control my body.

Inside of myself, thinking: WIDE out the arms from the center between my shoulders, WIDE in opposing directions out the shoulders, out through the elbows and beyond. AND release the neck AND let the head roll and breathe, no fear, just enjoy.

The freedom of my neck is a very happy thing
Thinking into the neck, down to the base, finding it within my body. Feeling the inner space and having a different kind of sensation as my arms extend out.

My body sense has developed into a kind of internal vision through my work with the Alexander Technique.* It’s a kind of internal awareness that can find the right place and direct my body from the inside, out. Of course I make mistakes…lots and lots of them…but I also learn. It helps me to learn faster. That awareness, that freedom and control is what I want to share with you…I see people dance and want to transfer that feeling to them….in classes…in a lesson…to feel the essential freedom as your body moves through space to music…almost boneless, effortless, yet with form…

Trying to describe the feeling is like telling someone how good it tastes to eat a delicious honeydew melon at the peak of perfection.

I would love to share a taste of that sweetness with you.

Namaste,
Dana
*Alexander Technique is about connecting thought and muscular activity. It increases your body awareness and gives you the power to change how you do, what you do, as you do it.