This week’s Dance First Insight is from Kristen Mangione and LILA – Dance Alchemy for the Soul!
After two years of isolating in a completely upside-down world, what does it mean to reemerge and dance in a shared space now?
I asked others to join me in answering this question in our first in-person LÎLA Dance Alchemy for the Soul event since the pandemic began. Originally, LÎLA had been an in-person group embodiment journey, melding guided dance/movement improvisation with creative exploration while journeying through the energetic centers of the chakras and meridian systems. The pandemic created a lot of unexpected solutions to problems we never anticipated, including virtual classes. While it was never my intention to shift an embodiment-based practice like LÎLA to Zoom, I found myself, like so many of us, leading a dance practice online, trusting that the shared energy would somehow translate digitally. Miraculously, it did. But after this much time and the World somewhat reopening, it felt like it was time to go back to the studio.
It’s funny how much I took for granted, like the simplest of givens, that we could all be together in the same space for the pleasure and discovery of dancing. And yet, these last two years held so many lessons about what had been previously taken for granted. The students were also starting to crave in-person community experiences. They started asking if I would consider reopening and when could we all dance together again?
My thoughts on how to reopen safely opened up a ton of new considerations. How do I organize space so that we can still have a great experience while doing it responsibly and ensuring everyone feels comfortable? What would it be like, being with people again? Would it be like we never left, or would it have undeniably changed?
These very questions became the basis of “Handle with Care,” our most recent LÎLA exploration into the nature of public vs. private spaces and building connections. One of the things I love about creative inquiry is the power in its alchemy- how you can turn your problem solving into gold.
The first alchemy was by transforming my studio space. I turned my 600 square foot dance studio into an art installation space, subdividing it with meta walls made with several rolls of tape and lots of imagination. If we couldn’t actually “be” together in this shared space, what did that imply about public spaces now? How could you be with and not be with others simultaneously? What does this do to your sense of self when you are with others but not fully free? Since we were all masked and had to maintain boundaries, I asked the students to consider what it means to hide in plain sight, and then to take yourself out of the World entirely by retreating into your own reality.
Our second alchemy came from playing with scale. As we retreated to our own domains, the focus shifted to the outer to the inner World and from the macro to micro levels – within our individual rooms, in our bodies, and in our psyches. Discovering things like, how do we sense and follow boundaries – not just visually, but with all our senses? What does our perception of boundaries show us about our individual attitudes and behaviors regarding how we approach life and the World?
My favorite element of the experience was playing with shadows and light. At some point, we all plunged ourselves into the darkness to eventually relocate ourselves again. This became a metaphor for losing all sense of place, relying on our other senses for survival and ultimately seeing everything newly.
Our final stage alchemy was about reemerging. Not surprisingly, it seemed to be the highlight of the whole group’s experience. This was the stage where, even while maintaining distance, we intentionally started making eye contact, acknowledging and following one another through movement while playing with our shared energy and humanity. You could still sense the delight of smiles and laughter hidden behind the masked expressions. Simply by shifting our awareness to dancing with again, a community had once again returned.
Please join us on Zoom on April 16th! https://consciousdancer.
To learn more about LÎLA Dance Alchemy, in both its live and online experiences, visit www.
