Beginning

More than a full class last Saturday and I couldn’t quite get the feel, too many breathing bodies, too many souls reaching out and trying to catch how I was moving. The motion of bodies can be exhilarating and fascinating and frightening too, so much effort, direct focus and concentration.

Bodies are powerful things, stuffed and packed with energy, strung together with sinew and muscle and blood and bone to facilitate that energy. Making the connection between mind and body manifests itself in dance, especially when the dance requires sincere control of weight shifts and isolations of muscle groups. It is not as simple as it looks.

I arrived early but not early enough, no time to sweep the floor, and then I discovered that the stereo was not working, it wasn’t reading any of the discs I put into the contraption. Yadona saved me by getting her portable stereo; she also gave me a gift of home-baked bread, which I have been savoring. The crust is thick and chewy, the inner texture is light and perfectly suited to olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Ayeshteni, Yadona.

We talked posture, balance, placement of feet and hips. Many women stand with their feet too wide apart, leaning forward slightly off balance, knees locked against falling. Many women release their abdomen muscles, let their guts spill out and crush their lower spines. Many women hunch their shoulders, self-conscious of their breasts.

Feet beneath your hip bones, I say. Relax your knees, I say. Squeeze your buns, I say. Roll your shoulders back and down, let the sun shine on your heart, I say. Breathe, I say.

And they do it, and then they follow me through a half hour of grueling isolations and sit ups and push ups and lunges until we’re all loose and stretched and sweaty and they feel better than they have in years.

When we start it’s always the same, basic foundations, find your center, bring it inside, your focal point is just below your belly button. Step, hip. Step, hip. They follow me and I count backwards with the music 4,3,2,1 switch feet, 4,3,2,1.

Narrowed down and more controlled, soon they’re halfway between anxious and fatigued, comfortable with the repetition, relaxed. This is when I tell them, as we step, hip, step, hip, moving forward, Ladies! You are dancing! And I avert my eyes from their faces reflected in the mirror but I know the shock and amazement and laughing pride they try to conceal. Delight in motion becomes tangible energy.