solo dancing

alone together

Moving is the ultimate communion. On the one hand, it’s an individual activity. No one else can control your movements. On the other hand, moving with others, together, creates a certain potency, a call & response. You see this in ballroom dancing, synchronized swimming, and sports. Your step forward leads me to step back, I run to return the ball, swimmers lift their legs in perfect unison. This united force moving together is greater than the sum of its parts.

I never got excited about Zoom yoga, or virtual fitness classes — they just aren’t the same as breathing and moving in the same room with others in the flesh. That said, when we are separated from others, sometimes the best we can do is work with the tools we have. I attempted this with a free style dance session alongside my close friend and one of the best movement practitioners I know, Sammy Merkle. She’s based in Mexico City and agreed to hop on a Google Meet this aftenroon. We danced free style for almost an hour and worked up a sweat — no rules, just move! Alas, the recording had technical difficulties and failed to get our movements mirrored side by side (also the background music didn’t play — womp womp). I include a very abbreviated excerpt of what was legible from the recording.

Regardless, the spirit of movement was alive! More importantly, I felt less alone. Highly recommend a free style dance session with a friend, especially when you feel like your temple of aloneness is too much to bear — thank you Sammy!

Move: Get up and dance.

Meditate:

Your great mistake is to act the drama as if you are alone. As if life were a progressive and cunning crime with no witness to the tiny hidden transgressions.

Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the conversation. The kettle is singing even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots have left their arrogant aloofness and seen the good in you at last. All the birds and creatures of the world are unutterably themselves. Everything is waiting for you.

David Whyte, Everything is Waiting for You

Message: Look around — you are never truly alone.

Music Inspiration: