“There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive.”
_Jack London (The Call of the Wild)
To dance is to experience ourselves beyond the descriptive language of words and thoughts. So often we feel we have to ‘know’ the world by describing it and giving it some meaning through language. Yet there is a place of knowing beyond knowing and that is direct experience. Through the dance we are able to experience life in a way that is beyond the limitation of knowing intellectually. Dance uncovers the subtlety and range of experience which has not been premeditated nor predefined. It is the world of wonder, awe and magical exploration.
Experience is based on feeling – knowing is based on mental constructs. To be immersed in an experience is to have a direct relationship with it. In dance we are immersed in the exciting movement of our own body in space. Not only that, but we are also immersed in the emotional flow of feeling that arises spontaneously as we let go and for a moment connect with the grace of movement.
The mode of being, given to us by dance, is difficult to put into words. It is felt and lived in the moment. It is all encompassing and has a range and depth of connection to life that is beyond the stories, ideas and imaginations of the mind. To be dancing is to be in flow. This is a state of being in which we are fully immersed in what we are doing. The body, heart and mind are one – and in a strange way the ego falls away as we experience ourselves and life directly and not filtered by concepts, ideas and other ways of ‘knowing’. The benefits of being in a flow state of direct experience is that we can regulate our emotions, feel motivated and engage creatively in expressing our authentic self. To dance it to be fully experiencing life – directly!
_Christos Daskalakos
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