DANCED - ENRICHED

“To Dance is to be out of yourself larger more beautiful, more powerful.”

_Agnes De Mille

Focus they keep telling us.

Usually, this means bringing attention to what you are doing so that you can do it better, quicker, or more accurately. This is the kind of ‘focus’ they want to teach us at school so that we can carry it into the workplace and become efficient cogs in the system. This type of focus also usually implies a very still body and heavy concentration.

However, there is another kind of value in the idea of focus. Often our attention is scattered as we stressfully try to multitask our way through life. Our poor brains were never designed for this and so as attention flits around there is hardly any time to appreciate the finer details of our experiences. When we focus our attention on what we are doing we find a greater connection and deeper appreciation for that activity. And, it’s definitely not a mind game!

Focus and attention mean that we bring the totality of ourselves into the present. We notice our thoughts and creative imagination, we notice the subtle movements and actions of our body, and we notice the feeling we are having in that moment. This full attention and focus enriches our experience of life in extraordinary ways.

This is exactly what we practice when we dance. Our body moving through space, our in-the-moment creative action, and the beautiful feelings we activate through our heart. When we lack focus, we miss out on the richness of life. Dancing helps us to strengthen our ability to be present, to focus on what we are doing, and to connect to the pleasure of the experience. Dance has the power to keep us from being distracted – we cannot dance and not be present with both body and mind. As we connect to our dances, our attention becomes so focused in the present that eventually we let go in such a way that life, the dance, and life are beautifully enriched.

_Christos Daskalakos