Dance Class, etc
Check out Alice on her way to her first dance class. She's just started at The Center for Contemporary Dance, a "noncompetition, nonrecital" dance education center nearby. She took a free class during Arts Fest this year, and I was really impressed with the instructor and the attitude of the center. Their focus seems to be artistic rather than...I don't even know what to call the alternative. I just have this mental image of chubby little girls in sparkly leotards shaking their booties down Main St. in the Avon Park Christmas parade and know that's not what I want Alice to get out of dancing. I hope she gains confidence in her body and maybe a little coordination that I don't have. Mostly, though, it's fun. The little kids classes are play-oriented, and she likes wearing her dance clothes; even if they're not sparkly, she is. :)
I read some of the center's philosophy about dance as an art form. Although the particulars may be different, I think this philosophy applies to all types of art:
"For the dancer, movement begins where words leave off. Every dance of substance is born of deep intention and tells a story that cannot be told with words alone...expressing something that must be witnessed through movement in order to be understood. Beyond the beauty and technique of the dance, lies the true essence of the piece... Dance artists develop work because it is their most authentic form of communication."
Poetry also begins where words leave off, and visual art certainly does. The essence of a poem lies beyond its form or its imagery; the essence of a really good painting is somewhere beyond the canvas. They go on to say, "More than a visual product, art is a relationship--it is the time, space and feeling that exists between an audience and the work." I like that. Art of whatever kind is not a commodity, it's an experience. In a sometimes literal and sometimes abstract way it is a shared experience between the audience and the artist. I'm excited to see Alice discover her most authentic form of communication, whether it's words or movement or numbers or music or something completely different.
Off topic: we have our first real playdate this weekend. I wish there were another word for it, but that's what it is. Someone we've met a few times invited us over to play. In a perfect world it would be awesome and not at all awkward and all three of us would make a friend out of it, but I don't have my hopes too high about that. I am terrible at making friends. Pretty good at keeping them--no good at making them.