Tsunami Studio

Keep on Keepin' On

Fall is a perfect time for new beginnings. At Tsunami Studio, most of you know we are down to our last few classes in the Exchange Street studio. What a great time we've had here! Laughter, tears, love--we've seen a little bit of everything as our community and dance practice have grown and evolved. Lisa and I are so grateful for the space, the time we've had here, and for YOU!

While moving from our perfect space is a transition with a bit of melancholy attached, we both know that the dance is not determined by the space, the music, or the lighting. What makes the dance is the dancer, and wherever we dance together we create community. We are still checking out spaces in Astoria, but we have found a home for our Sanctuary class in October. Judy Matelich of Lotus Yoga Studio has welcomed Tsunami with open arms and heart. We are excited to offer our Sunday Sanctuary class in her sweet, spiritual space. (How's that for some alliteration?)

Lotus Yoga Studio is quite a bit smaller than what we're used to, so classes will need to be pre-enrolled at this time to ensure that we have room to move. Lisa will be taking some time to travel in October, and Elia will facilitate the 4-week session of Sunday classes.

Here are the details:

Where: Lotus Yoga Studio, 2935 Marine Dr., Astoria ~ 2nd floor

When:  6 - 8pm October 4, 11, 18, 25

Cost: $40 for the four Sundays

After our four weeks in the new space, we'll evaluate how it worked for us. Lisa and I will still be keeping eyes open for larger venues as well.

For more info on the class or to register, email Elia at tsunamimovesyou@gmail.com

Dance of Solitude

"It is good to be solitary, for solitude is difficult; that something is difficult
 must be a reason the more for us to do it”
~ Rainer Maria Rilke

At the studio, we are often focused on creating community, finding new ways to dance together, and making contact (literally!). One of the most important aspects of the dance, however, is that our individual movement  informs our hearts, spirits, and minds. Solitude, the lone (as opposed to lonely) journey, the inward glance--these concepts can be frightening. How do we feel as the sole sojourner on our path? Do we like to be alone? Does the inward focused dance feel restful? Strange? Isolated? And what do those feelings tell us? How might your dance differ  if you were alone in a room as opposed to with others? This Thursday we'll explore a dance of oneness--with the self; guiding our energy into a deep inward spiral to find ourselves in Solitude.

Deep Into the Body

Over the last few Thursdays we've delved into spiritual and psychological topics--death, light/dark, personal stories . . . all good for the body and mind, all part of the huge spectrum of what we can explore through the dance. This Thursday we'll be pulling back to the body, and going deep within to identify where our dance originates. The origin of the dance is a topic we've explored before too, and it's fun to return to this theme periodically with a new angle. Will the music decide, or will you? Does a lack of variety, or too much, drive where we go with our dance? What would the dance look like if we danced for one hour to only one song? Or to thirty songs? Can we "transcend" the music and go deeply into our bodies, letting the inner impulse, rather than outer rhythms, guide our movements?

Questions to ponder, and to dance . . .

See you Thursday night!

Thursday class . . . Stories

One of the most wonderful aspects of a creative outlet is the ability to make up a story and express it--whether through words, pictures, music, or movement. When we allow our imaginations free rein, we open doorways to possibility. Perhaps the stories we want to tell are merely tales that we don't necessarily want to create in real life. Or maybe those stories are potential destinies waiting to unfold.  We can inhabit a virtual world different from our own, or plant the seeds for a vision we would like to manifest. Regardless of the outcome, magic happens when we allow story to flow through us. This Thursday we'll explore the worlds that our dances express.

Where does Stillness reside?

Where
does
stillness
reside?

Is it
large
or
small?

Within
or
without?

Always present
yet
eternally
elusive.

Dance into the paradox . . .

Embracing Chaos

Chaos: from the Greek, meaning an empty place or an abyss.
            Ah, emptiness.

    Abyss.

                    Scary?
                                                Unpredictable?

Fun?

In Physics, chaos relates not to emptiness, (or, as we more commonly think of the word chaos, a wild disorder) but rather whether or not it is possible to make long term predictions about the behavior of systems. (and that's all the science you'll get from me!)

                Gabrielle Roth, in her Five Rhythms practice

                            suggests that Chaos, as a rhythm, is where masculine and feminine meet and dissolve;

        where opposites "transcend and are unified."

Chaos, as we may suspect, is the nature of the universe. But what does that mean?

                In free-form dance, one does not know the outcome of the dance before it is begun. The dance unfolds with its own rules. We move/are moved . . . boundaries are both found and destroyed.

How much does music help us to "get to" chaos in our dance? Is a driving beat and fast tempo the only way to dance and find chaos? Is a wave the only shape we know how to follow?

come
            and
                                                see!

Giving and Receiving

  Giving and receiving are part of the essential usefulness and necessity of any art form. The artist gives of his or her own creative spirit and particular genius, and the witness to the work is informed in some way, if only on a subconscious level. As dancers, we create an improvisational art piece, much like a mandala, every time we dance. The work is ethereal, not lasting in a physical sense, but informative to those who dance with and around us--whether they watch us or not.

Over the last week, discussions and events within our classes have sparked my thoughts about giving and receiving within the dance. One dancer mentioned that at times he felt "selfish," in his own world of body and mind, when he was not participating more in the group dynamic. I think this is not uncommon, especially now as in some of our classes we are experimenting with duets and group dance. There are time when the "selfish" dance is just what we need, just as in creating any other art form there is a piece that is always for and about the artist. And of course, there is no right or wrong--only what is. In the Sunday Sanctuary we experienced a lovely, improvised group contact dance at the end of the wave. All but one participated, and the dancer who stood outside the group was the witness to the mandala we created. This dancer felt torn about joining or staying apart, but in the end part of the power of the dance came from his witnessing of it. The witness was integral . . . think of the question of the tree falling in the forest: if there is no one present, does it make a sound?

The question of when to join, when to stay apart, and--more new to us as a community--when to witness is always part of the dance. Most often the "how" of our dance comes intuitively, a flow dependent on a myriad of factors. Sometimes the "how" is guided--as we'll see in this Thursday's class.

As always, Lisa and I welcome our regular dancers and those new to the space and/or the Thursday night class. See you there!

Sanctuary

                  

Transformation, faith, love, rebirth, renewal, and freedom . . . all themes of the variety of holy days celebrated in Spring. From ancient Roman and Pagan traditions to Christian and Jewish celebrations, time is taken in this most fertile and hopeful time of year to give thanks and remember the inspiring ideals so valuable to our human spirit and consciousness.

Whether or not one celebrates Passover or Easter, the spiritual energy held for these powerful holy days reverberates in the global consciousness. We all have access to this spiritual energy; we all can understand and participate in the themes mentioned above. This Easter Sunday, Lisa and I invite you to celebrate with dance. Our Sanctuary class is open to all, and we will embrace the ideas of rebirth and renewal through movement and community. Bring something to place on the altar, wear something special, bring flowers . . . or just bring yourself and a willingness to let go into the love and joy generated by the energy of Spring.

Class begins at 10am. We hope to see you there!

Thursday Explorations . . . Together, Apart

One of the best things about dancing at Tsunami, for me, is the people. I love seeing the dance evolve in each individual, love watching new people come into the circle of community we are making, love how every class has different energy depending on who is there and what we create together. Last week's Explorations class had us dancing many stories, and in one instance we came together as a "modern dance troupe" and created a fun, freestyle dance together before moving on to a new story and back into our individual dances. In many free-form classes or circles dancing in duet, trio, or larger group is common and happens at every class. Our dance truly deepens when we can share it with others; communication through movement is profound and fun. Not better than dancing individually, but different, and informative in a unique way.

This Thursday we will explore dancing as a whole, and learning how to enter and leave a duet or larger group dance respectfully. Although I suspect that this is something you all already know, intuitively, it is helpful to practice a bit. We will have time for individual dance as well. Come join the fun!

Exploring the unexplored . . .

I've been having a hankering for a while to dance to classical music. Not only the first movement from Bach's 3rd Brandenburg, but the weird and melancholic music that modern composers are creating today. What would it be like to not have the typical drums, rhythm guitars, and types of compositions are ears and bodies are used to dancing to?

Last Thursday, Lisa included in her playlist the theme from ET, I think it was, and I was intrigued to watch everyone's dance become very upright, proper, lyrical .  . . it seems that for most of us, myself included, orchestral music brings out the ballet dancer in us all. Which is great . . . I love those moments in my dance. But for a whole hour, would I want to dance that way? How could I respond differently to such music?

We've been exploring the abstract ideas of the elements for the past four weeks. We have gone deeply into concepts, guided by carefully chosen music, to be sure, but nonetheless we have crossed into the world where we create the dance, not the music. I think that, given this recent practice, we might be ready to try exploring the largely unexplored (in terms of dance music) and incredibly diverse genre of classical music. Not forgetting, of course, that for many centuries, chamber and orchestral music was dance music. We've all seen those period dramas of folks in lovely clothes flirting over complex partnered group dances with the string players in wigs playing away in the background. And also not forgetting, that many of the composers we consider to be the standards of classical music were rule breaking rogues in their day--pushing the boundaries as music as it was known.

So let's bring our dance and this music together in a partnership that for most of us is virgin territory. What stories and shapes might emerge from a soundtrack that we'd likely never encounter in a club or our living rooms?