We just ended the 7th edition of our three days end of the year workshop, in which we danced this time with the theme Ridiculously Old & Surprisingly New, in and around us.
The starting point was a picture of a surprisingly new version of the well-known Chinese Yin Yang symbol. During the preparations of the workshop I got already surprisingly new insights; that 3000 year old Yin Yang symbol, of which I knew nothing more than being about the balance between masculine and feminine qualities appeared to be a calender and a compass as well…
By observing the sky, recording the views of the Great Bear and looking at the sun’s shadow from an 8-foot pole (Chinese measurement), ancient China determined the four directions. The direction of the sunrise is the East, the direction of sunset is the West, the direction of the shortest shadow is the South and the direction of the longest shadow is the North. At night, the direction of the Polaris star is the North.
The Chinese also noted the seasonal changes. When the Great Bear points to the east it is spring, when the Great Bear points to the south it is summer, when the Great Bear points to the West it is autumn, when the Great Bear points to the North it is winter.
From the pole the length of shadows were noted daily. The shortest shade was found on the day of the summer solstice. The longest shadow was found on the day of the winter solstice. After connecting all lines and darkening the Yin section from the Summer Solstice to the Winter Solstice, the sun graph looks like this.
Yin starts (is born) with the Summer Solstice and Yang starts (is born) with the Winter Solstice. That is why a circle Yin is indicated at the Summer Solstice position. Another small Yang circle is indicated at the winter solstice position.
So far all this amazing stuff for the thinking mind…
We danced with 32 dancers…
We danced our animal and we danced our spirit, we danced our masculine and our feminine, we danced our black and our white, our shadow and our light; we danced our control into surrender, our masks into truth, our shady grey into full colour, our duality into oneness, our separation into love…
While dancing all this, we also let go of the old year and welcomed the new year to come… shedding off our ridiculously old and diving into something surprisingly new…
Yesterday, two days after the workshop, on the very first day of the new year I received a written experience from one of our dancers. Her words say it all…
“I realize that during our last dance I had a serious struggle with something inside of me… I was suddenly overwhelmed by grief. I cried for a moment and then I made the decision that I didn’t want these emotions to stop me from dancing. So I breathed and I danced and I went through it. The dance became more and more energetic and wilder and wilder. I felt in a kind of trance… still I could see the others and make contact with them, while also remaining in my own strength…
I experienced a kind of primal power… My body danced her dance unhindered… No matter what…
Words like ‘breaking open’ and ‘free’ come to mind now…
Thank you. You let me experience something that I did not know before and can’t equal anything…
I received a kind of blueprint in my heart from every person…
Naturally we all became cells that joined
Where everything was allowed
Exactly as it was
My opinions, judging, feelings about things faded and faded…
Until the last dance they continued to tease me a bit somehow, until finally I got tired of them … ha ha ha…
And then …
I had the clear desire to use every millimeter of the last dance, to stretch myself into using every possible opportunity…
And I did
I did it
I nailed it
And now I cry a lot … ha ha ha ha
So proud of us
I haven’t seen your appearance very well; I haven’t met you very close either. I have not been concerned with that… I have felt you constantly…
Everything was created from energy… Whaaaauw
Love it…
It’s beyond words how this feels…”
~Hetty van der Vorst~