The Long Dance was a
WOW. Truly
pushing the envelope of what I felt I can do, others can do, and the
states
that we can create through pure dance, intention and movement
meditation. I
slept 5 hours in 56 hours and felt energised and strong the whole time.Well, nearly the whole time!
Half opening my eyes as I
half woke up after our first ‘night’ of two and a half hours sleep, I whispered
to Ya’Acov, “what time is it? How much longer have we got? “ I was hoping that
we had another half hour, to capsize back into dream land. But it was just
before the alarm went. As I found my toothbrush all I could think was, “we’re
MAD- why on earth are we doing this?” Then I got outside and saw the early
morning sky, dark clouds scattered over fresh blue sky, warm hued sunlight
lighting up the land, mist hanging low over the levels, the air clean and clear
and everything sparkling and I was so glad to be alive and awake. Oh this is
why!!! Soon we were all dancing again, and joy and humour about our shared
madness lighting up people’s faces.
I am thrilled, moved, proud,
wowed. The Apprenticeship and first big open Long Dance was an extra-ordinary
event, I think, for all concerned. Not all easy. Challenging. Tough. Demanding.
And at the same time, people, myself included, exceeded my wildest
expectations. What can happen when you absolutely decide to do something. What
can happen when you do that with others, when our will aligns.
For us and our apprentices
to work together, to host our guests, to make this event real, was a beautiful
step into co-creative community. Mark Boylan, one of our pathfinder Movement
Medicine teachers, did(and does)
amazing work helping create the foundations of self-organizing community work
teams to hold all aspects of the Long Dance through the days and nights. Every
apprentice offered hours of service time, whether it was as a first aider,
cleaning the loos, giving hugs, taking care of the physical space, looking
after the musicians, etc so that everyone else could let go and be taken care
of.
Roland and Susanne worked
for months to realise this dream with countless details.
Ya’Acov had a wild dream.
When others said “people need more sleep” or “people can’t/won’t raise that
sort of money” he wouldn’t have it. But kept being clear that everyone is free,
but that he was upholding a high level of faith in what us human beings can do.
Yes even us western, modern sort of human beings.I take my hat off to you Mr Darling Khan and
to everyone who was willing to shelve their disbelief and go with it.
For me, with my long
standing longing for a space where song and dance and party and prayer and the
strength, courage and tenderness meet, it was and is a dream answered. The
heart bursting moment on Monday when it felt like 170 people had a simultaneous
ecstatic heart flowering fire burst together in the dance was a glory beyond
any clubbing experience I have ever had, even on the best you no what’s of the
old days. This was pure human ecstasy, brought about by skill, devotion,
patience, long dancing, human kindness, many heart melts and healings, much
tears and laughter, and I felt the divine smiling on us, in us and through us.
Thank you to everyone who
supported this event, in any way,
And I wish all of us good
summers, beautiful holy days re-connecting with the land, with the beauty of
life, following our dreams, and making love visible through our work and our
play, as we each play our part in meeting the challenges of this time,
As Lynn twist says “ you don’t have a big part to play, you
don’t have a small part, you have YOUR part”
Wishing you Love, Joy,
Strength, and Grace, and to know that you are not alone,
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of the School of Movement Medicine.
Roland Wilkinson, Nappers Crossing, Staverton, Devon TQ9 6PD, UK Tel & Fax +44 (0)1803 762255 http://www. schoolofmovementmedicine.com