Thread: Do You Dance for Joy?

In additional to your practice schedule, do you take any time to dance for the sheer joy, love of music and cathartic emotional benefit of it - escaping for awhile in the music and dance, without thinking about how your movement/technique might look to others or what you will use to teach or even whether some of the moves you slip into may not be purely ME?

Listening to a radio program this morning discussing the financial hardships most of us are going through (in one way or another), it occurred to me that the uninhibited dance experience itself is one source of joy and connection that is free and cannot be taken from you.

I know I haven't been doing this, but I am going to try.

-Devora

I used to to do this from time to time until I got mirrors in my dance room. The more training I get, the more self-conscious I become about what shape my arms or body or leg is forming. I don't really dance for stress-relief anymore but I bet it would add another dimension if you just let go and enjoy the music without dissecting it all the time.

I do at times. I think that as we advance( I'm just at the advanced beginner stage) in dancing we sometimes get lost in the technique. One of my favorite dancers to watch is Amira Mor, she seems to have so much fun, and not all of her moves are purely ME. I actually like to watch her more than some dancers who are technically brilliant, but don't seem to have the joy in dancing that she does. I tend to get competitive in class and am trying to enjoy the whole experience more and not worry about if I'm not advancing as fast as some others. We have a hafla next weekend and I'll be performing for the 1st time in 20yrs.(last time was ballet)

Absolutely! ..g.: I don't make the time/take the time out of my practice time for it (though it will occasionally sneak in there). Mostly it just spontaneously happens - like when I'm listening to music at home during non-practice times. I'm a little bit goofy that way (just ask the family). Then again, I often sign off on my personal dance correspondence with "joy in dance" because I believe in it.

OT - One of my husband's greatest compliments to my dancing had to do with me being one of the few dancers he'd ever seen that actually had happy, joyous feet while dancing. (You know it's been a bad night/performance when he mentions that my feet weren't happy.) ..l;,

Joy, is my big reason to dance. :-)

Originally Posted by Devora

escaping for awhile in the music and dance, without thinking about how your movement/technique might look to others or what you will use to teach or even whether some of the moves you slip into may not be purely ME?

This describes me to a T when I'm open dancing at a hafla. When I'm doing social dance, I don't even think about technique - it's all about getting my groove on.

Oh, yes!!!

In fact, last week I was having an especially difficult morning with homeschooling my defiant teenage son ..c:: and life was getting to me pretty badly on many levels. I was hurt, and angry and felt like crying. And it was time to go teach a yoga class!!

So I got to the studio early, put on some music I love, and just danced my heart out. Just 10 minutes, and all the tension was released and I felt happy and strong and centered and ready to be Yoga Woman!

Dancing is huge for me emotionally. I need it! And performance and classtime just don't give me the emotional release and joyful endorphin rush that pure bopping does!!

My joy comes from creating choreography. I put on some music that inspires me and I start dancing, then stop then dance some more then stop jot down notes, and on and on. I get into this zone where ideas come rushing in faster than I can catch them. I will go for hours, yes hours 4 or 5 just creating a dance. That is when I'm truely happy and joyous about dancing. Something about bringing something new to life.....

if that makes sense....

I love doing "joyful dance" and do this as often. Usually my kids do it with me, we get really silly and try and out do each other with dance moves. They usually win but we have a really good time in the process. I've almost always got music playing wherever I'm at in the house and this results in frequent boogie sessions for no apparent reason. I've also stumbled across some fun ideas for fusion pieces while dancing around.

I used to spend all of my "practice time" dancing for joy, but then I realized I wasnt actually practicing (though it was good exercise). . . Now I usually end a practice session by just DANCING to a couple of songs, often I did out pieces that I love but that might not make for the best performance, and use those. Sometimes if I am in a funk I just dance for joy to dance my way out of it. . .

And I love social dance time as a time to "dance for joy" - that is what dancing at SCA events is about for me. Just pure dancing, and not worrying about perfect technique, audience, or anything else.

I am in a technique rut right now where my mind is insisting on running the show. To remedy this I am taking time out to just "dance" for the fun of it. I also find that with all the bad news around me (financial crisis etc) that I dance to release those feelings. I can only imagine what I look lie when I do this as I dance in the living room, alone with NO MIRRORS (except the occasional catching of myself in the reflection of the oven door :-)

The cats are a good baraometer of how dramatic I am. But in a word, YES!

sure - I don't 'set aside time for it' - but I dance just to dance pretty much any time I hear music and there's noone around (that way I don't feel self conscious) ... can't really help myself - I've gotten to the point if I REALLY want to get chores done in a timely manner, I almost have to turn off the music 'cause I end up drifting off and dancing instead .

I thought I did, but then I took a look at my schedule, and it was sadly lacking. I actually did have to schedule time for "Free Dance" as I put it, but once I was able to accept that I could do something without having a specific goal in mind (major type-A personality problem), then dancing for joy became something I just DO rather than have to remind myself to do.

Isn't it weird that something we love SO much can become such a drag at times? Or that we focus so much on doing it RIGHT that we forget how much fun it is just to DO?

Good observations; good thread.

Hmmmm.... I think old saying about play (aka dance) like you practice and practice like you play applies. If you never dance for joy in practice how can you just turn it on, or at least appear to, during a performance? I wonder if this is part of the reason why some performances look more like they are drilling movements rather than "dancing", not enough practicing actual dancing?

I probably do too much just dancing for joy.....wish i could be more displined about drills and such....
Meredith

I'm a novice, but I was pleased and embarrassed when my class instructor said to the class that I had the most blissful face. Often when I am supposed to be focusing on technique, I fall off into the joy of the music and the movement in my body and I'm off in my own world.

without being dramatic i do it purely for joy because it feeds my soul. Dancing is the only thing I have ever done which makes me 100% happy outisde of relationships etc.

Uhm, I have to admit that the only time I use the mirror when I dance is to ensure the visual result for stuff I prepare specificially for performances or students - the rest of the time I just "jam around the livingroom" and enjoy dancing. I dance for the joy of it and the feeling it gives me.

I've always practiced like this, however I encorporated the feeling of whatever I am "working on" at the same time after having "adjusted" things in the mirror at prior practice sessions. It's a great way to connect the body-mind-music connection.

I dont use the mirror much even if it's there when I jam around... why look at yourself when dancing when you can trust your body and rely on the feeling of the alignment (that you've memorized previously) and through that be free to do whatever you want... although, some of the coolest combinations and thought processes have been the result of such "jamming sessions"... so I dont really know how much I'm actually letting myself "go"... Im not actively *working* tho. Just dancing....it's worked well so far over the 25 years I've been dancing ;)

DaVid

You mean like this?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfPg5LjGYz8]YouTube - Perfect Strangers - The Dance of Joy[/ame]

Oh... wait.. that's the dance OF joy, not dance FOR joy!

I'm sorry, some things just cannot be resisted.

I love to dance for joy. It helps me relieve so much stress and I just love to move around to the music while doing my chores around the house. It brings a smile to my face and lifts my spirits.
Do it all the time.

Originally Posted by david

I dont use the mirror much even if it's there when I jam around... why look at yourself when dancing when you can trust your body and rely on the feeling of the alignment

I must like looking at myself in the mirror. Ha! Yeah right! I still use the mirrors for posture and other times I stare at a blank white wall. Depends on the mood and what I'm practicing. I have a whole set up that's working out really well, thus far. Anyway, this past week I've been doing the whole dance for joy thing and it's helped me get out of my funk. So thanks for the thread idea...

TediThomas,it sounds just like my home-
I practise for/with joy every day!

...if I miss out on dancing I get depressed.

Originally Posted by mihri

You mean like this?

YouTube - Perfect Strangers - The Dance of Joy

Oh... wait.. that's the dance OF joy, not dance FOR joy!

I'm sorry, some things just cannot be resisted.

..l;,

I will go for hours, yes hours 4 or 5 just creating a dance.

I need you to come spend a week or 2 with me.

My whole life all I did was dance for joy because my parents could not afford to put me in dance classes. Then later (after 30) I realized I had to take classes and learn technique if I wanted to learn to dance. Even now I still have to force myself to look into the mirror to correct myself.
When I teach I teach with the mirror and without. Part of learning is just to 'feel' the movement. Some students learn better this way anyway. But you need both.

I used to love to dance just for Joy and actually managed to do some fairly advanced moves wothout ever learning them.

BUT in classes, my body didn't always do what I wanted it to do. So i started to practice hard at technique.

I need to start doing more just dancing again. Now my technique has improved, I can dance and be aware of line etc, It's just that I got more self-conscious once I decided to improve myself and that is not good!

OMG yes-I dance for joy, sorrow, pain, grief, and moving through it all.

I understand what you're saying. I feel as I've progressed, I've become much more conscious of technique and "what I'm doing". I've been criticised by others before-"where did you learn that move? We dont' teach it that way here.." etc. But I have a very varied, long dance background so sometimes I don't care where it came from, just that it's what I want to use at the moment.

I've literally cried while dancing. Not something someone probably wants to see at a show, but at home, when I can be me with no one watching, it can be a blessing to dance this way. ;-)

I often dance for joy... It could really be to any music, and I don't find my living room mirror a distraction... However, the moment I know someone is specifically watching me dance, the joy gets a bit shy.

I do have some songs that will always put me in the mood to just prance around with a grin, cough... sry, to improvise with a heart. A certain version of Shik Shak Shok, some Lebanese stuff. When you dance for yourself, what are your music preferences?

Originally Posted by maariku

When you dance for yourself, what are your music preferences?

Tarab if I have more than 10 minutes time for myself.

If I need to relax and contemplate,I need beledi or taxims...if I feel goofy there´s shaabi on..if I´m cooking at the same time it´s pop.

Doctor´s prescription of course