They really are magic! You can’t touch, wear, or eat them. If I merely tell you about them you probably won’t believe me, because they challenge so much of what we’ve been taught. So I’m enclosing links you can use to find them yourself (like a holiday scavenger hunt).
- The first gift appeared miraculously to thousands of us last January at the Women’s March in Oakland after a surprisingly good, upbeat speech by the President of the League of Women Voters (a comfort to those of us still mourning the take-over and privatizing of the Presidential Debates).
As drums rolled, several figures in black emerged out of the windows of City Hall’s 14th floor and began dancing, prancing, and leaping down the building at a 45° angle! They did use guide wires, but still, it was truly thrilling and mind boggling. They were from Bandaloop! The eclectic dance company created in 1991 by the company’s artistic director, Amelia Rudolph, who was at the time studying comparative religion at The Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley.
As she explains “Especially in today’s world, where there are so many sad things happening, I think it’s really important to do something that instills a feeling of possibility.” To view a short, moving video that captures that spirit, go to
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcSjTCSjfmP/embed/?autoplay=1
Most of the performers are modern dancers, but they rely on rock climbing technology, abseiling, trapeze techniques, and incredibly strong abs- to keep their bodies perpendicular to bridges, cliffs, billboard, cathedrals, skyscrapers and other buildings. Their mission is to reconsider how movement and gravity interact and to challenge preconceptions of what is physically possible.
- Your second miracle also challenges preconceptions of what is physically possible, but in a much more intimate and poignant manner. It’s the story behind the ballet duet, “Enter The Faun,” the culmination of two years of dedication and discovery by a veteran choreographer, Tamar Rogoff, and actor Gregg Mozgala, an actor with cerebral palsy. Their creative exploration, at the intersection of science and art, led them to discover that his diagnosis and physical limitations were not necessarily fixed and immutable.
Amazon.com: Enter the Faun: Tamar Rogoff, Gregg Mozgala, Daisy …
Rogoff was professionally trained as a dancer, not as a physician, but her father was, and she inherited his discipline, powers of observation, and scrupulous attention to detail. These qualities allowed her to successfully train Mozgala as a dancer. As the review says, her lack of formal medical training and his fears and physical limitations turned out to be the exact challenges that enabled them to break through boundaries of medicine and art.
Having witnessed first-hand for 40 years the negative assumptions most physical therapists and physicians assume when approaching individuals like Mozgala (and our son, Max), we were fascinated by the obsessive, visceral interchange and transformation between the dancers that developed over the two years leading up to opening night. The intimate sessions where Rogoff physically binds with and absorbs Mozgala’s spasms are extremely intense, and shatter the myths about professionalism.
Actor and Dancer Claire Danes says . . . “a wonderfully unlikely buddy movie. A choreographer and her muse – a performer with cerebral palsy – explore the realm of the body with courage, honesty, and diligence. Their intrepid work yields breathtaking surprises for them personally and the medical community at large and, like most worthwhile projects, arrives at answers that lead to evermore questions.” –Claire Danes, Actor and Dancer
- Your third gift is also about defying physical barriers and limitations. It’s actually a TED talk by the world famous solo percussionist, Evelyn Glennie, “How To Truly Listen.” As she says, her only aim in life is to teach the world to listen. Quite astounding, considering that she’s now profoundly deaf.
https://www.me-j.co/evelyn-glennie-how-to-truly-listen/
A surreal, quaint, sometimes barefoot performer, Glennie gives more than 100 performances a year with the world’s finest conductors, orchestras and artists. She believes that instead of listening and hearing solely through our ears, we each have our own sound vibration. These are unique because the body itself is a resonating chamber that vibrates with our unique “sound color.”
So I hope you love each of these remarkable artist/teachers half as much as I do and that they make your celebrations and reflections richer.
Fond wishes,
Marilla
