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Learning to let go
Still shy? These classes will help you shed your inhibitions
Gabrielle Roth's 5Rhythms
Dancing the 5Rhythms is a workout for both body and soul. Each rhythm - flowing, staccato, chaos, lyrical, and stillness - has its own mood and meaning. With music to match, each also engenders its own style of movement. There are no designated dance steps. Nothing to worry about getting wrong. You simply move as you wish within the general form of the rhythm.
The dance begins with "flowing." Peaceful music accompanies dancers as they move gently in any circular, fluid motions they desire. The faster paced beat of "staccato" then calls for sharp, forceful, linear movements like those of karate. "Chaos" is what it sounds like; energetic, primal rhythms draw dancers into uninhibited, wild dancing. This frenzied, fun free-for-all is a tremendous physical and emotional release that loosens up the body for "lyrical," a lighter, more effortless, joyful form of "chaos." "Stillness" is a turning inward, a slowing and emptying that culminates in stillness of body, mind, and spirit.
Many find that this routine improves their mood and frees them of stress-related pain. Tension headaches and bad days are danced right out of the body. Others find the effects go deeper, purging stored emotional pain as well.
Some dance like whirling dervishes to find their spirit and the divine. Instructor Gabriella Salvatore says she strives to "be as open and permissive as possible to allow for a range of experience. For some it's a basic physical experience; they just feel good that they are moving. For others it's ecstatic and spiritual."
Except where noted, contact Gabriella Salvatore at 617-473-3694 for the 5Rhythms workshops below.
Take Your Soul to Lunch: Tuesdays, noon-1 p.m. $12 a session, $65 for six weeks. Drop-ins welcome. The Annex at Cambridge Naturals, 1668 Mass. Ave., Cambridge.
5 Rhythms Open Dance: Jan. 9, 7:30-9:30 p.m., free; Breath.Body.Beat.: Jan. 21-June 27, Thursdays 5:45-7:15 p.m., $15 a session. Drop-ins welcome. New Directions for Yoga, Health, and Psychotherapy, 5 Harvard Ave., Brookline. [Get directions].
Waves: Ecstatic Dance for Body and Soul: led by Gabrielle Roth's son, Jonathan Horan. March 12-14. Friday only, $25. Friday-Sunday, $160. Preregistration required. Green Street Studios, 185 Green St., Cambridge. [Get directions].
Dance Your Sacred Journey: monthly 1-Day Workshops, Jan. 16, Feb. 28, 2:30-5 p.m. $12. Live music. This workshop is an eclectic blend of the 5Rhythms, John Perkins's Tibetan-based dream manifestation techniques, and other expressive methods. Preregistration required. Teens welcome. The Dance Complex, 536 Mass. Ave., Cambridge. Contact Margaux Skalecki at 617-522-9797. [Get directions].
Authentic Movement
Most of us live in our heads. Thoughts - good or bad - plans, tasks, and memories occupy our attention while our bodies mostly go unnoticed. We sit for hours at desks or watching TV ignoring our bodies' needs to move. Authentic movement can reconnect mind and body. By quieting "the chattering mind" it lets the body take over and move freely.
This three-decade-old method uses techniques similar to meditation to develop uninhibited motion and body awareness. With eyes closed, the mind is cleared of worries and thoughts by focusing on a single stimulus. In sitting meditation, this may mean observing one's breath; in authentic movement the idea is to notice and heed the body's impulses to move - every one of them.
For some, moving unfettered by self-consciousness or intent is simply fun and physically liberating. Leaping, crouching, bouncing, or just gesturing with the hands does feel good. For others, authentic movement has a more profound purpose, serving as a form of movement therapy. Having found that freeing the body can free the creative mind, artists, dancers, and writers frequent the workshops to recharge their creativity.
"Authentic movement is for everybody," says instructor Shakti Smith. "All of us are movers." In this case, everyone is also a witness when not dancing. A witness focuses her complete, uncritical attention on the mover. Afterward, the witness and mover discuss their respective responses. Participants say these talks lead to personal insights and greater physical awareness that serve to reunite and benefit body and mind alike.
All of the following require preregistration:
Introduction to Authentic Movement: Jan. 23, 1-5 p.m. $45; Authentic Movement Series: Feb. 2-March 23, Tuesdays 7-9 p.m. $150. Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston St., Boston. Contact Stefanie Cohen at 617-868-6960 or Deb Goldman at 617-696-9050. [Get directions].
Authentic Movement: Bringing the Inside Out: Jan. 7-March 18, Thursdays 10:30 a.m.-noon. $135. Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts, 40 Stow St., Concord. Contact 978-371-0820 to register and Shakti Smith at 978-371-2569, for information. [Get directions].
One-Day Introduction to Authentic Movement: bi-yearly spring/fall. Ongoing workshops available to graduates of the introduction. Contact Sarah Hickler at 617-354-4362.
- D.T.
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