It is our great pleasure to present to you a series of conversations with an “urban shaman”, a cartographer of the inner space, an author, a musician, a dancer, and the founder of the 5Rhythms – Gabrielle Roth. This is the second episode of the series.
In this episode, we touch the following topics:
Resonance in the body – emotions
Flowing resonates in the feet
Staccato resonates in the hips and heart
Chaos resonates in the neck, shoulders, head
Lyrical resonates in the hands
Stillness resonates in the breath
We can learn to dance from anytihng – flower, rock, mountain, animals…
Not “good” and “bad” – what is – is.
In the West, we became afraid of fear
Dance of the nations
We are in a millenium of Chaos, a humbling time. Shattering.
The US might not be a super-power.
It’s a review of what am I going to die for, and what am I living for
It is our great pleasure to present to you a series of conversations with an “urban shaman”, a cartographer of the inner space, an author, a musician, a dancer, and the founder of the 5Rhythms – Gabrielle Roth.
In this episode, we touch the following topics:
Maps of Ecstasy
Timeless, egoless state of being
Unleashed but focused
Dance – a firey prayer
You can dance forever (regardless of age)
At first a refuge. But then became much bigger than a refuge, and more people were coming into my refuge.
5Rhythms – DNA of the creative process
Devnagiri and Jhoom
The Western world lost its root – we are afraid of what is primal in us, and afraid of being touched and touch others in a way that awakens them
Being rooted and grounded
Rooting is being off the Earth, and grounded is being on the Earth
We are continuing our series on the practice of 5Rhythms – a moving meditation, a dance without steps; a practice introduced in the early 1970s by Gabrielle Roth. We invite you for an insightful conversation with a long-time 5Rhythms practitioner, Kathy Altman.
As Co-Director of The Moving Center School, Kathy was the first person asked to help Gabrielle bring her work out into the world. Over the past 20 years Kathy’s teaching has brought thousands of people back to the joy of their own, original movement. Using dance as the medium, Kathy illuminates for her students “as on the dance floor, so in life”. She is devoted to inspiring people to live the teachings of presence, patience and practice long after the music ends.
In this episode, we touch upon the following topics:
We are continuing our series on the practice of 5Rhythms – a moving meditation, a dance without steps; a practice introduced in the early 1970s by Gabrielle Roth. We invite you for an insightful conversation with a long-time 5Rhythms practitioner, Kathy Altman.
As Co-Director of The Moving Center School, Kathy was the first person asked to help Gabrielle bring her work out into the world. Over the past 20 years Kathy’s teaching has brought thousands of people back to the joy of their own, original movement. Using dance as the medium, Kathy illuminates for her students “as on the dance floor, so in life”. She is devoted to inspiring people to live the teachings of presence, patience and practice long after the music ends.
In this episode, we touch upon the following topics:
As in dance, so in life
We are all good at some rhythms, and not as good at others
We practice the whole wave to gain more balance
The first 3 rhythms are just gateways; lyrical and stillness are the reward
The Shadow side of the Rhythms
Flow – inertia, where we can’t get ourselves going
Staccato – tightness, rigidity of boundaries
Chaos – confusion
Lyrical – spacing out, instead of spacing in
Stillness – getting numb, instead of quieting
Rhythms in real life
Shadow sides are the extremes of the rhythms that define their true essense
You see this everywhere in life
Examples of famous people embodying various rhythms
Connections between people in dance
Connecting essence to essence, soul to soul. Very different from connecting on a personality level.
We are continuing our series on the practice of 5Rhythms – a moving meditation, a dance without steps; a practice introduced in the early 1970s by Gabrielle Roth. We invite you for an insightful conversation with a long-time 5Rhythms practitioner, Kathy Altman.
As Co-Director of The Moving Center School, Kathy was the first person asked to help Gabrielle bring her work out into the world. Over the past 20 years Kathy’s teaching has brought thousands of people back to the joy of their own, original movement. Using dance as the medium, Kathy illuminates for her students “as on the dance floor, so in life”. She is devoted to inspiring people to live the teachings of presence, patience and practice long after the music ends.
In this episode, we touch upon the following topics:
5Rhythms as a spiritual discipline
Most people medicate (drink), rather than meditate
“I’m just a <qualifier>” – we are bigger than that
It takes great discipline to move with our emotions rather than freeze
Practices for embracing emotions
Recognize them as energy, not a static thing
Let it in, let it through, let it out
Fear of your own greatness
How can this practice help us understand our reason for living?
Learning to connect, despite of everything else. Err on the side of liveness, connection.
Can I dance in a group of complete originals, just like me?
Three types of relationships – to myself, to another, and to the community
Naming the rhythms
Flowing – a grounded way of moving without stopping. No manipulation; following the needs and desires of the body in motion.
Staccato – start to organize. Having a clear beginning, middle, and end to our movements. Finding natural physical boundaries. Moving with no force, but lots of power.
Chaos – mind, and its watery nature. It’s where the build-up starts to crash, and we cannot control the uncontrollable.
Lyrical – where things re-pattern themselves, bigger than we could have imagined. Let go of letting go, and see what remains. Discovering our own patterns, as opposed to the external patterns that shape us (as in Staccato).
Stillness – the “dessert” after the “meal”. Being.
We are begining our exploration of 5Rhythms – a moving meditation, a dance without steps; a practice introduced in the early 1970s by Gabrielle Roth. We invite you for an insightful conversation with a long-time 5Rhythms practitioner and an elder of the tradition, Kathy Altman.
As Co-Director of The Moving Center School, Kathy was the first person asked to help Gabrielle bring her work out into the world. Over the past 20 years Kathy’s teaching has brought thousands of people back to the joy of their own, original movement. Using dance as the medium, Kathy illuminates for her students “as on the dance floor, so in life”. She is devoted to inspiring people to live the teachings of presence, patience and practice long after the music ends.
In this episode, we touch upon the following topics:
Kathy’s story – how she met Gabrielle Roth and started 5Rhythms
What is 5Rhythms? Wave-like patterns.
Completely organic, nothing imposed. Practice of recognition.
Everything in nature moves in wave-like patterns. 5Rhythms is a map of wave-like patterns.
Whole life as a wave.
Fractal – wave inside a wave
Arman’s perspective
The goal of “normal” dance classes is to teach you how to move “right”
The goal of 5Rhythms class is exactly the opposite. You come with your own patterns, and the goal is to let them go.
A dance without steps
It’s a training of listening, not responding
Dementia and dance
2 things help: crossword puzzles and dancing without steps
5Rhythms for seniors
It’s not about how you are physically fit. It’s not about how you move, it’s whether you move.
Music in 5Rhythms
Music is a crutch, a seduction into the dance
This is a moving meditation practice, where the pillow is the music
Responding to music we don’t like – breaking away from the comfort zone
