#63 The 5Rhythms: an Organic Map of Life - Dancing with Kathy Altman,part 4

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:

• Cosmology of the psyche
  • Maps – body, cycles, mirrors
• Personal experiences with 5Rhythms
• Systems theory
• Contact Improv
• Trynig 5Rhythms – Why not?

[techtags: 5Rhythms, Kathy Altman, Gabrielle Roth]

#61 The 5Rhythms: an Organic Map of Life - Dancing with Kathy Altman,part 3

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.
  • Ventilate your personality – that’s the practice
  • “Just like me”

[techtags: 5Rhythms, Kathy Altman, Gabrielle Roth]

#59 The 5Rhythms: an Organic Map of Life - Dancing with Kathy Altman,part 2

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.

#57 The 5Rhythms: An Organic Map of Life - Dancing with Kathy Altman,part 1

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
  • How can I respond to what is not comfortable?
• Dance no matter what
  • No matter how bad I feel, can I dance that?