size matters (in a stage production)

My interpretation of the 7 Stages of Creation (6 ft. 9 in. x 3 ft. 9 in.)

Tomorrow is the second half of the creative movement class that has caused me a great deal of stress and insecurity. Last month when we met for the first half of the class, we were introduced to creative movement as a way of expressing oneself as well as a tool that can be used in teaching other subjects in a school curriculum. I have always appreciated the performing arts and realize how wonderful it is to watch dancers move and create energy using their motion in space - but now I am being taught how to be the dancer, do the movements, and express my body in space! It is not something I ever have wanted to do and I am much happier sitting in the audience watching rather than being on the stage dancing.

This weekend I will be participating in a group dance with my cohorts, in front of an audience in the school's performing arts center, and I am not a happy camper! We are also going to perform our individual "life dance" the next day, and we have been encouraged to use props, creative dress, and music, all as a way of conveying the theme we have chosen for our life dance. I think there is an interesting karma that exists in all of our lives and it is up to each of us to identify it, learn from it, and flow with it.

A few weeks ago I painted a series of art cards based on the 7 Stages of Creation that Jeanne Carbonetti writes about in her book, "Making Pearls". I knew I did not want to trade these cards on an artist trading card website, and that I wanted to hold on to them. What I didn't realize then was that these cards would become the theme for the life dance I will be doing this weekend. It made sense to me to use the stages of creation - the ideas, the colors, the visual interpretation, and the message, when I do my dance. I have spent the past few weeks collecting my thoughts, finding a way to use this concept in visual art and then translate it into performing art. I decided to paint a mural and I am focusing on the colors of the 7 stages, and I also added the dragonfly; it is an important symbol to me and personalizes everything else I am doing. I will try to express these things when I dance. Let me just say right now that the "weak link" will be in my dance movements (and I am OK with that).

I felt the need to find proper dance attire, but more enthusiastically, I painted the mural and put together a brochure that I will hand out before my dance, to make sure my cohorts understand there is a specific theme behind each color in the 7 stages of creation. I also have a large piece of sheer white fabric but I am still not sure how I will incorporate using it.

Above I have posted the mural I will have on the stage (my security blanket is the visual art). I will be dancing to a song called "Across the Lake" by Dan Gibson, wearing a plain black leotard.

I am looking forward to putting this class behind me.