sunday tune

saturday poem

Reflections

she saw the world from inside out, he saw it upsidedown:

she was a geophysicist.
he was a white faced clown.

They had much in common;
for example, both enjoyed the moon,

she from an interest in its rocks,
craters, and other messages;

he from an interest in its tides,
and its reflection of his own white face.

Of their children , according
to the laws of heredity,

one played a clarinet, one danced a minuet
and two were fortune tellers.

Other children came up in the garden,
dressed as lilac, broom, or apple trees.

All were unable to pass examinations,
but some wrote songs, some played,

and were able to amuse their parents,
as, aging, unable to speak to one another,

they watched the moon together,

he from an interest in its geophysics,
she for its reflection of her own white face.

-- Janet Dube  

(image from  Trio Film (1968) - Yvonne Rainer)

friday cartoon

this looks like a beautiful retreat!

week 13

Active hang

Since I just left you hanging for a week we are going to progress to an active hang. This one is short and sweet and should only be attempted if the passive hanging from last week is feeling good.

From the passive hang, pull the shoulders down while keeping the elbows locked. You can hold this active hang for a time or try it in reps as I'm doing in the really bad quality video below.

Also, a couple of little 'compensation movements' to watch out for...
1. Don't bend the elbows
2. Try not to point the ribcage up, instead focus on pulling the shoulder blades down.

Enjoy!
Credit to Ido Portal for this weeks challenge.

The Tasdance archives

The Tasdance archives

founded in 1981, Tasdance was Australia's first dance-in-education company, commissioned to take contemporary dance into schools, conducting workshops and performances and delivering on the key goal of arts funding - to create access to the arts.

more here

found via VAULT -

saturday poem

poem from nejma by nayyirah waheed

Carole Itter
Raw Egg Costume (1974)

study of solo improvisation

“This film documents my choreographic process, solo improvisation and how I brainstorm ideas, captured in a more filmic way to translate the patterns of movement in my head. It was made in collaboration with my friend, the director of photography Phillip Kaminiak. We have worked together on several music videos in Berlin and started talking about working on our own project. He watched my improvisations and then we selected movements that deserved more study or attention.”

-- Kiani del Valle

blessed unrest

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others”

― Martha Graham

Malick Sidibé

Rest in peace Malick Sidibé

sunday tune

friday cartoon

richard long

marks made by walking

march

“Walkers are 'practitioners of the city,' for the city is made to be walked. A city is a language, a repository of possibilities, and walking is the act of speaking that language, of selecting from those possibilities. Just as language limits what can be said, architecture limits where one can walk, but the walker invents other ways to go.”

― Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking

photo by Friedrich Seidenstücker, found via theshinxandthemilkyway

opinion

Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world. It requires profound purpose larger than the self kind of understanding. 

- Bill Bullard

stretch out and wait

oh, i don't know

Marc Hundley for The Posters: Oh I Don't Know, 2015. $55, and 10% of the purchase price goes to support arts education.

week 12

HANGING AROUND

Our shoulders are meant to hang (and swing) from things. Unfortunately this is not a skill encouraged by our culture (look around your work place/home/public space, are there any anchor points for you to hang from?) or taught in yoga class for that matter, which means it is not something that has had the time it needs to develop properly in most people. Ideally you should have developed the ability to hang as you were growing in height and mass so to start as an adult takes more than just doing it – especially if you haven’t done it in years. 

If you feel your shoulders/arms/neck need some TLC before attempting the following I recommend getting hold of Katy Bowman’s aligned and well ‘From the shoulders up’ DVD and doing it daily.

If you are ready to monkey around then the next few weeks will be a series of progressions for hanging basics and then a few drills for building serious scapular stability. These are the preceding qualities for swinging, brachiating and basic body-weight pull-ups so if you get the urge to take your hanging journey further I’ll through in a few drills for those too.

But we will begin at the beginning and I’m making this one meaty to make up for missing last week! Doing it all with a ridiculous grin on your face is optional...

1. Find a bar or branch that you feel confident will take your weight. Ideally put one up in your living space so you can monkey around on a daily basis.

2. You hands are probably going to dislike you in the beginning. Ideally your skin would have been gently loaded by using this skill throughout a lifetime, but all is not lost if this wasn’t the case. To build up beautifully callused hang ready hands will take time and I recommend trying the following three steps out on different surfaces i.e. bark/rock/metal/rubber to build strong skin.

3. If it’s been a really really long time since you tried this then please keep your feet on the ground to start so that you can load your body in a respectful way by introducing a load that is much less than your weight. Try each arm by itself and then both together. Try palms up and palms down. Also, the bar doesn’t need to be over-head, it could be waist height, like a railing, if you don’t yet have the mobility for an over head reach.

4. Add some more weight to your ‘one arm feet on the ground hang’ by carrying something heavy.

5. Then try it with your feet of the ground!

Finally, if you have kids, encourage them to hang regularly. You will be doing their bodies a great service.

a little blog break this week x

sunday tune

saturday poem

Just resolve to shine, constantly and steadily, like a warm lamp in the corner, and people will want to move towards you in order to feel happy, and to read things more clearly. You will be bright and constant in a world of dark and flux ...

Caitlin Moran, 'My posthumous advice for my daughter.' The Times, 7/13/2013.

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