Sunday Dance: Sonrisas w Andy

::::::::: 10am CONTACT CLASS ::::::::: Meet other dancers and develop skills in free-form dance. Connect with space, self, and others in safe and fun ways. (included with dance) This week: A new dance role-playing game by Andy Karavitis, Heroes of Dance. :::::::::: 10:30am-1pm ECSTATIC DANCE:::::::: Sonrisas “It is always darkest just before the day dawneth.” - Thomas Fuller, 1650 Ecstatic dance has a way of opening the doors of perception to show me a perspective that usually seems to invoke a splendid vista upon the panorama of existence. I do not believe this to be mere naval-gazing through rose-colored glasses. Rather, I believe ecstatic dancers simply experience a heightened awareness of everyday stimuli. Similar to the principle of sympathetic arousal, the dance increases positive perceptions of all participants, including our perception of our selves. There are known mechanisms which generate this effect, but that knowledge does not detract one iota from the sensational results we may achieve, including but not limited to: moments of bliss, emotional breakthroughs, feeling of satisfaction, or just simple euphoria. Humankind is very much a dancing species, by our heritage and our history. Dancing was prevalent as language in a survey of societies. That is to say, it is culturally universal. As once research study recently showed, basic dancing simply feels good, aside from all other factors. In scientific terms, dancing, "increases positive affect." Which means it just makes you want to smile. And if I may dive into the stream of linguistic and poetic consciousness, I would also like to point out that in Spanish, "sonrisa" is a word that has two meanings: a sunrise, or a smile. So the dance today invokes this sense of the sunrise as a smile upon the world. Just as the rotation of the earth creates the appearance of a motile star, ascending from the horizon to its zenith, let's witness as our own rotation and movement on the dance floor lights up our faces with smiles. - Andy More Info: http://ecstaticdanceevolution.com/dance-calendar/