Saturday morning, in a slightly overeager attempt to clean the house, I found myself picking up the stove coils I had just used to make myself tea. The minor blistering was almost immediate and I found myself sighing as I ran cold water over my hot, hot, hot finger and thumb. The burn served multiple purposes - a reminder to slow down and think through my movements a little more as well as inspiration for family dance, which I had avoided planning by cleaning instead.
I nursed my hand with an icy beverage as I unlocked the dance studio Saturday morning, always wondering who will show up for these random gatherings of young folks and their elders every few weeks. The music was playing when I found myself sweetly surprised by a mother/daughter set, a mom with her just walking son and prancing daughter, and a friend with a student from her school. We gathered and met each other, waking up our bodies with gentle tapping and hand rubbing (my blisters just barely survived), exploring shapes at different levels, twisting and stretching. It felt good to move in the company of these folks. I sometimes find my insecurities early in the morning on these family dance days, wondering if I'll find something comforting to offer these folks during the beginning on their weekend together, and yet they always come eager to fill the studio with their own dancing joy.
My burn showed up later in class. I told the young ones my story and they quickly responded with stories of their own burns and we moved like we were hot, hot, hot before feeling the opposite coldness in our fingertips, our tummys, and our legs. And then we found our own opposites, or opposites of sorts - in and out, fast and slow, ocean and sky - and brought them to life, moving with our loved ones and teaching our new friends. I wanted to thank these creatures of movement for welcoming me to class, for inviting me into their moving worlds, and for letting me in some way feel like part of the families they were trying to build and love in their attendance of family dance.
So I do. Thank you.
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