Topic: A Drummer and a Dancer

[Jennifer-]

A Drummer and a Dancer
by Shira

The pulse grows more insistent
As the song draws near its end.
The melody is ending,
And the rhythm takes command.

The drummer shares his passion
And I answer back in kind.
Together, we are partners
And in music, just one mind.

A drummer and a dancer:
Each alone is not complete.
We make a perfect duo
To explore the music's beat.

We tap the great unconscious
For the rhythms that it holds.
We give them form and share them
As our dialogue unfolds.

The energy is peaking:
It's the climax of the show.
I lose myself in rhythm
And I let the power flow.

The final drum roll ripples
And the spell at last is done.
The drummer and the dancer
And the audience are one.

© 2002 by Julie Anne Elliot, All Rights Reserved

[Jennifer-]

The Awakening
by Shira

Up from the floor!
Up on my feet!
The music grows louder
And picks up the beat!

The stillness is over,
I pick up the pace.
I barely remember
That still, quiet place.

The underworld loosens
Its grip on my dance.
I put it behind me
With barely a glance.

I feel the pulse quicken!
The power, it grows!
My spirit awakens
And energy flows!

I quick-step and shimmy,
I spin and I spin,
My movements expressing
The life-force within.

The beat grows more urgent!
There's more yet to come!
My essence responds to
The call of the drum!

© 2002 by Julie Anne Elliot, All Rights Reserved

[Jennifer-]

"Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music."

  -- Angela Monet

[Jennifer-]

Dancing, besides giving physical pleasure, can have psychological effects.  Feelings and ideas can be expressed and communicated; sharing rhythms and movements can make a group feel unified.  In some cultures, shamans dance in trance in order to heal others.  The modern field of dance therapy developed as a means to help people express themselves and relate to others.  In some societies, dancing often leads to trance or other xaltered states of consciousness.  These altered states of consciousnenss may be sought as a means to emotional release, or can be interpreted as signaling possession by spirits.  A trance state may enable people to perform remarkable feats of strength, endurance, or to better sennse their universal spirit.

Unknown~

[Jennifer-]

Sacred Dance and the Mystery of Presence
presence in the body--
--the emergence of sensation,
appreciation of life itself,
awareness of form and weight
and place in space
presence in the feelings--
---the emergence of a longing for Being,
conscience, compassion,
relation to rather than isolation from others;
and all of Great Nature
presence in the mind--
--the emergence of the nature of awareness,
seeing, insight, awareness of self,
awareness of pattern
and therefore meaning
Self-remembering and the deep mystery of Being

[Jennifer-]

An Excerpt From "The Wanderer" by Khalil Gibran

Once there came to the court of the Prince of Birkasha, a dancer and her musicians. And she was admitted to the court. And she danced to the music of the flute, the lute, and the zither.

She danced the dance of flames and fire, and the dance of swords and spears; she danced the dance of stars and the dance of space, and then she danced the dance of flowers in the wind.

When she had finished, she approached the prince and bowed her body before him. The prince bade her to come nearer, and said unto her, "Beautiful woman, daughter of grace and delight, whence comes
your art and how is it that you command all the elements in your rythyms and your rhymes?"

And the dancer came near and bowed her body again and said, "Gracious majesty, I know not the answer to your questionings. Only this I know:

The philosophers soul dwells within his head, the poets soul dwells within his heart, the singers soul dwells about his throat, but the soul of the dancer abides in all her body."

[Jennifer-]

Spirit lead me to share the drum with someone new to drums last night.  As the beat took hold, so did she and within the hour the stillness turned to movement

and the beat goes on.....

[daphne]

"Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music."

  -- Angela Monet

Lovely!
Reminds me of fav Rumi lines - actually I think they from different stanzas, but I like them together!

"For years, copying other people, I tried to know myself.
From within, I couldn't decide what to do.
Unable to see, I heard my name being called.
Then I walked outside. 

We rarely hear the inward music,
but we're all dancing to it nevertheless.
Out beyond all right-doing and wrong-doing
there is a field...  I'll meet you there " ...

[Jennifer-]

We rarely hear the inward music,
but we're all dancing to it nevertheless.
Out beyond all right-doing and wrong-doing
there is a field...  I'll meet you there " ...

 

Do you drum Daphne? Or sing.. chant.. dance?

The field is of soft clover where the sun greets the wind with honey kisses.

[nichi]

The field is of soft clover where the sun greets the wind with honey kisses.

 

[daphne]

Do you drum Daphne? Or sing.. chant.. dance?

The field is of soft clover where the sun greets the wind with honey kisses.

I have a medium djemba drum a friend made for me - i just play with it.. not a drummer.   

my singing is best heard in silence - heh,  not much of a chanter..
I like to dance with the silence, and also I have used dance/movement with/without sound/music... excellent healing it is, and soothes the spirit!   

[Jennifer-]

 

What about you V? I can hear your gentle voice singing!

[Jennifer-]

I have a medium djemba drum a friend made for me - i just play with it.. not a drummer.   

my singing is best heard in silence - heh,  not much of a chanter..
I like to dance with the silence, and also I have used dance/movement with/without sound/music... excellent healing it is, and soothes the spirit!   

 

Ill see you in the field 

[nichi]

What about you V? I can hear your gentle voice singing!

Yes ...singing for sure.

[Jennifer-]

Ive been on and off the phone this morning making arrangments for a drum circle here at my house tonight. All this talk must of rattled the dreamers!

The fire will burn before sunset and the dance begins!

You are more then welcome to join us