“To dance is to be out of
yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on
earth and it is yours for the taking.” -- Agnes De Mille
The brain weighs a mere 3 pounds, yet it is the most
complicated organ in the human body. It
contains millions of neurons that fire daily and requires 25% of the blood that
is pumped through the body with every heartbeat. Each person’s brain holds enormous potential,
and we, as dancers, have the opportunity and blessing to frequently tap into
the potential of the right brain hemisphere, which is often neglected in
today’s left brain analytical world.
Dancers use the right brain hemisphere constantly, and it
is when the kinesthetic sense and wealth of emotions from the right brain
dominates that dance becomes magic.
According to the Llewellyn Encyclopedia Online, magic
“draws its power from a deep well in the center of the human soul.” It is the deep well of emotions in the human
soul that is at play when a dance seems to take on a life of its own or when
dance transcends boundaries that would otherwise be seen as barriers.
The kinesthetic sense and non-verbal communication skills
are the magic that is at work when a special needs child is reached through
dance. Each December, New England Ballet
in Orange, Connecticut, performs an Adaptive Nutcracker that allows children
with special needs to dance alongside typical peers and overcome their disabilities. A Waltz of the Flowers, performed in
wheelchairs, transports the audience to a utopia where anything is possible.
The emotional passionate power was at work when Noble
Barker, Founder and Artistic Director of New Haven Ballet in Connecticut developed
pancreatic cancer. Mr. Barker’s vision was
to use the power of dance to change the life of every person in the community,
and his illness left the Connecticut dance community without words. Instead, the groups of dancers that he had
touched brought a dream to life, ignored and overcame obstacles, communicated
love when words seemed empty, produced a benefit concert to raise money for
medical bills and gave Noble Barker a reason to keep fighting.
That same power was the motivating force behind a group
of dancers that united when a fellow dancer’s life ended far too soon. In January 2012, dancer Eva Block, was killed
in a tragic fire in Poughkeepsie, New York at the age of 21. Eva’s friends and teachers from across the
United States came together in a performance that established a dance scholarship
in her memory, wordlessly expressed their grief and gave her mother a brief
image of hope.
Through dance we access our right brain and use it to
stretch ourselves, reach beyond our comfort zones, surmount obstacles, think
less and do more, reach out to others, express what words cannot, become
powerful and make a difference. Dance
matters because it enables us to use our right brain to accomplish what the
left brain may deem impossible.
