up is the new down
LJ Idol week 9 prompt: counterintuitive.
A couple times a week, I get to defy gravity. I've been dancing for over twenty years, but never in midair until I found circus. Unlike in ballet, with the grand jetés that seem weightless for a handful of heartbeats, in circus what goes up must not necessarily come down. When I'm flying, the world stops. Time slows. The only things that matter are my feet, the strength of my grip, the sound of my breath, and the silks. The silks are an extension of me. I become a flying being when I'm up there and I forget that my feet are supposed to be firmly on the ground.
[Image: a white woman with a buzz cut - me! - in tight-fitting black clothes wrapped in two lengths of red fabric, suspended above the ground in a lunge position]
In most tricks, you need to know where up is in relation to you. But is up towards your feet, towards your head, or towards your hand? Since these body parts are often all pointing in different directions, this is a pretty important question. It's easier to think of things in relation to the floor or ceiling. When you're dancing eight feet above the ground, your awareness shifts. Sometimes the motions you have to make to complete a trick seem counterintuitive, until you do them. Then you get it. Your muscles understand. You learn to re-adjust parameters of possibility.
♥ pacing while praying ♥ you are beautiful ♥ digging for buried crap ♥ we should all be narcissists ♥ ˌɪnkənˈsiːvəbl̩ ♥ juicy memories ♥ relax. breathe. bupkis. ♥ a gypsy heart ♥ a month of rain ♥
A couple times a week, I get to defy gravity. I've been dancing for over twenty years, but never in midair until I found circus. Unlike in ballet, with the grand jetés that seem weightless for a handful of heartbeats, in circus what goes up must not necessarily come down. When I'm flying, the world stops. Time slows. The only things that matter are my feet, the strength of my grip, the sound of my breath, and the silks. The silks are an extension of me. I become a flying being when I'm up there and I forget that my feet are supposed to be firmly on the ground.
[Image: a white woman with a buzz cut - me! - in tight-fitting black clothes wrapped in two lengths of red fabric, suspended above the ground in a lunge position]
In most tricks, you need to know where up is in relation to you. But is up towards your feet, towards your head, or towards your hand? Since these body parts are often all pointing in different directions, this is a pretty important question. It's easier to think of things in relation to the floor or ceiling. When you're dancing eight feet above the ground, your awareness shifts. Sometimes the motions you have to make to complete a trick seem counterintuitive, until you do them. Then you get it. Your muscles understand. You learn to re-adjust parameters of possibility.
♥ pacing while praying ♥ you are beautiful ♥ digging for buried crap ♥ we should all be narcissists ♥ ˌɪnkənˈsiːvəbl̩ ♥ juicy memories ♥ relax. breathe. bupkis. ♥ a gypsy heart ♥ a month of rain ♥