Category Archives: the dance

Aug10

1-2-3 LEAP!!!

Posted on by

Newick Photography:  from left, Tony, Sammy, Scott, Alexis

Pam and I attended a wedding on Martha’s Vineyard in mid-July.  It was a double wedding of Alexis Iamarinno- a former student of mine and the one that is airborne above – her fiance Scott and her brother Tony and his fiance Sammy.  They just sent me a link to some gorgeous photographs.

Their wedding was a true Vineyard event.  A resounding gathering of the island community who have seen Alexis and her brother grow from infancy to beautiful adulthood.  I am posting a few photos on Facebook because they so wonderfully capture the richness and spirit of the island community.

But back to the leap.  Next weekend, my daughter will leap.  She is marrying the father of her coming child.  Actually, we (her family and her friends) are all leaping.  Leaps of faith, leaps of joy, hopeful leaps, tentative leaps, wild leaps.

I am a dancer.  I remember when I first discovered that I could soar.  It was in a jazz class taught by my mentor and beloved teacher, Charles Moore.  Charles danced for joy and you could not be in his classes without being infected by the pure sensual, playful, ravenously gorgeous feeling for movement that he shared with us.  On that day we were leaping – sailing across the floor one after the other – and all of a sudden I was flying out of my mind – higher than I had ever flown – a leap of faith, a prayer in the air.

My intention for my daughter’s upcoming wedding is that I leap, that my heart fly open and wide with love, with hope, with joy.

 

SHARE & EMAIL
Aug6

helping horses, helping humans

Posted on by

I love working with horses and their humans.  Most of what goes wrong with horse and their humans is not in the saddle.  It happens on the ground.  it happens in the stall.  It happens on the way from one place to another.  A lot of it has nothing to do with the horse at all.  It has to do with things that are older and deeper that make their way into the relationship with the horse.  It is rarely intentional or malicious.  It often has to do with a lack of awareness, or regard, or attention or understanding.

Most often what I do starts with movement observation.  I watch how the person moves around the horse, how the horse responds to them, to its environment, to the various parts of tacking up, leading, riding.  I watch.  And then bit by bit, I start to decode the dance.  What is working?  What is confusing?  What is missing?

Much of what I do has to do with bringing both horse and human more fully into their bodies, and then more fully into connection with each other.  That makes for a better relationship.  And usually it makes for a better ride.  Happier horse, happier human.  I love that.

If you want help, you can contact me here.

Jul27

performance!!!

Posted on by

Amado and Summer rehearsing with dancers Deanna Pellecchia and Chandrika Carl-Jones

Saturday afternoon is the Annual Gala for Little Brook Farm in Old Chatham, NY.  Dancers Ingrid Schatz and Chandrika Carl-Jones will be dancing with Amado, the Mustang and his rider, Summer Brennan. That dance is part of a series of performance events that begin at 4 pm.

Amado has been lovingly trained by Summer over the past three months.  He has gone from a completely green, completely wild horse to being a calm, balanced horse with an extraordinary tolerance and trust for all things human.  Summer rides him bridleless and bareback for our performance.

More photos of rehearsals here.

You can get tickets for the Gala by calling 518-821-5506.  Hope to see you there!

Jul7

my daughter, the horse dancer

Posted on by

Amado, ridden by Summer Brennan with Chandrika Carl-Jones and DeAnna Pellecchia

Thirteen years ago I adopted my daughter from Nepal.  At the time, I was touring with my dance company of humans, a piece called Antigone’s Dream.  We had touring dates set up, and leaving my new daughter tore my heart.

The following year I stopped touring and began to dance with horses.  It kept me home, and let me keep making dance art.   RIDE was the second dance of her Mommy’s that she saw.

Today, for the first time, my beautiful, dancerly, deeply feeling daughter danced with a horse.  She has been around them since she came, but this was new.  Amado, the beautiful Mustang did his magic.  He allowed us in – the most equanimous equine I have ever worked with.  This is in large part to the brilliant work Summer Brennan, at Little Brook Farm in Old Chatham, has been doing with him for the past two months.  Before that, he was wild, one of thousands of captured mustangs living out their lives in cramped, filthy Bureau of Land Management holding pens after having been removed from the wild to make room for cattle.

Watching her with this extraordinary horse, I teared up.  Two young beings, connecting through movement, through touch – listening, sensing, feeling.  What could be better?  More photos on my Facebook page.