I get up, or more often come home from work and dance every day. As I write this we have completed 971 days, beginning the adventure on 1st January 2015. If you watch the videos you'll see my style has changed little yet the energy to move is there every day. Before January 2015 I had learned some Ceilidh dances at school for various events, and enough to get me through a wedding or two. As a kid my parents would put on old school rock n roll and dance with me - I credit all my footwork to those moments. That was it. I've had no training, but I have listened to music all my life, and, much like singing, I've had many secretive wee moments to myself pretending I can dance. I won't go as far as to say who I've tried to emulate.
Days before the bells chimed in the start of 2015 Carol asked me how I felt about dancing every day for a year, recording the dance and putting each one on YouTube. I had nothing. I couldn't think of one reasonable excuse for not doing it. I tried. Nothing actually got as far as an utterance, much less a dialogue. I found myself agreeing and the rest is documented online.
Why do I do it?
Outside of acute enough illness or being away on business or retreat I have danced every day, even while Gemma was in ICU or straight after an 8 hour car drive to Maidenhead at 11 o'clock at night; it’s about engaging with the moment, the call, and being present in the dancing space. You can’t be there and not take part - some people do sit out of shot.
There's always 5 minutes in every day that we come together as a family or larger group of friends and share in the energy of a dance. Don't get me wrong, there have been days that it's been chaos seconds before the camera switches on, or has descended quickly there moments after the camera has stopped. We are there, together, and in that moment that’s what counts. On days I’ve danced alone it's been the commitment to continuity and keeping the ticker turning. I also dance to something a little more niche.
- Makes me smile and happier
I think there have been a handful of times that I’ve been in pain or ill during a dance and I’ve come away from it looking un-smiley, inside though I am so glad I danced and that always makes me feel better.
Some days dancing is a good opportunity to shake out stiffness, tension and physical (as well as emotional) resistance, loosen and enliven the muscles and nervous system, engage the pre-frontal cortex in a completely different activity. I very often feel more invigorated and refreshed. There are times my legs have been jelly from dancing and moving as hard as I can, the blood is pumping around my body and there's a surge of freshness throughout my body. It's great! Especially in the morning, an upbeat track and a few minutes of dance/movement moves the energy and the life around my body. A morning dance makes a difference to the energy I take into my day and ultimately it’s very refreshing. There's other days, more than I'd admit, when I watch my dance and think "Urgh! dad dancing!"
It was at the end of 2011 that I overcame my unwillingness to dance in a club or at an event without first having consumed alcohol. Carol and I went to a conscious club event and I danced for what felt like hours - sober - surrounded by sober, conscious dancing strangers - a good number with whom I since became friends. It was so much fun! Dancing everyday to a camera brought up the barrier to being seen, by almost anyone... open to whatever opinion they have. I used to care more about that than I do now. The quality of my dancing has improved very little, but the only way to dance everyday is to be there every day. I have still not fully appreciated the achievement of dancing for over 2 years to the camera, and for your viewing pleasure :)
I have danced to a lot of familiar tracks and a good number that I heard for the first time as I was dancing to them. If I ever thought I could only dance to certain music or artists… there are at least two Glee tracks.
I'm not sure that this list is exhausted but it covers the main bases. Something I recognised more keenly after 970 days is that this very essence is what I want to share with my tribe and wider community; the ease to move, flow, shimmy, sass, and really not hold back. The ease in my mind and body, that both are relaxed, neither demonstrating a sense of self-consciousness (the way that prevents good things from happening).
At the end of September we reach the 1000 day mark and we are in discussion about what happens next. We'll be 9 months through the year, do we finish 3 full years? Do we stop or are we the daily dancing clan for evermore. There is so much that I have learned from this project and I look forward to bringing these learnings to what I offer to everyone I meet and share with.
I call to you to bring your dance out, in whatever way you can. It doesn't have to be recorded and put onto YouTube, although that action does help to overcome some deeply embedded blocks (for me). It's fun, everyone can find a way into the spirit of joy and sharing that dance, and ultimately we aren't dancing for anyone other than our own Self. How beautiful we do look in our dance, tuned to the music, free to express the sound through our bodies, and free of judgement and doubt. A moment of real pleasure and connection.
❤ Dance like no one is watching ❤
