"Do you know what the word ecstasy means? It comes from the Greek and means 'to stand outside yourself.' Spending the whole day outside yourself is asking too much of body and soul."
That's what performing feels like. You're outside yourself. Like all orgasmic moments - it takes as much as it gives, sometimes more.
"That although ecstasy is the ability to stand outside yourself, dance is a way of rising up into space, of discovering new dimensions while remaining in touch with your body. When you dance, the spiritual world and the real world manage to coexist quite happily."
I agree - when I'm dancing socially, or in a club, or training in the a.m.'s like I do, dance is this way. However, performing is pure ecstasy and far more taxing. Though, I think the former is why all people should dance more in general. I feel the same about long walks in the woods, on the beach or anywhere that requires people to touch nature one one one - whether it be mother nature outside us or mother nature within.
For me, I'm off to take a daycation at my new fave B & B. I plan on staring at the water and enjoying the company of a.k. I'm so happy to have the time and capacity to take even a day...
Two more quotes:
"After all, what is happiness?
Love, they tell me. But love doesn't bring and never has brought happiness. On the contrary, it's a constant state of anxiety, a battlefield; it's sleepless nights, asking ourselves all the time if we're doing the right thing. Real love is composed of ecstasy and agony."
I'm pondering that one....
"Let go of the idea that the path will lead you to your goal. The truth is that with each step we take, we arrive."
Exactly. People like me kind of cling to this one! It brings peace.
Walking in a field of buttercups to watch my students' site-specific performance yesterday.
