International Dance Day is the perfect time to reflect on everything that is beautiful about a life enriched by meaningful movement.
The International Dance Day 2023 message , authored by Chinese dancer and choreographer Yang Liping, considers how dance serves as a way for us to communicate with the world.
Yang Liping points out that dance has always been, and will always be, the primitive language human beings use to connect with nature, each other and our inner selves. She discusses the events that prompt people to dance, from thanking the sun for bringing warmth and light to our lives to sharing in collective joy and sorrow. Ultimately, she invites ‘all the dancers in the world who love dance and would like to express their emotions through dance’, to unite in using dance to convey ‘love and praise for heaven and earth’. To remember that ‘life never ends, and dance never stops’.
Berenice's new collection, which is inspired by the top and pro ambassadors, is called the 'Tutu-Beautiful ' collection. Without a doubt, there are tutu many ways that everyone in the Ballet Papier community is touched by dance and recognises the beauty of movement.
Think about how often you stretch, turn, hop, skip and jump as part of your everyday existence. How much fun you have when you dance to your favourite songs – alone, with family and friends, at parties, at weddings. How much you appreciate the body you inhabit and the air you breathe when you hit pause on a busy life, play some music and flow through a sequence of movements. How much you enjoy being in a dance class, performing, watching performances, choreographing, teaching.
There is beauty in the final product: the perfected dance that is shared and applauded. But there is just as much beauty in the process: the experience of dancing. In trying, stumbling, persevering. In collaborating with others and flying solo. In learning to find your balance mid-movement and becoming attuned to the difference tiny adjustments can make to how gestures and steps look and feel. In letting go of worries and realising that belonging is dancing like no one is watching.
Perhaps the most beautiful thing about dancing is that it gives us the gift of being present and being ourselves. Dance only comes to be because we commit to being in the moment and we make the movement happen. What’s more, your dance is different to my dance, even if we are dancing the same steps.
So, dance connects us to the world, commands our full attention and relies on you being you and me being me. That really is tutu beautiful!
This coming Monday, May 1, the challenges will be launched for the new Ballet Papier Ambassadors search. One of these challenges will ask you to share what makes dance tutu beautiful for you. Make sure you are following @balletpapierclub on Instagram so you will see the details as soon as they are published.
Happy International Dance Day!
Georgina Butler
Visit https://georginabutler.co.uk/ and follow Georgina on Twitter @GeorginaLButler and Instagram @glbdancewriter
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