gifted

Sometimes you are gifted with a movement - it sees you, strikes you, and stays with you, for no apparent effort on your part. This week in my improvisation class wonderful Polly Motley who lives in nearby Stowe came to teach. She gave the class a contemplative exercise, in which one person at a time saw or imagined themselves in a gesture or a shape on the stage, which they got up and embodied. Juliana Dye, one of our students, created a long diagonal line with her long arms to the floor - a movement she makes in Paul Besaw's very moving new work "To the Earth" in our student concert this week - and I was struck by that diagonal line, embodied by her - how simple, levered low to the ground, regal and humble and clear. I tried it on in this rite.