What do you think of when you hear "dance company?"

Asian people in spandex unitards?



Tosh.0?



Despite what you may think, not every dance company will make you feel like you just dropped 5 hits of acid.

That being said....

The world has become an enormous battle royale to grab your attention. Companies spend millions researching market trends and social patterns, artists use pyrotechnics and scantily clad dancers, TV shows use sex, drugs and scandal. It's all smoke and mirrors and endless gimmicks to convince you that you need what they have, but every once in a while there comes along something that is presented as is, because it needs no market research or polish or ribbons or fireworks for people to desire it. This is exactly what the New York based "Movement Workshop Group" does.



Combining a multi-cultural mix of some of the state's most outstanding talent with extraordinarily poetic choreography, the Movement Workshop Group has created "Racine D'or" a tale of community and spiritualism. Founded by Leslie Guyton and choreographed by Stephanie Jingle, this story is an observation of the push and pull of the spirit world on a group of young friends who find themselves becoming the subject of the devils interest. Beginning innocently and quickly burrowing down into the darkest parts of the human condition, this show is a violent blur of the effects of following the little devil on your shoulder that says "it's ok, just do it, it's not going to hurt anyone".

Movement Workshop Group is creative and original without resorting to weirdness to catch your attention. The story is finely presented with an elegant counterpoint of dance movements carried by authentic Zydeco music played by Grammy nominated Cedric Watson and engrossing narratives told by Colin Summers.

No, these dancers don't live off of unicorn farts and chocolate coins. These men and women work themselves to the bone to dance for a living, some having 13+ hour days, 6-7 days a week, and no they don't get paid for rehearsal time. Their project needs $12,000 in order to actually work and every dollar they receive from generous people who are interested in helping this artistic vision. They are currently accepting donations even anyone who wants to help pass the word on to friends and are looking forward to future audience members when this show begins its national tour. Please at the very least, take a look and get a little glimpse of this fantastic artistic undertaking, pass it on to a friend or dance enthusiast or even donate a couple bucks and help this project fully bloom.

Movement Workshop Group

Be like Water......?

This blog is part of a little paper Im writing. It's not particularly aimed toward music, but I thought it would be an interesting read for some of you. It's a little phenomenon I've noticed over the years, I tried to take it out of the abstract and throw in some simple analogies so it doesn't sound like the rantings of a sleep-deprived Scientologist. I hope you enjoy. Give me your two cents or even ten cents if you got it.

Staying in the same exact place physically, emotionally or mentally, or an extended period of time will hault all of your “momentum” through time and thus increases your entropy, or chaos. Think of yourself like water: if you move you stay fresh, like a clean fast flowing river, if you don’t move you become stale, stagnant and unhealthy, like a dirty black swamp. Studies are showing (medical journals, websites, private studies, etc.) increasing evidence that this “stagnation” actually is detrimental to your overall health, which would seem to be the universe’s way of letting us know not do it. Sitting for hours on end in the same spot (physical stagnation) increases risk of death according to the New American Cancer Society. Dwelling on thoughts or past events (emotional stagnation) can lead to depression, anxiety, according to a researcher at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Simply not thinking or challenging the mind (mental stagnation) can lead to Alzheimer’s, Attention Deficit Disorder and overall lack of cognition and/or concentration. The observable detriments of not moving should be obvious indicators that human beings are not made to move or behave in such a way.

In his 1962 handwritten essay, one of my personal favorite people of history, Bruce Lee, states “Water is so fine that it is impossible to grasp a handful of it; strike it, yet it does not suffer hurt; stab it, and it is not wounded; sever it, yet it is not divided. It has no shape of its own but moulds itself to the receptacle that contains it. When heated to the state of steam it is invisible but has enough power to split the earth itself. When frozen it crystallizes into a mighty rock. First it is turbulent like Niagara Falls, and then calm like a still pond, fearful like a torrent, and refreshing like a spring on a hot summer's day."

Bruce Lee's whole spiel on the system of martial arts he developed, Jeet Kun Do, was to be like water. Once you could truly understand what that meant, you would never loose a fight. Once mastered, one would have an awareness of everything going on around and could react in a way that would diffuse incoming energy to nothing. It seems like water is an even better role model than Dr. Phil. Whoop. Also, water doesn't cheat on its wife.

The theme of this story would be: move. All the time. In every way. When you stop moving, the universe begins to make you get fat, dumb and stressed. Think of every moment you are not improving something, you are slowly becoming an emotionally vulnerable, quadriplegic Pillsbury Doughboy. The battle against entropy is a never ending one. So go for a run (or a walk). Read a book. Try to experience new sights, sounds and sensations. Go somewhere you've never been. Try new flavors, hear new sounds, try new hobbies and for the terribly lazy even new TV channels will get your mental cogs turning a little bit (like a TLC documentary on the origins of our solar system instead of a rerun of "Real Housewives of Orange County") Even a new beer or wine you've never had will stimulate your brain and help you from becoming a stale soul. Change up the pace you've established in your life. You'll stay fresh and clear headed and hopefully people will stop telling you you smell like a swamp.