My title arose from an exploration of two approaches to dance movement. Approach one explored dance movement in a meditative state of presence, which I called Being. Approach two explored the intention ‘pretending to Be’ through dance movement. The terms Be, Being and pretending to Be in relation to approaches one and two I will using throughout my Review essay.
My Creative Project explores Cycles 1 and 2 of the five cycles of hermeneutic interpretation described by Rosemarie Anderson (2011). I will be primarily addressing my experience within Cycle 2. I have replaced Anderson’s concept of the ‘preliminary lens’ with a ‘preliminary meditative state of mind and body’. My aim is to discover what type of dance movement appears through me by only incorporating a preliminary meditative state of mind and body without any external literary influences and examples… My intention within the Creative Project is to examine my own personal experience, transformation, findings and reflections contained within the naivety and purity of Cycle 2. To encourage my ‘preliminary meditative state of mind and body’ I drew upon the techniques of western spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle and I will be supporting my reflections and analyses of the creative process with his works, ‘The Power of Now, A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment (2020)’ and ‘Practicing the Power of Now, A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment’ (2016).
The framework for my presentation was to explain my process and demonstrate pretending to be the heart through dance movement, followed by a demonstration of an invocation of being the heart and surrendering to the dance movement and sound which may manifest. I decided to demonstrate both approaches, so the witnesses could compare each approach through their own experience of observation.
Song wanted to come through, yet I was too out of breath to express this fully. Sounds with minimal hand and arm gestures appeared, as I started to balance on one leg. I started to click my fingers on my left hand while my voice sang a small melody sounding like, Na Ta Na Taa. The melody progressed in tempo with ascending intensity, as I repeatedly jumped on one foot with my other leg extended backwards traveling forwards (see figure B). This jumping motif progressed to being higher and faster in till I had to pause from overwhelm and physical limitation.
