Jammed Up

At last, an excellent write-up on our Dance Jam family.

We Dance Jammers are an eclectic community of sweet people. I stumbled upon the Dance Jam over 5 years ago right after my divorce, and during a very depressed period in my life. It may be too simplistic to suggest that dancing of any kind can help save a person’s sanity, but in my case the discovery of the Dance Jam, and the extended family I developed from that serendipity, was integral in salvaging my life. I know other Dance Jammers who have expressed the same sort of saving grace connection.

And guess what? Our Pagrovian Dance Jam has become internationally known. The last two times I was in England visiting my circle of Brit friends, I attended the Five Rhythms gathering in Glastonbury, and both times I met people who knew about our Dance Jam, including a French couple who had imbibed in the Dance Jam at Chautaqua Hall while on one of their global treks.

There’s just nothing quite like dancing barefoot on that soft wooden floor of the Chautaqua Hall to the rhythms and beats of music from all over the world, and to dance your own dance free from that ring-in-the-nose constraint of structured dances. I urge anyone who wants to dance in a liberated fashion like some of us did back in the ’60s to come and join our community of kindred spirits.

Body and Soul

When interviewed for the article on the Freestyle Dance Jam, I was asked if my dance was “sexual.”  My reply was “No, it is not sexual.” What followed was a 10-minute discussion about my thoughts and process regarding dance. I was hurt when I read the article as I felt both the title and my quote were take out of context and did not convey the essence of the Dance Jam nor the interview. The essence is that Dance Jam is a space where I feel comfortable to connect with others, myself, and Spirit. For me, the dance connection has a large range of experiences, from introspective as in meditation to playful like a child. Through dance I gain a greater awareness of all of my feelings and senses and in that way it is “sensual”—sweet, innocent and precious.

The Dance Jam is about being free from mind chatter and present to what is, to the beauty of being alive and connecting with others through movement. Culturally, dance is a way for communities to come together and share in the celebration of life, the joys and the sorrows. Dance Jam has been a safe and supportive environment  to engage in a community where authenticity and individuality is welcomed. I hope others will come and experience what the Dance Jam has to offer.

FARM AID

The tanking of Roger and Basil Mills leads me to offer some advice to local farmers about their “fields of dreams.”

– Grow veggies, not subdivisions, and ignore the siren songs of developers who are continually on   the prowl for flat buildable land to pave over.  

– Stick to doing what you do best: plowing furrows, planting seeds, nurturing your crops, and shipping them to people who must buy your products to keep from starving to death.