What Happens When We Move…Dance… by Pamela McIntyre

Dancing invites an awakening.  As a teacher, sometimes in the middle of dancing, I will look around at my students, and they are so blissful- smiling, beaming, sometimes crying at the sheer joy of coming home to themselves through movement.   When we dance, we engage the whole body- our feet are firmly planted, the core is strong, the heart is open; the  palms of our hands connect to Earth, then our arms float upward to spirit, creating a flow through the whole body.  As we move energy through our bodies in this way, we open the chakras and create a flow, a dynamic ease.  We step into earth and spirit and experience the body as  the vessel in between.    Before we had language, dance was the first form of worship.  So no matter what form of dance we are doing, somewhere embedded in the experience is a joyous sensation of celebration, ritual, and spiritual connection.  Emphasis is on structure and body mechanics but also on body awareness and internal sensation.  It’s not a

bout how good you look, it’s about how you feel in your body as you move.  My experience from teaching is that on the first day often students are in their sweat pants, big tee shirts, all covered up.  After three or four  classes, they show up in something more form fitting or flowy- not because they want to show off  or see themselves in the mirror (there are no mirrors in most of the places I teach) – they are excited about their experience in their bodies and want to wear something that expresses how beautiful they feel as they move.  In Nia we use a phrase- dancing through life- because when you move your body, you move your life.   The creative flow that you ignite through the