October 8 , 2001
Wing It! Performers "Earth Wisdom, Body Wisdom"Well, we had a GREAT forum on Monday. You really had to be there as this was a forum that involved dance and music. So, Ill try to tell you a bit about WingIt! and provide you with an idea of what the forum was like. I have more information about WingIt! in the TREES office, so please email me at trees@gtu.edu if you would like to have some more information. Or, go to their web site at: www.bodywisdom.org.
WingIt! is a part of Interplay which was founded by Cynthia Winton-Henry and Phil Porter about 20 years ago. It is now an international organization. I'll simply quote a bit from one of the "InterPlay" brochures.
"Interplay is a philosophy and technique rooted in community and creativity. Through a series of simple, incremental steps we learn to have the wisdom of our bodies."
InterPlay is about helping others to develop the capacity to create fully and clearly in each moment; it is dedicated to helping us become better "co-creators" in each moment. It is also about breaking down the fallacy of "body-spirit" / "brain-mind" dualisms.
There were 7 performs at the event, including 6 dancers and a pianist. Each dancer added to the overall presentation. Each member presented their own interpretation (through song and dance) of the moment in which they became aware that their body was connected to other people, other life-forms, and the earth.
While each member had his / her own special part to add to the overall "presentation," there was a sense of unity about the whole thing. The best interpretation that I can come up with is that each of the members added their own story to what became a larger story. They demonstrated well the way in which unity can embrace diversity.
They represented to me a mini-ecosystem. Each of them added to the whole, but each knew his/her own limitseach knew the boundary between contributing to the overall community of dancers, and becoming a "one person show."
This performance was so valuable, because it represented a type of liturgy that helps us to see our own "inter-relatedness" with other life-forms and the earth. While many of our forums work on our minds so that our actions will change, this one started with our body-earth connection, which provides a platform for intellectual analysis of earth-body relations, and which can lead toward changing our actions.
Thanks to all of you who attended. I am truly sorry for those of you who could not attend and only have my interpretation to read -- it doesn't do it justice AT ALL.
Hope to see you soon.
Whitney A. Bauman
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