dance~~part two!

"Wherever a dancer stands ready, that spot is holy ground." ~~Martha Graham












wow. experiencing a great rush of flow with writing the past few days!! bear with me, if you wanna.
so, yeah: "part two" of that most drama-filled story in my life most recently.

three excruuuutiating days laters, my phone rings, and it's Mz. Thang~~loud and clear. she's in the car, driving. how's it going, yeah fine.... after much discussion, we ladies would like to invite you to be an apprentice with UG. this would mean an intensive training process that would familiarize you with UG's particular style. how does this sound to you? pacing around while she spoke, i remember i nodded my head and was looking out the window of the front door as i said, "it sounds awesome! sounds great!" wiggling my butt in a little victory dance. details details, the official starting date for training would be february. her personnel person would be calling me with logistical info, how to make it worth my while to go into the city from sac, contract signing, etc. whatever~~i was doing my victory dance! closed my phone. i climbed onto sealion's back and he carried me around the house for my victory lap. he walked me into the kitchen and introduced me to bri: meet the newest UG apprentice!!
doo-doo doooo!! i trumpeted, as the phone conversation played and replayed in my head.
this is UG~~the dance company-ultimate in accomplishment to me for years. UG~~with Mz. Thang, director. i would get to dance on a stage with Mz. Thang as my director. how many times had i poured over their website, examining the photos, inspecting what the ladies wore, their dance position, their facial expressions, imagining what kind of relationships they had, and how glamourous they must certainly feel.
i uncorked the bottle of Gypsy Dancer pinot noir that sealion had so appropriately chosen for my birthday. now: we toast.
that night after sealion went to work i sat with this knowledge, intensely aware of how much dance has impacted my life. i thought about the women i have come to love so solidly through the dance. i extended my heart to those ladies from lexington, kentucky, filled with love and gratitude. in my mirror, i danced slowly, meditatively, and practiced the mudras of sri tarasita's dancer's prayer over and over. "i come here with love. it opens my heart and blesses the space around me as i gather knowledge, joy, and strength. i respect myself, my teachers, my ancestors and i lift this dance up to the heavens. its magic fuels the lifeforce around me and i give it back to the earth~~in music, sound, and movement. my fellow dancers and i come together focused in the temple of our minds."


photo: many-faced, many-hipped goddess of dance.
(sri tt, mel, and queenie queen at nema's, at thanksgiving-time)