Santa’s Body/Mind Exercises

MoveScape’s exclusive interview with Santa continues….

MoveScape (MS): Despite your age and (if you don’t mind my saying) your weight, you exude health and vitality. How do you do it, Santa?

Santa Claus (SC): I’m a closet Labanophile.

MS: A what????

SC: I study the work of Rudolf Laban and practice Choreutics and Eukinetics daily. Laban designed these sequences of movement to support a healthy range of motion and expression. For example, I use the Dimensional and Diagonal Scales to warm up, and then I cycle through the door, table, and wheel planes. I practice being off-vertical to enhance my balance, too.

MS: Tell me more.

SC: As one gets older, it’s easy to fall into a comfortable pattern and limited range of motion. But I have to stay fully three-dimensional to fly a sleigh, sling a bag of gifts, and do all that level change in narrow chimneys. Because Laban’s Choreutic sequences are abstract geometrical patterns, they challenge me mentally. And figuring out how to embody them challenges me physically.

MS: What about Eukinetics?

SC: That’s another story…..