As the Zen master Shunryu Suzuki noted, “The mind and the body are not one and not two.” This is undoubtedly one of the most vexing paradoxes of human life. But perhaps it would not be so vexing if we simply paid more attention to movement harmony, to those moments when mind and body meld seamlessly in the medium of physical action.
Movement harmony matters because it is so ubiquitous that we take it completely for granted. Normal voluntary movement is miraculous because most of the time we manage to accomplish what we intend without excessive conscious effort, either physical or mental.
It should be obvious by now that I am deeply interested in Laban’s notions of movement harmony and the patterns he created as a means of studying body, effort, space, and shape and their harmonic interrelationships. I like doing these patterns, I like teaching them, I like thinking about how they model what is quintessential in human movement.
The upcoming workshop, Movement Harmony ALIVE, provides an opportunity for participants to experience the unifying experience of mindful moving.
But that’s not all. We will also approach movement harmony by exploring its opposite – the grotesque. Artists and writers through the ages have found the grotesque to be a rich source of creative ideas. Find out more in the next blogs.