dancethroughberlin - The End?

I cannot yet believe that the Watch Me Dance experience has come to an end. It was a full month of intense feelings and surprises. Every night I knew I was going to go somewhere, every night I was walking into the unknown, every night I discovered a different feeling in another space. It is like when I go to bed at night. I know I have to sleep but I still don’t know what dreams will visit me in the evening to inspire me. 

When I tell my family and friends about what is Watch Me Dance, many ask me the question: “30 days? Non-Stop? Are you tired?”. No, not really, I answer, as surprising as it might seem to them. Honestly, I was feeling with my energy low in the middle of the month, I guess it is normal. First, everything is new so all the adrenaline keeps you up, then it starts to be part of your daily life and you start to feel it more in the body and mind. But then (this was the part that I was looking for since the begging) you overcome this soreness and it is just part of your routine. I feel that now I cannot have a night without watching a performance. From picking up the ticket until exiting the venue, all the experience is fascinating, I meet and talk with new people, sometimes I grab a drink and explore the venue, I enjoy to seat in different places and understand how the artist built the space and its relation with us. I enter a new atmosphere and flow every night. Amazing, no? I can compare this to when you first start to incorporate training into your routine, or any other habit, first you are excited about it, you go all in, then you feel soared and tired but then it is just part of you, you don’t question it and you actually need it for your day to make more sense. 

The most exciting and rewarding thing that has happened to me with this experience must be all the inspiration and love for dance that has grown, even more, on me. Maybe is more common than I thought but the last performances that I have been watching have inspired me so much. It has grown inside of me a restless feeling of confidence and motivation towards dance and the dance scene. After this understanding, I really want to add space in my time to be involved in the scene, watch more performances, attend to more workshops and talks. 

I recognized in all the performance that the fact that I am observing another body creates, in my perception, a pure reflection of myself. I feel exposed and it is shown to me my own dreams, hopes,  vulnerabilities,  strengths, fears, and obstacles. The connection between body, mind, space and the evolving energy creates a parallel atmosphere to the “outside world” - where we act so many times in autopilot. Therefore, it is a pure and relaxing sensation to experience the opposite.  By watching dance we are pulled to a moment of mindfulness, it is the present, not the past or the future anymore. I believe it to be a sort of healing experience.

So now I question, what's next? How is it going to be for me without watch me dance? Will I lose this enthusiasm? Will my stimulus still make me go for it? (stay tuned for the next blog posts!)

At the begging of the campaign, I was asked to reflect on the question, how much art can be too much to take in/to watch? My answer is nothing is too much, you can be and see art everywhere, it is how you perceive life, how we live in the moment and connect with the people and the spaces around us. Actually, I do believe if we looked at life as we look at art we would be so mindful with the focus on the here and now, just like when we are in that hour in the theatre watching dance. We would be, for sure,  happier. Now, I am happy and full of joy, I am more curious and motivated, I feel inspired and confident. The pieces empowered me, show me hope, created awareness for topics that I might have been not so aware of before, gave me courage to go for it, to make all the changes that I believe in, to be together with myself as well as with others, to have a look about who is around and feel more appreciation for what I have, they gave me more awareness in towards generosity, abundance, love, and friendship. I am grateful. I will keep practicing Watch Me Dance every day and aspect of my life.

Thank you to all the watch me dance team, the Tanzbüro Berlin and all the venues that so welcoming open their doors for me as well as to the dancers and performers for sharing their art, energy, and dreams. At last, thank you to Laura, this journey companion, and friend with whom I was lucky to share the experience with. 

This was my overall feeling about the 30 days but I would like to shortly refer a couple of pieces that stayed with me during this week.

To “Patterns” by Magda Korsinsky, ladies lets raise a glass! This piece was so empowering and so important. I hope more of this would be created and put out there, more from woman, more expression of femininity. The performance for me was the portrait of the power of togetherness, joy, rage, strong and fearless union.

At HZT Berlin you can watch the SODA Works 2019 until the 19th of December, I really recommend to pop by. The piece "Reindeer Age #00” from Bernardo Chatillon brought the most nourish, nostalgic and joyful childhood memories,  the artist started by telling a story that happened with him and his grandfather. I could see myself in this image. His story was my story, maybe because we come from the same country. Which I didn’t know, so it was also a beautiful surprise to hear my mother language on stage. I was also delight and cradle by the cleanness and subtleness of the message, the timing, the dreamy atmosphere as well as the nonobvious portraying of ideas that let your mind explore and make the piece your own.

The last day was pretty emotional for me I have to admit. I think it was the mix between the end of Watch Me Dance and the piece from Constanza Macras | Dorkypark, "Der Palast” at Volksbühne. The performance was brilliant! Amazing! It was full, rich, funny, intriguing and touching. I could relate so much to it. Actually, I think any person living in Berlin, at the moment, can relate to it. I laugh like I couldn’t stop and I cried deeply from my lungs. It was the most human creative experience I ever got to witness. It is true revolution through art! I wish everyone could see it. I wish to see it again.  It does not need to be perfect to be right, it only needs to come from an honest place in our hearts. 

After the performance I wrote a personal note:

The energy that we throw to the world with our deep emotions, the expression of our deep fears, desires, and dreams must be released by the meaning of art and culture in order to reach all. Let it all out, let all your rage, happiness, joy, anxiety, doubts, wishes, certainties out, share them with the world and make it a better place. 

Thank you so much for reading guys. Please be free to comment, I would love to hear from you. I wish you a beautiful time and See you for the next post! Xau!

*Art by Ruby Bouwmeester inspired by @chirstiandirksfoto photo of @shewhodances.