What happens - in your dance & in your life - when your heart is closed?
Egyptian Dance has become a competition, an endless marathon, a game of divas, lobbies, and marketing-made stars. I´m not complaining, just stating. Knowing where we are helps us define where we want to go.
Within this trend, there´s no space for EMOTION, SOUL, PRESENCE, LIFE.
The Egyptian Dance scene has become an extension of the world we´re currently living in, one that´s obsessed with EFFICIENCY, PRODUCTIVITY, GOAL ACHIEVEMENT, MACHINE-LIKE SPEED & PERFECTIONISM, TIME MANAGEMENT and all sorts of masculine oriented features I´ve personally embraced.
The thing is if we stay there, in the Masculine Polarity, and reject the other side of the coin - the Feminine Polarity -, we become what we´re trained to become: machines, anxiety-depressed-overstressed robots who have lost the ability to enjoy life or remember what it means to BE HUMAN.
Ultimately, we transform ourselves into Human Doings, not Human Beings.
Egyptian Dance, older than the Pyramids, knows better. And it reminds us of the Essential.
Here are a few things it has taught me (and they´re all related to the heart):
1. There´s no authentic Egyptian Dance without Vulnerability. If I want to become a bonafide Oriental Dancer, I´ll have to become a bonafide vulnerable, open-hearted, courageous person.
2. If I keep my heart closed, I may protect myself from hurt, disappointment, and loss but I also keep myself from joy, love, passion, friendship, connection, the blessings that make life worth living.
3. If I allow past traumas and pain to armour me against the world, I´m allowing those traumas and pain to define me. And defining is limiting.
4. If I dance with a mask, instead of revealing my true self, I may feel safe and accepted but the only thing I´ll experience is a superficial and transitory sense of approval. I´ll keep coming back for more, trying to kill a hunger that can never be satisfied.
5. When my heart is closed, my ability to FEEL THE MUSIC and LIFE disappear - I remain on the surface, with a thick skin which separates me from reality. I do movements but I don´t dance; I go from task A to task B but I´m not alive.
6. If I close my heart, fearing someone will hurt/let me down/disempower/ me, I also close it for the people and circumstances that´ll love/support/elevate me.
7. The Heart is the 2nd of the 3 Gates of Egyptian Dance (as I´ve defined them in my first published book, "The Secrets of Egypt - Dance, Life & Beyond"): first, the ears; second, the heart; third, the movement.
If I´m not using that 2nd gate, I´ll not experience Tarab, transcendence, the bliss & blessings Egyptian Dance can offer us.
8. The heart, or 4th chakra (centre of energy) is the BRIDGE BETWEEN OUR PHYSICAL SELF AND OUR SPIRITUAL SELF. When that bridge is closed, our bodies - physical dimension - and our souls - spiritual dimension - are disconnected and, therefore, we cannot dance and live deeply and completely.
9. Furthermore, the HEART runs our life. When it stops, we die. When we close it, we die a little. Not totally but a little. And a little can be a lot.
Egyptian Dance is a great Teacher.
It knows, and it has taught me, there´s no Magic without risk and no risk without courage. If you want to have the DANCE & LIFE you deserve, I ask you: ARE YOU BRAVE ENOUGH TO OPEN YOUR CHEST TO THE WINDS? Can you handle potential pain, sadness, disappointment? What is more important, can you handle PLEASURE, JOY, and true LOVE?
Here´s another interesting thing Egyptian Dance has taught me:
We presume what we fear the most is failure when, in reality, what we truly* fear is success.
We presume what we fear the most is sadness when, in reality, what we truly* fear is joy.
We presume what we fear the most is betrayal when, in reality, what we truly* fear is love.
Although a warrior with a shining armour may look like the personification of STRENGHT, I learned that true strength resides in removing the warrior´s armour. I´m doing it. Gradually. Sometimes, painfully. It takes a lot of guts.
I believe you can do it, too.
P.S: Check the video - Why we fear Emotion (in our Dance & in our Life) - I´ve prepared for you.
If you wish to know more about Heart Opening, Vulnerability, and how to bring Love into your Dance & Life, I invite you to discover the Online Course "Romantic Egyptian Dance Choreography" available at Joana Saahirah´s Online Dance School.
- Follow the link for more information:Click HERE to know more about the Course
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