ART CHANGES LIVES
LA RIBOT - 40 ESPONTANEOS
TRAMWAY, FEBRUARY 2006
I recently had the privilege of taking part in a Winter School at Tramway with Spanish artist/choreographer La Ribot and Tania Arias Winogradow, sponsored by New Moves International as part of the new territories festival. It was a hugely life-affirming week.
Like all good art it defies simple, discursive description. The mood, themes and symbolism of the piece were hardwired into my body-mind by six days of intensive physical workshops. They remain etched in my cellular memory. This experience changed me - permanently. It's only now after a period of rest, contemplation and integration - of living this change that I can begin to put any of this into words.
I could tell you what the piece was about for me. Birth and death, the journeys in between, meetings and partings, possession and loss. Love and letting go. Joy. Acceptance. Trust. Fate and freedom. The body's wisdom. The soul's movement. This work touched me to the core.
As I write I am moved again to tears of gratitude for the gift of being alive. I cannot think of any moment from that week without a smile and, like as not, more tears of astonishment. Is it my imagination or did Spring come early this year? Were there more sunny blue-skied days in March than ever before in this part of the world?
Taking the final bow I had a sudden realisation. My experience could only be what it was because of the audience, Maria and Tania, my fellow espontaneos, everyone at New Moves, the Tramway staff from to catering, security, technicians, the city, the country, the world, the universe that sustains our existence and makes our unique precious encounters possible. Thank you all.
If you come across a woman (or man) of a certain age with an enigmatic smile, giggling inappropriately, seeming unreasonably happy - chances are it's one of us; an espontaneo compelled now to risk jumping just that bit more fully into life.
If you should see an ad for something arty, a little out of the ordinary, don't hesitate. Take the risk- go. It might just change your life - forever.
Grace Mahoney, March 2006
Tania
My toes thank you
My ankles thank you
My knees thank you
My hips thank you
My vertebrae thank you,
Each and every one.
My shoulders thank you
My elbows thank you
My wrists thank you
My fingers thank you
My neck thanks you
Every muscle in my face
Thanks you.
Most of all my heart
Thanks you
For being so ready,
So willing to catch
Every flicker of a smile
That crossed your gaze.
Propagation?
More like contagion.
I've caught your smile
It spreads
Like wildfire
Lighting my path
Wherever I go.
Every time
I catch an eye
I smile
And think of you
Smiling.
Others,
Seeing
This quiet smile,
Melt a little too.
Our souls
Thank you.
Forever.
Grace Mahoney, March 2006