You may have already observed one of humanity’s most incongruous displays of human spirit: what is it, being human? In the year 2011, most of us did this. Every year, by far the majority of us, do this. Some of us do it everyday. Metaphorically, everyone’s doing it, almost all the time we’re awake, if not, almost definitively, perpetually. Just take a look at most children in their toddler times and you’ll see how they learn to balance with two feet, two legs and how they utilise their two tiny arms to stay upright without regressing back into their crawling, incongruously. We don’t need to talk, nor utter gutterances gutterally, speak or sing to participate in this most ancient of human artforms and South America is most certainly home to some of the most developed snd recognised styles and genres of this enchanting art. So, if you haven’t already guessed what I’m writing about this year on this site, let me take you out of your misery and lead you in dance.
It has been described as ‘a vertical expression of a horizontal desire’, but to be honest, from my experience of dancing and sex neither should be limited to vertical- or horizontalness! Some exponents have been perfecting in ‘schools’ of ballet and the like, and South American ballet developed for a while to a minimal extent. However, being frank on this, I’m less than slightly interested in formalised forms, or in those who try formalising classical dance formats! And neither are most South Americans! So, incongruous is apt to describe ‘a school of dance’, seen? I think ‘line dancing’ an unsightly, aberration of the freedom of human spirit; I abhor ‘line-dancers’, who appear as some sort of egg-juggling nazism, from what many think is a truly free expression: dance. However, group dancing is simply so much more interesting than nuclei:electrons relationships and we may need some science to consider the sophistication of various sets dancing and exchanging togetherness.
As I’ve previously described, there’s a sense of wonder and incredulity observing children dancing and even if they’re not consciously dancing, most kids tend to dance, physically and moreso in life, metaphorically. Just link an internet search for ‘toddlers dancing’ and if you’re not at least smiling, at best laughing aloud, within a few seconds, then perhaps you’ll be supressing your human spirit defiantly or are merely trenching through a shallow trough. Whatever your case, personally, I think it far better to participate in dance instead of watching or observing. Actually doing it, dancing has almost unquantifiable benefits not only for the people dancing but for the musicians who produce, for the community involved and more distant observers. You see, dance represents the culture of your family, community, city, nation, etc. If and when you participate, when you dance, you’ll probably feel more than a sense of wonder and you may find it incredible. Many of us just love it!
It also seems a whole lot more than a tad appropriate that in this year in South America dance is promoted, enacted and embraced everywhere more than ever before. Seeing how the ancient Mayan civilization predicted the end of the world almost certainly for this year. Without having done the archeaology, nor reading any ancient documents on this part of historical research, I have come to undestand their prediction by reading historians books, listening to oral folk culture and we can surmise that an elite, educated, intellectual group had led the calendrical research and with some intuitive assumptions based on the cycles of the sun, earth and moon, they reached their apocalyptic conclusion. There appears to have been very little scientific evidence to conclude their research. So, we have no reason to believe them. Well, some prophecies have been extraordinarily accurate. That German squid chose the winning nation of the South African 2010 Fifa World Cup. How? A Geordie writer had premonitions about his own death in the north Atlantic and lo and behold, decades after the pioneering investigative journalist, William Thomas Stead, 'saw' it, the ‘Titanic’ sank in 1912. There most definitely are several of us who can prophecise. However, why believe an ancient elite’s moon-oriented forecast? Most of us reject it and ‘nostradamus’ as nonsense. Nevertheless, I have discovered something simple, understandable and really rather wholesome from considering South American civilisations: never before had I truly appreciated the dance between the sun, the earth and the moon. I don’t think there is anything so beautiful anywhere else in any universe, should they exist?
After all, all life that we know exists thanks to and is dependent on our sun, this planet and possibly on our unique natural satellite, the moon. The fireball gives us energy, and everything lives and grows thanks to the temperatures it projects onto earth. Everything, except for a few deepwater ocean species and some abysmally deepset cave species, is dependent on sunlght either directly, or indirectly for example, nocturnal species are also dependent on ‘ogum’, and photosynthesis is probably the most crucial adaptation to life on earth, either by soil or water based plants. What’s more is that the planet gyrates in an almost perfect circumference of the sun. It is everso slightly elliptical, our gyration, and I’d also like to know how we can keep the sun and the earth’s optimal relationship stabilised, possibly with less obscure oscillations in our convergent future. Gyrations, like the gyrations of a couple's hips in say, Salsa!
Furthermore, we often neglect, forget or ignore the importance of the mineral wealth of soils, rocks and the earth, more generically. Why is that so? For most lifeforms on this gravitational planet there’s an astounding relationship between the sun, the moisture in the air and the rocks, where the organic chemicals on and near the surface are utilised by plants that seed, bud and grow dependent on the minerals in the earth and in water. Between carbon and hydrogen, . . . well can you find words succinct enough? And here’s gravity and the tides of the seas and oceans. Some humans are so removed from these elemental essentials of life that they are almost frighteningly so. If you stand on some sand or on bare rock, you may think it is miraculous that living things can grow there. If you study more closely how Darwin explains natural adaptation and then do the fieldwork away from urban life; on a beach, in a desert or on a mountain, you’ll probably discover how life on earth actually grows. And how we can use plants.
For most of 2012, for and in this blog, I’m going to study, research and try to explain a few specific dance genres from South America. I adore the dance between the sun, the earth and the moon. We float although the earth and the moon appear to levitate, don’t they? If we take another logical step from our demystifying knowledge; religions and the followers of faith, are terminally dancing. They cannot stand with any certainty. They certainly may pray and perhaps those of us who stand tall and firm in knowledge should also pray. After a flood we wish for sunlight. Is it really so different? Athiests and followers of faiths walk on the same streets, our children will play sports on the same grass, in the same sports halls and we certainly can dance together.
So, let’s do it and we can do it right. I’m apologising to all the masters of music, from writers, to radio presenters, to dancehall dj’s, to musicians at their traditional toils, ’sorry’, well in advance. Why must I apologise? It’s because in the next few months, through most of 2012, I’m promoting dance and dance styles, not the musical styles that give life to the lightfooted conveyors of visual, kinaesthetic art that is almost always dependent on our aurally projected music. We can watch incredible videoclips of unbelievable dancers and yet, dance is nearly always accompanied by music, so without further ado, ‘thanks’ and big shouts going out to all the musicians who all through human history have been producing works of art. So, there’ll be very little namesdropping and probably, even less associated commercialisation of recorded products. Nevertheless, if you accompany each month’s dance genre in this year’s blog, you can write your musical version of it! You’ll be doing us all a favour by promoting the musicianship of these internationalising South American dance genres.
However, finally, for this month’s blogging addition, I’d like to compliment all the dancers of this planet who have been making music, which is a magnificent aural art, a participative and visual art by actually doing it; dancing. Really, music without dancers is an incongruous submission, almost like dancers without music or writers without readers, etc. Wouldn’t that symbiotic relationship be a little more than exotic if dance and music were never to combine? This interdependence between dance and music is so earthly, so essential that therefore, it comes as no surprise that every South American dance genre stays true to the musical genre from which so many have been spurning. Even if you’ve never taken instruction in Latin American dance styles, these blog postings may be fascinating. Even if you prefer to listen and watch South American music and dance, respectively, without participating, these publications will almost certainly be improvable. If you’re a struggling musician attempting to make a living, these short articles may lead you towards improved viability in your works of art. And if you’ve just read this and would like to analyse and correct what I’m writing each month, please just add your comments and I’ll correct any and all the mistakes that I’m highly likely to make, as this really is a fresh pasture of pensivity. So, let’s just keep our feet firmly fixed in proximity to this planet perpetually. Happy Hogmany!
It has been described as ‘a vertical expression of a horizontal desire’, but to be honest, from my experience of dancing and sex neither should be limited to vertical- or horizontalness! Some exponents have been perfecting in ‘schools’ of ballet and the like, and South American ballet developed for a while to a minimal extent. However, being frank on this, I’m less than slightly interested in formalised forms, or in those who try formalising classical dance formats! And neither are most South Americans! So, incongruous is apt to describe ‘a school of dance’, seen? I think ‘line dancing’ an unsightly, aberration of the freedom of human spirit; I abhor ‘line-dancers’, who appear as some sort of egg-juggling nazism, from what many think is a truly free expression: dance. However, group dancing is simply so much more interesting than nuclei:electrons relationships and we may need some science to consider the sophistication of various sets dancing and exchanging togetherness.
As I’ve previously described, there’s a sense of wonder and incredulity observing children dancing and even if they’re not consciously dancing, most kids tend to dance, physically and moreso in life, metaphorically. Just link an internet search for ‘toddlers dancing’ and if you’re not at least smiling, at best laughing aloud, within a few seconds, then perhaps you’ll be supressing your human spirit defiantly or are merely trenching through a shallow trough. Whatever your case, personally, I think it far better to participate in dance instead of watching or observing. Actually doing it, dancing has almost unquantifiable benefits not only for the people dancing but for the musicians who produce, for the community involved and more distant observers. You see, dance represents the culture of your family, community, city, nation, etc. If and when you participate, when you dance, you’ll probably feel more than a sense of wonder and you may find it incredible. Many of us just love it!
It also seems a whole lot more than a tad appropriate that in this year in South America dance is promoted, enacted and embraced everywhere more than ever before. Seeing how the ancient Mayan civilization predicted the end of the world almost certainly for this year. Without having done the archeaology, nor reading any ancient documents on this part of historical research, I have come to undestand their prediction by reading historians books, listening to oral folk culture and we can surmise that an elite, educated, intellectual group had led the calendrical research and with some intuitive assumptions based on the cycles of the sun, earth and moon, they reached their apocalyptic conclusion. There appears to have been very little scientific evidence to conclude their research. So, we have no reason to believe them. Well, some prophecies have been extraordinarily accurate. That German squid chose the winning nation of the South African 2010 Fifa World Cup. How? A Geordie writer had premonitions about his own death in the north Atlantic and lo and behold, decades after the pioneering investigative journalist, William Thomas Stead, 'saw' it, the ‘Titanic’ sank in 1912. There most definitely are several of us who can prophecise. However, why believe an ancient elite’s moon-oriented forecast? Most of us reject it and ‘nostradamus’ as nonsense. Nevertheless, I have discovered something simple, understandable and really rather wholesome from considering South American civilisations: never before had I truly appreciated the dance between the sun, the earth and the moon. I don’t think there is anything so beautiful anywhere else in any universe, should they exist?
After all, all life that we know exists thanks to and is dependent on our sun, this planet and possibly on our unique natural satellite, the moon. The fireball gives us energy, and everything lives and grows thanks to the temperatures it projects onto earth. Everything, except for a few deepwater ocean species and some abysmally deepset cave species, is dependent on sunlght either directly, or indirectly for example, nocturnal species are also dependent on ‘ogum’, and photosynthesis is probably the most crucial adaptation to life on earth, either by soil or water based plants. What’s more is that the planet gyrates in an almost perfect circumference of the sun. It is everso slightly elliptical, our gyration, and I’d also like to know how we can keep the sun and the earth’s optimal relationship stabilised, possibly with less obscure oscillations in our convergent future. Gyrations, like the gyrations of a couple's hips in say, Salsa!
Furthermore, we often neglect, forget or ignore the importance of the mineral wealth of soils, rocks and the earth, more generically. Why is that so? For most lifeforms on this gravitational planet there’s an astounding relationship between the sun, the moisture in the air and the rocks, where the organic chemicals on and near the surface are utilised by plants that seed, bud and grow dependent on the minerals in the earth and in water. Between carbon and hydrogen, . . . well can you find words succinct enough? And here’s gravity and the tides of the seas and oceans. Some humans are so removed from these elemental essentials of life that they are almost frighteningly so. If you stand on some sand or on bare rock, you may think it is miraculous that living things can grow there. If you study more closely how Darwin explains natural adaptation and then do the fieldwork away from urban life; on a beach, in a desert or on a mountain, you’ll probably discover how life on earth actually grows. And how we can use plants.
For most of 2012, for and in this blog, I’m going to study, research and try to explain a few specific dance genres from South America. I adore the dance between the sun, the earth and the moon. We float although the earth and the moon appear to levitate, don’t they? If we take another logical step from our demystifying knowledge; religions and the followers of faith, are terminally dancing. They cannot stand with any certainty. They certainly may pray and perhaps those of us who stand tall and firm in knowledge should also pray. After a flood we wish for sunlight. Is it really so different? Athiests and followers of faiths walk on the same streets, our children will play sports on the same grass, in the same sports halls and we certainly can dance together.
So, let’s do it and we can do it right. I’m apologising to all the masters of music, from writers, to radio presenters, to dancehall dj’s, to musicians at their traditional toils, ’sorry’, well in advance. Why must I apologise? It’s because in the next few months, through most of 2012, I’m promoting dance and dance styles, not the musical styles that give life to the lightfooted conveyors of visual, kinaesthetic art that is almost always dependent on our aurally projected music. We can watch incredible videoclips of unbelievable dancers and yet, dance is nearly always accompanied by music, so without further ado, ‘thanks’ and big shouts going out to all the musicians who all through human history have been producing works of art. So, there’ll be very little namesdropping and probably, even less associated commercialisation of recorded products. Nevertheless, if you accompany each month’s dance genre in this year’s blog, you can write your musical version of it! You’ll be doing us all a favour by promoting the musicianship of these internationalising South American dance genres.
However, finally, for this month’s blogging addition, I’d like to compliment all the dancers of this planet who have been making music, which is a magnificent aural art, a participative and visual art by actually doing it; dancing. Really, music without dancers is an incongruous submission, almost like dancers without music or writers without readers, etc. Wouldn’t that symbiotic relationship be a little more than exotic if dance and music were never to combine? This interdependence between dance and music is so earthly, so essential that therefore, it comes as no surprise that every South American dance genre stays true to the musical genre from which so many have been spurning. Even if you’ve never taken instruction in Latin American dance styles, these blog postings may be fascinating. Even if you prefer to listen and watch South American music and dance, respectively, without participating, these publications will almost certainly be improvable. If you’re a struggling musician attempting to make a living, these short articles may lead you towards improved viability in your works of art. And if you’ve just read this and would like to analyse and correct what I’m writing each month, please just add your comments and I’ll correct any and all the mistakes that I’m highly likely to make, as this really is a fresh pasture of pensivity. So, let’s just keep our feet firmly fixed in proximity to this planet perpetually. Happy Hogmany!
