I must admit we are lucky in Melbourne, Australia to have basically come out of Lockdown because we put in the hard yards of Stage 3 and Stage 4 for a period of 7 months. Can you imagine not being able to go more than 5km for months on an end, we did that and it worked The second wave began and we ended it whereas other places with the same number of cases have gone from hundreds to thousands in the same time frame

Now we are out there is a follow up crisis, now that we can go out I and other people I know are hesitant to do so on a regular basis so I reached out to the one thing I know my body loves, Conscious Dance. The first dance I attended I had to eave because it became a Contact Improvise demonstration not a dance, the two are totally different to me and it had become false advertising that it was a dance. The one I found to replace it is called Open Floor and as it is summer here the first dance was in Park-lands. I have since returned to one of my old stomping grounds at Rosina Auditorium on a Wednesday night.

I also make used to make chai for three dances, two of them clashed last Saturday so I chose the one I had been doing the longest, Mojo Dance – The dance of connection. So what have communities said about the healing power of dance over the generations, lets have a look:

1. 194 countries planet wide, each with their own language. 1 dancing soul.

2. Dance gets you out of your head and into your heart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz6_AUsLQ8g

3. Because they are getting in touch with their Angel spirits.

4. This magic show is priceless time and time again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdpjXLbxDq4

5. Lyall Watson wrote the iconic book Supernature and is credited with the 100th monkey effect. He spent a lot of his life studying the many different cultures on the planet.

6. Some forms of dance are competitive, not Conscious dance though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICjyAe9S54c

7. The ultimate exercise workout.

8. It’s the journey not the particular steps you take on the way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXOAnVI3boM

9. Your choice of dance mantra.

10. From the African dances I have attended I can believe there are 31 core values: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWSYCp-46h8&list=PLme-1fWBofIw1jJy5v-2LEv2jervh7WBC

11. My body is a bit too old to create that move.

12. We put on our invisibility cloaks and disappear into the magical void: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93DWZtavaoU

13. Have you tried it?

14. Alvin Ailey (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989), a.k.a. Alvin Ailey Jr., was an African-American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater(AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Ailey School as havens for nurturing black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance. His work fused theatre, modern dance, ballet, and jazz with black vernacular, creating hope-fueled choreography that continues to spread global awareness of black life in America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n30NKg4Boqs

15. Here or hear the music, it doesn’t matter, I am insane.

Dancing is not something to postpone for the future, it is something you design in the present, starting today:

1. Appreciate what you have.
2. Focus on things that really matter.
3. Define your own meaning of life , and pursue it.
4. Embrace life’s challenges.
5. Find the balance that allows toy to be who you truly are.
6. Love your body enough to take care of it.
7. Limit your time with negative people.
8. Treat others the way you want to be treated.
9. Set a good example
10. Accept what is, and live for the possibilities that lie ahead.

In the playlist I thought I would give you a taste of what Conscious Dancers dance to. On most play lists Desert Dwellers will appear. Followed up by Shaman’s Dream. Moby crossed over into popular music as well. Then a short festival set by DJ Drop G. Off to Africa for Psquare, the penultimate track is Basher Toe and we finish with a dance routine choreographed by Alvin Ailey: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJlQ3F9bKYrvCZsxOmI3PAvbn-8YB2eqS

As one of the quotes says, dance is the music of the soul, if we take it on the ethos Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included has a chance. My new Facebook group, Thriving People – People who wish to make a difference to Humanity uses this as its premise, here is the link to join us if you wish: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1126100227764949, Until we meet again, my dear friends.