All photos here courtesy here of Avia Gurman

I asked each participant for 3 words to describe their experience of participating today

p(art)y Here and Now, June 22, Breakthrough Dance, Ennis

We were still in that immediate post performative moment- no-one was fully ‘out’ of performance mode yet. I wanted deliberately to ask at this stage- where feelings are still emotive and immediate and objective thinking has not taken over

Rocky: endurance. tiring. overworked. condense

Gerald: letting myself free

Slavek: extending tentacles of perception. opening yourself. mischevious

Laura Jane: journey. friction.

Finbarr: annoyed. potentially broken? no sound

Avia: looking in. Looking out. letting go.

Gill. Evocative. thought provoking. dark. sad. calm.

Rachel. circles. permission. hidden

Each person gave me a brief explanation of why they’d picked these words also, which was very insightful.

My words- i found myself moving in circular paths again. I found myself hiding my head again. I though about how I needed to ground myself and allow myself permission to be, to be present, to not need to live up to any expectations, to others or to myself.

Thinking now about the session with the objectivity afforded by a few days separation, I am so pleased with the progression and development that can be seen in the monthly meetings. Above all its providing a space and situation where people feel like they can give themselves permission to be creative in any way that comes to them. We live so much in a conditioned behavioural mode that we forget the importance of being able to move spontaneously and being able to create with an immediacy that is not planned or choreographed. There is a bubbling up of the unconscious mind that can be an intensely emotional experience for many people. No expectations, no agenda.