Why I Dance

 

                                                        (An Ode to my Grandmother)

I dance because whenever I move, I am communing with my ancestors.

I am communing with my mother and my grandmother and all the grandmothers before her.

I dance because when I dance I am creating poetry--words that are written in the wind. Words that cannot be spoken aloud, because they are not words, but rather gestures and grace--hands reaching through air, rearranging molecules, clearing the chi--offering time and space for the invisible, welcoming the spirits that have been waiting in the wings for this extraordinary moment.

I dance because when I dance I am sending a silent invitation to all those who listen--whether living or not. I am inviting all those who exist in the temporal plane--those spirits that have their ears to the ground, their eyes to the stars.

I dance because this is the only way I can truly communicate without borders, because dance is the poetry for the ages. I dance because it's the only way I know how to leave my body through my body.

Creative Friends--No matter what your art form may be, take this moment to dance. Dance for beauty. Dance for love. Dance for universal peace. Your ancestors are watching and waiting.

Love,

Jamie