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Poetry for dance, yoga, bicycling, baseball, volleyball, and much more.

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“the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

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dance & musicality, my poetry from yoga – making my first music video

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Article Outline

 

Purpose

• From the Beginning
• In the Moment
• External Push

The Video for Zumba®

• Intent
• Prep
• My Personal View of Zumba as an Organization
• Personal Issues
• Yoga Prep
• Yoga in the Listening
• Yoga in the Moves

This Week’s Follow-Up Blog Posts

 

Final Thoughts

 

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Purpose

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[ 032212 – this is a sample image of a new in-progress ebook of one year of images on yoga-adan ]

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From the Beginning

zumba video submission

from the beginning of beginning yoga-adan, i’ve been intent on integrating my life long interests – art, dance, music, poetry, writing, fitness, spiritual and ethical issues, and of course relationships

i know, some people, quite earnestly and of fullest integrity research and motive, don’t believe that the “secrets” of life can be found in relationships, only within oneself

i disagree –

though the oneness within oneself and its tie to whatever it is god is, and the oneness with another and that tie to god is, may differ, i’ve never shook the feeling they are much more similar than different 😉

art, dance, music, poetry, writing, fitness, plus spiritual and ethical issues offer, i believe, simultaneous lines within oneself and to others, with both lines straight shots to what it is god is – and i’m still guessing that’s something good 😉

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In the Moment

this week marks a discernible shift and, i believe, advance toward, not really a goal, but more like a, reunion –

a re-integration; more than “just” an integration…

my yoga has held firm in beloved long held poses – as has my enduring satisfaction of dance aerobics in jazzercise, zumba, & the occasional going out 😉

poetry, as my readers know, dates back, in recorded form, to the beginning of the 80’s

playing music’s been an active part of me since my trumpet days in 6th grade, art since 2nd grade (painting with crayons to classical music), and fitness since before i knew that running and jumping and throwing balls and racing bikes along alleys and through trails along the bayous would one day become fitness

yoga, i’ve learned, and come to believe, began before my first breath, as i related in my commentary to my poem, “music”

this week, my musicality begins to become more joined to yoga via my dance

this week, i allow myself to be seen in a video submitted to zumba

this week, i don’t hide my goofiness (i think i’m funny 😉 )

this week, my public dance joins my private yoga –

both in intent, and self promise of approach…

eventually, i don’t know when exactly, i don’t know how exactly – i’ll create a movement with my poses that satisfies some union of the two, yet lets each remain distinct as desired and needed

yoga and movement and movement-yoga can each have their “space” within me

this is something i have full faith in, even without knowing how…

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External Push

i’d been planning the shoot (angles, costume, choreography) and working the editing (learning to use imovie) for this video submission for about a month, but knew i’d come across an article that’d nail what i felt when it came time to post my video with zumba on facebook

recovering yogi, a fun irreverent yoga site supplied the piece

really one of my favorite articles ever from them –

“confessions of a recovering flowtard”

it’s a first person account by suzanne morrison of her book about her trip to india nearly a decade ago, along with her relationships to her teachers, etc

the book itself has, i believe, an unfortunate title, as many people who’d enjoy the story will assume, as i did, that it was more of the usual blah-blah, probably better depicted in “enlighten up!” on dvd

three previous articles, including an interview, about suzanne and her book, slowly mellowed me out where i at least could enjoy anticipating a possible movie of the book 😉

but her own first hand account, wow, what naturalness and down to earth vibes, yea, real vibes that run like little refreshing currents off the page –

authenticity and humanity ran plush –

“Within weeks of signing over my life savings for a month-long pass to my new studio, I became addicted to the flow. Flow. You know, the sun salutation on crack…

“So naturally I did it for half a decade longer, until I finished writing Yoga Bitch and got accidentally enlightened…

“I finally broke into the safe room in my brain where I store my ego”

but i still want a movie 😉

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The Video for Zumba®

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Intent

i wanted something playful, something fun

it meant exposing my aging self as i am, some easy moving here, a little stiff there 😉

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Prep

depending on your view of my video, i either looked prepared or not even close 😉

i practiced a short while (15-30 min) each day for about two weeks, developing the routine, getting ideas while moving, then getting more and more used to the music changes and inflections

zumba, in their workshops, includes teaching a music awareness based on what you hear and feel, rather than a 32 count sequence – so choreography is taught a bit differently from regular dance aerobics

afaa, for instance, has a great workshop specifically focussed on using the 32 count method

both methods are valid, so despite pros and cons, i don’t see competing formats, but rather, complimentary opportunities

i spent a bit of time making varying hash marks to denote music changes, then went back and noted the time change within the song and the amt of time spent in each segment

from there i could see how many repeating segments i had, plus how many “open-to-interpretation” sections i might use

i “acted out” then wrote down the possible sequences, and from there it was all practice (rehearsal), letting the “doing” tell me how and what to keep and change

it was an exercise in listening to my body, using my  intuition, responding, and trusting…

the rest is, not notorious, but now part of my history, never-the-less 😉

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My Personal View of Zumba as an Organization

the song, “pause” was the required song from zumba to do a video for submission

this seems to be a standard way of promoting an event, as they recently did the same thing using a differing song that people could make videos to for submission

tell the truth, i’m kinda looking fwd to the next song 😉 maybe a change of pace? something more melodic and smooth? 😉 how ’bout one of those hot latina ladies currently on the scene!

anyways 😉

zumba is an interesting organization, having exploded on the scene worldwide in a relatively short time – understandable, with the music and moves and latin party scene feel

but my wife and i took the workshops and trainings for another very important reason – for us

there’s an encouragement and allowance for anyone desiring to teach, to learn a basic level of skill, and from there, begin…

the learning’s not expected to stop; afaa or other fitness certification is encouraged, and several national fitness associations, like afaa, offer a substantional discount on workshops if a person is a zin member of zumba

in addition, each person is encouraged to find their own “flavor” that makes the music and movement work for them

this is huge!

it is not simply an item of enticement, it’s a major component of what i feel zumba is as an organization :

immense individuality within a large framework to work within

almost sounds yogic 😉

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Personal Issues

i had a strong sense of embarrassment and shyness to overcome, and sheila helped tremendously with her patient re-shoots, costume suggestions, and (of course) comb-overs 😉

staring at one’s aged self move to music can be a sobering experience, and this wasn’t close to being an exception…

but i want other seniors and re-conditioning folk to know, i do yoga, i do art, i dance, and i smile (even if goofily)

i didn’t get this way overnight, and i haven’t always been this way – i was nearly 40 lbs heavier only a few years ago, and was so for nearly a decade

the process, for me, of having lost my fitness, and regaining it, was a slow process both ways…

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Yoga Prep

so i took a deep breath, many deep breaths 😉 and took the digital leap

the video is entitled “senior pause”   [1]  because i wanted to say, upfront, i’m not trying to be 20 years old, or even 40, just me, nearly 61 years old, but still able to move and enjoy movement and music

and quite frankly, though i’ve always been relatively fluid, yoga has definitely made me more relaxed, more able to feel and sense the music and my abilities on any given day

not perfectly so, but much more so…

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Yoga in the Listening

the song “pause” would not have been my choice without the video requirement –

i lean toward more melodic or pop beat type songs –

but listening to the rhythms and inflections of “pause” with an open concentration, allowing the music to move within me, i gained an appreciation for the nuances, cadences, and humor in the song

this happened more readily via a more focussed awareness i acutely recognized as applied from yoga…

i also happened to catch an interview with the creator of “pause,” pitbull on kathie lee and hoda this summer –

his relaxed humor plus his speaking of cuban immigrants and his gratefulness for the opportunities offered in america, helped me sense the artist & person in the music better  [2]

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regarding the lyrics, well, ok, the most they might’ve applied to me was many decades ago 😉

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Yoga in the Moves

obviously it’s only segments, moments, certain moves, that reminded me directly of yoga, at least as i expressed myself in the video

things like the chest openers (with a slight back bend) –

a moving warrior 2 modification of the lateral ssd’s (single-single-and-a-double’s)

the concept of a pause, for breath and reset

and i have no problem also recognizing a more relaxed breath in my movement, with the benefit of a stronger core  [3]

there’s continuity i believe, in how all peoples around the world celebrate movement

practicing and doing this video only reinforces my belief

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This Week’s Follow-Up Blog Posts

this week, rather than posting a poem or other art related piece, then my article, i’ve posted my article first, and now will follow with several related poems, one each day beginning tomorrow, for three days straight

from 1994 :

“Band”

“Drill Team”

“Little Dancer”

the links to the poems should be active once they’re posted

and of course i’ll be yakking my commentary and seeing what’s what 😉

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Final Thoughts

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bottomline(s) :

i know i don’t need to rush to some sort of “realization” –

once one improves one’s breath, it’s time to just breathe…

i actually want to enjoy the journey…

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i want to let-happen how dance will merge with yoga…slowly…tip-toe-together, if need be, as it will be –

because that’s how it feels best right now…

it won’t be a flowtard 😉 and it won’t be a dance form with yoga, but more, i sense, yoga in a new dance form, one that fits me…

i’m looking forward to what it’ll be and how it’ll feel 😉

namaste – con dios – god be with you

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Links of Possible Interest

art series

poetry series

painting series

photography series

yoga to dance aha! series

“senior pause” – zumba video submission  –  [1]

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footnotes

[1]  this link may not work at some point, probably won’t work, as it is to a contest page

i should have a shorter 30 sec spot available on my site at some point, but am not sure at this time for what time frame, as per legitimate restrictions by zumba regarding individual postings of material related to their business

[2]  my own stance on immigration is the laws should be honored and followed

and, like the many laws that change hands back & forth, ie, the amount of taxes each segment of society pays, whether drinking is legal or not, what the meaning of equal means for all races and ethnic groups and sexes –

our country is built on the rule of law applied to the constitution

which, to me, means, if we want to re-interpret the applicability of something in our society, there is a clear channel available to all of us for changing a laws, including the immigration laws

note: the link within the kathi lee & hoda article to the interview with pitbull is: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/29054368/vp/44002890/ but doesn’t seem to work right now

i anticipate posting several of my law related poems from the 90’s later this year

[3]  sheila and i currently (0811) start all our classes with breathing exercises

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