This is a resource roundup to relish a couple of important annual celebrations of dance movement! National Dance Week, an annual celebration of dance that takes place from April 19 to 28 this year is specially set aside to spread the delight and joys of dancing, and to create awareness about its impact and benefits.
May you feel inspired to move by these offerings and others being shared by dancers the world over!
So very springy! In Cologne, Germany where I am located, there were early-spring flowers all around, with changeable, moody weather. What can be very energetic and productive and also very challenging time of change for many.
Celebrating International Women’s Day with two festive events kicked off my month, which continued with planning upcoming travel adventures including a weekend getaway we reveled in at the end of the month and US visit this spring.
Having already published a general reflection on 2023 to the blog, A Beautiful Year of Slow Creation and Growth, here I’m recording impressions from my year in books, films, series, songs, and a variety of media inputs. Of course not all were stellar, but it can be fun to look back at the influence my viewing, listening, and reading has in my creative and personal life!
It’s just incredible the access we have to endless information in this day and age, to endless information. I try not to get overwhelmed by all the options, but focus on a mix of what I enjoy and expanding my exposure and perspective.
As a teaching artist, media such as music and video are key to my practice, and I also appreciate how cultural knowledge connects us socially in society.
In February things tend to get rolling for the year and 2024 was no different, as I taught and coached online, regular classes in schools and studios as well as additionally substitute teaching for colleagues on vacation.
Working on exercises and technique for a ballet exam coming up, as well as foundational work for centre, turns, and jumps with my adult students. Choreography sketches for Alphabet Superset continued to be a creative focus, and we took part in a lot of socializing for Karneval and other events.
Having enjoyed tracking twenty-three (and more) key actions in my Bullet Journal collections in 2023, I decided to keep it going this year with twenty-four 24’s in 2024!
Arranged according to my 8 major focus areas; Read, Write, Create, Practice, Serve, Connect, Sustain, and Adventure; in this way I get a somewhat holistic picture of my intentions and goals for the year. I focus on actions I can take, then see what results occur. Then I reflect, recommit or change direction, and carry on creating!
The first week in January being school & studio holidays and furthermore part of the 12 Days of Christmas, we continued to take time off from regular teaching and work duties, recovering from the holidays and completing our celebration of the years past and freshly arrived.
Early 2024 in Cologne, the mood was very winter wonderland, with more snow than I’ve seen in the years I’ve lived in Germany so far! It was a study in contrasts, with cozy cuddles indoors, deep inner work, sparkling fun, and jumping right out of my comfort zone and into my vision for the year!
In December I participated in Judith Peters’ aka Sympatexter’s blogging challenge called “Jahresrückblog,” in support of writing and sharing annual retrospective and reflection blog article. Love a bit of structured reflection and sharing insights that may be interesting or helpful to others!
As I’ve noted in previous years, it takes me a while to complete such a reflection process, so I didn’t click “publish” on the deadline of the challenge, but was well-served by the social media prompts, live and recorded support and community that the challenge provided.
Here I am now to share my thoughts on 2023, at least as I experienced it, and inspired to share more regular personal reflections of this nature in the form of monthly-ish blogs, in order to continue to connect with folks with similar values and interests for whom my work and being in the world resonates.
Acknowledging the subtle and dramatic changes from season-to-season is one of the ways I like to celebrate life. Seasonal rituals help me celebrate each transition, acknowledge how I’ve learned and grown and what it’s time to let go. Today is the day before the autumn equinox if you’re here in real time, a great time […]
As part of my birthday celebration this year I decided to indulge in sharing, in no particular order, these incomplete, unjustified, and unsolicited pieces of advice!
The bite-sized nuggets come from a wide variety of influences from family and mentors to thinkers and celebrities and my own observations and beliefs.
Perhaps you already enjoy my offerings in-studio or online and would like to know in what ways we might further collaborate, or you are interested in supporting me in expanding what I can provide for your befit and that of others.
Whether your interests lie in mindful movement, dance, coaching, education, or personal growth, I’ve got something for you, and you’ve also got oodles of potential ways to support me in return 🙂
