“[Alessandra] Ferri is one of the great dancers of the last half century and at sixty-one, she carries herself like a woman with a past. Even the smallest movements register in her aging shoulders; her body, though still lithe, is also stiff and fragile, young and old in the same breath. She keeps an eye on herself as she moves. Can she trust that step into pointe? Will it hold? And when it doesn’t, quite, we watch her body gracefully rebalance. She doesn’t hide her limitations, instead allowing them to sharpen her physical attention. ” by Jennifer Homans from “Dances With Woolf”
Older dancers, it’s what we are. The youngest of us are in their forties. And the two woman who have been Bellydancing the longest (around thirty years) are coming on sixty.
I was struck by Homans’ beautiful description of how Ferri, deals with dancing at sixty one.
I am in no way comparing myself to Ferri, but I am inspired by her. When I first started dancing I was fifty three and thought that by the time I learned what I needed to know to dance in a performance I’d be too old.
But it turns out that was able to perform before I got too old. I was nervous and even scared, and I’m not sure how well I did, but I still did it. I’m also certain that I get better each time I do. And tomorrow I’ll be performing once again, with the women I dance with every week. This time at the Manchester Library in Vermont,
It’s a Bellydancing Workshop from 6-7pm. We will perform two songs, one fast and one slow then Julz will lead a class with all of us and the people who show up for the workshop.
It’s the same kind of thing we did last year at the Library in North Bennington Vermont. Only this time there will be more workshop than performing.
Last year we danced outside in temperatures in the 90s. This time we’ll be inside the library. “My classes are first of all fun,” Julz who will be teaching the workshop wrote, “teaching steps almost anyone can do no matter their age, shape, or gender.”
I’m looking forward to it and if anyone out there reading this lives in the area, please join us. The workshop is Monday July 29th. It’s free, from 6-7pm at the Manchester Library at 138 Cemetery Road Manchester Vermont, (802)362-2607.
For more information click here .
