No Boundary Between Where Painting Begins and Dancing Ends

When I first moved to Boulder, disoriented, sad and a little angry, I found solace in a dance class. Having worked for seven years at a dance non-profit in Jackson, surrounded by inspiring dancers and amazing dance companies, I had acquired a great love for the art form. And secretly really wanted to be a modern dancer. Moving to a new community where I was completely anonymous made me brave enough to try. The studio was a place of release every week, a chance to let my mind take a back seat and my body lead.

I had to stop the dance class for a couple of years because of my kid’s school schedule and then, of course, because of the start of the pandemic. But I recently I have returned to dance with Joanna Rotkin and the deep and introspective people she attracts. It feels like a different type of lifesaver now. Dancing the last few months, I have really began to feel the overlap between dancing and painting, the relationship between making a movement with the body and making a gesture with paint. Both mediums are time-benders; I enter dimensions where minutes move differently, where time isn’t face-paced and tinged with scarcity. Rather it feels luxurious, peaceful and rejuvenating. Dance, like painting, still makes my mind step behind my body, just like when I first started. It feels really important to be noticing the blending of genres, how concepts initiated in art-making can leak out beautifully into all areas of life. This feels more important than ever.

And then this article in The Atlantic by Arthur C. Brooks popped up on my feed. I didn’t need more proof of the value of bringing art into all areas of life…but it doesn’t hurt.

“Too often, we let the humdrum reality of life get in the way of the arts, which can feel frivolous by comparison. But this is a mistake. The arts are the opposite of a diversion from reality; they might just be the most realistic glimpse we ever get into the nature and meaning of life. And if you make time for consuming and producing art—the same way you make time for work and exercise and family commitments—you’ll find your life getting fuller and happier.” -Arthur C. Brooks Read full article here

(Art) the most realistic glimpse into the nature and meaning of life…110%.