30/10/2012
MEN AND DANCE
For thousands of years men have danced.
Men danced together to celebrate Death, Birth, Marriage, Harvests, and Seasons. Men danced as the animal they were about to hunt, to gain its strength and connect with it. They danced just before a battle to fire up their warrior energy.
Men danced after a battle and hunt, re-enacting scenes, to celebrate how they worked together and to honor particular moments of bravery.
Throughout all of this, there was a shared feeling of celebration. It was as natural as breathing to come together and express themselves through their body, momentous occasions. They supported each other in doing this.
In the earlier times, many cultures would dance naked and men would paint each other’s body. Or, they would create costumes and other accouterments to add depth and creativity to the experience – Bearskin, rattles on the ankles.
Men were CREATIVE with their body and imagination.
When men danced their celebrations, the whole community supported them.
Elders “held space”, watching at the edge of the circle, ensuring the spiritual safety of the moment. Women either clapped, sang, used instruments or danced in support.
Especially when men danced the victory of a battle or hunt, they did for their own pride and joy, but also as service to the community in ensuring the story is passed on.
So it was a natural extension to CELEBRATE with their body. It was just as necessary as any other “task”.
Dance was a way to communicate what was happening in life, with depth, richness and power.
This was important, because life was an unfolding mystery, something to respect and feel the sacredness of. They FELT this in their body.
Every emotion was immediately, cleanly and to the fullest, felt in their body.
The terror of seeing a lightning bolt strike a tree and having it catch on fire. The awe and wonder of a rainbow.
These mysteries were explored purely by instinct. They truly lived through their body. They hunted for food, they battled face-to-face, hand-to-hand.
Their body told them when it was time to mate, to challenge leadership of the tribe.
They felt in their body when the season was about to change, even before the weather turned.
When men got together they used their bodies COLLECTIVELY on tasks. Their bodies were essential to survival so they treated them with respect and used them to their full capacity. Living to this extreme, men, as a group were completely natural with how they used their body in front of each other.
Facing potential death on a daily basis leaves no room for shame, awkwardness or holding back in front of each other.
When co-operation amongst the warriors is essential for survival, surviving hazardous moments creates a POWERFUL BOND.
Dancing togetherness in battles, hunts, etc. is a PASSIONATE FOLLOW-THROUGH.
PRESENT TIME:
As time has progressed, living has become more comfortable. Death is not so immediate and present. There is more complex thinking and feeling.
There is more opportunity for individualization.
The need for togetherness has become less.
More opportunities for the mind, less for the body. This leads to less living by instinct, feeling through the body and more analyzing with the body.
The primal energy for hunting and battling has remained in men. But for many its purpose has become for acquiring goods, etc.
Before, men would band together to battle against other tribes or hunt beasts. Now men battle individually against each other.
They hunt with their mind. They conquer though tactics.
There is far less naturalness in living, expressing through the body. Most body expressions are in organized situations, taught.
So many men perpetuate other’s/society’s programming, they are not as natural in each other’s presence. Sizing each other up and down.
Dance is seen by many men as unmanly or only if you’ve been properly trained.
But that tribal instinct to dance is still there. Sadly, many times I have heard and seen the unguarded dancing occurs when under the influence of something.
So why would it be good for men to dance in a natural, open way?
It brings them together as a tribe. Let go of their programs. Let go of competing against each other.
Share together. Face the terror of being vulnerable, honest with their feelings through movement TOGETHER. This will help them feel AS ONE. They will have battled their own demons/resistances individually but with the GROUP, and come out PASSIONATELY CELERBRATING TOGETHER.
Feeling your own resistance, where you are unable to express, you can see your “imperfection” or where you could grow. This helps to stop comparing/ sizing men up and down.
When its just men there’s less chance of posturing, competing for the attention of women present.
When women are present a lot of men feel hesitant to express their anger, in a group creative activity.
A lot of men have bottled up anger, stress, and frustration. They may feel an inner fire that they don’t know how to express. Bottling it up means it comes out inappropriately later.
Raw dancing, with other men who have inner fire, helps them to feel they have permission to let it out, in a safe and healthy way.
It’s a lot easier for men to express stereotypically “unmanly” emotions e.g. sadness, sensuality when they are with just men who are all expressing them through movement. As opposed to doing it with women present, because then, they may feel they need to maintain their “manliness” in front of them and to be more desirable than the other men.
A powerful, common issue for men today is being natural, relaxed and sensual with their sexuality. Locked into society’s programming of what it should look like, many men are stiff and uncomfortable with theirs.
To move in this way when there are women present, for many men it is too challenging and they are fearful of two things.
1) If they’re not sensual, relaxed, they will be seen as less than, to the woman.
2) If they are celebrating their sexuality they may be afraid that the woman will judge them and may be scared of them.
But to move in this way amongst other men who are vulnerable and struggling, it gives him permission to keep going. He is not alone and he will not be judged. He is held, safe. In this place he can start to relax and let go and let the natural sensual sexuality happen.
A man will feel safe to express what they don’t normally (sadness, anger, sensuality, fear, joy) when they are in a safe space that is “securely held” by the Facilitator.
In this space, each man will be inspired to express by seeing other men being vulnerable in their expressions.
This is the space of the Primal time, when men were relaxed and at ease with each other to feel fully with their body.
