Grow in the garden of (de)light
In this workshop we will turn towards our fears, not to make a monstrosity out of them, but rather to think of navigating collective fears together. To make this manageable we work through ballet.
Sometimes simply bringing the word ballet into the room can cause people to stiffen and become rigid in their bodies. Often bringing the word ballet into the room brings a sea of expectations and the fear of failing: When perfection seems so elusive can the fear of failing become our common ground?
Growing out of a larger research around stage fright, or the more poetic German Lampenfieber (lamp fever), we will step into the light together. Mostly Lampenfieber is navigated individually. Some individuals transform the rush of adrenaline into something out of this world. Others are crushed by it, while many of us have up and down moments with the delight and terror of being in front of others. Conjuring a bit of magical thinking we will take this journey collectively, addressing performance anxieties by exercising the plant medicine often portrayed in ballet’s romantic narratives. Lilacs and Roses are the most famous but there are more to grow and tend to. Working with the metaphor of light we step away from the stage and into the garden where plants grow through phototropism – both away and towards light. It has been said that the same principles that shaped baroque gardens were at play in ballet’s early spatial forms. Let’s imagine we’ve discovered a garden where the “cultivated” and “uncultivated” balletic plants mingle and dance. Paths are over-grown, in some places their traces remain and in others we must create new ways through. It’s in this garden that we collectively set our wishes in action and invite the shadows of our fears into the dancing.
Elizabeth Ward
