Let’s Dance! (Dateline Zagreb Croatia March 30, 2014)… and one of the most privileged experiences of my whole life…
… thanks to the trust and generosity of my new multi-dimensional artist friend Vesna Mačković, who I met just the day before (see: Frida Kahlo Returns) and who invited me to a very special workshop at the Zagreb Dance Center.
After a moment’s hesitation, with a mix of curiosity and a bit of nerves, I accepted her invitation, not knowing at all what to expect. And I am so glad that I did, as you will soon discover…
Entrance to the Zagreb Dance Center
Integrated Movement Research Collective
Vesna’s surprise gift to me was a session of the Integrated Movement Research Collective (IMRC), a dance workshop that encourages participation “for all sorts of bodies”, both amateur and professional, and regardless of any physical challenges or other disabilities.
This privileged experience touched me in ways that I will never be able to put into words, but the big lesson is this: Our humanity is not defined by what we have or have not, but by what we choose to do with what we have or have not.
But the best part was yet to come, as I was invited to take my shoes off, literally and figuratively, as a beginning student…
When it was time to leave, I thanked the group (with the help of Vesna as translator) for their trust, generosity, and forgiveness for my horrible dancing… and made a special point to thank ALL the dancers… teacher and student, amateur and professional, able-bodied and challenged alike… for inspiring me to want to dance, too!
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This is wonderful, Frank. Coincidence: I just posted sthg called “dancers in the stone”. (I odn’t usually ‘advertise’ my stuff elsewhere but you might measure the distance -and proximity-
Be good.
I just measured it, Brian! Lovely, lovely, lovely. You went deeper into Angkor Wat than I did years ago. I really enjoy that style of dancing. And didn’t realize the historical connection with India. Your post resurrected many fond memories of Siem Reap. You’ve inspired me to start working on a photo essay of Siem Reap and Angkor Wat in order to celebrate the place and people. All the best.
Hi Frank. Glad to be of inspiration. We went twice to Angkor. First time in 2018, just a few days. This february we went back for a full week. I wanted time to visit -almost- every site at a slow pace…
Look forward to your post.
This is beautiful, Frank! I can imagine how profoundly moving it must have been for you to participate. Thanks for sharing it.
Thanks a bunch, Annie. A transformational experience indeed… such a privilege to be there. (I’m still special friends with Vesna, the lady who invited me in.) All the best.
Glad to hear you are still special friends with Vesna, who seems quite special (as are you!).
Your lovely post jogged my memory about a previous blog I’d seen featuring wheelchair dancing. The author, a marvelous disabled young woman who blogged as “The Wheelchair Teen” ( though she’s now in her 20s), posted this in 2021. I haven’t seen any posts from her for a while, unfortunately.
I think you’ll enjoy this one, with three videos.
https://thewheelchairteen.com/2021/07/03/wheelchair-dancing/
Cheers!
Annie
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, Annie!… in so many ways. Thanks a million for sharing and for introducing me to Simi, such a lovely human being.
Big hugs and all the best!
So glad you enjoyed them. Yes, Simi is a wonder. I miss her and hope she’s ok.
As for the odd thing you found, I fear that yours truly was responsible! In November, I saw a referrer with that link, looked into it on Google, and then WROTE ABOUT IT in a post about all my bot traffic, and how the bot that found that link recognized it as a fake. I just deleted the whole damn post. I have accepted my foolishness without self-recrimination—as my mindfulness reminds me to do.
My Gravatar is intact. WP’s AI said you might have to clear your cache, but I think they always say that.
Cheers, my friend!
It looks wonderful, Frank. It is no small tribute to you and the dancers that they opened their hearts and put their hurts aside, to enter life’s dance.
Thanks so much for those lovely sentiments, Gerald, so beautifully expressed. And what a privilege indeed it was to be there to receive it all.
Beautiful, Frank!!
If one word could describe it… “Beautiful” indeed! All the best.
❤️✨️❤️
I notice that by the end you’d found a way to enable even a wheelchair-bound person to feel that they were able to outreach helpfully to someone else. She was sitting taller and stronger thanks to you.
… Plus, you must be used to every woman in a room being a little bit in love with you, handsome thang 🤗
As usual, Ana, your sensitive nature sees so much more than objectively meets the eye.
Plus, thanks for making me blush a bit this morning.
Big hug!