Zen and Dance

Workshops with the dancer and Zen priest  Annamaria Gyoetsu Epifanìa

 

With infinite gratitude for Master Dainin Katagiri, in whom I recognise the spirit of the dancer and for my Master, Shohaku Okumurai, whose teachings are of continuous inspiration to me and Jia Ruskaja, the divine dancer that watered my dreams as a dancer of the soul. Annamaria Gyoetsu  Epifanìa

 

What in zen painting can be a circle made with a sole line, can be translated for dance into a infinite flow of breathes, a gesture after gesture, a drop and the sea all in one , beyond words and concepts.

 

Our way of dancing and of hold out Dance is deeply rooted  into Zen and reflects its  heart opening and the universality of its language.

 

An action, not controlled by the discriminating influence of the mind, but simply let free to be as it is, results to be alive, true, dancing.

 

 

The Gift of Gesture

 

Body takes inspiration from everyday gestures, from the influence of the emotions on the physical sphere, from the nature to embody not only to observe! Being the grass, being the wind: is the work on the inevitable, on being at anytime the manifestation of the absolute reality: unrepeatable, impermanent, but still infinite.

 

In every gesture freedom has to be rediscovered, openness, intuition, awakening agility, elasticity, confidence: studying Zen and Dance  means living the body and the gestures as keys to intuit the spirit, the intimate, passionate  religious strength of the being.

 

Dancing becomes listening, contemplate and giving life to the invisible as coming back to the silence of Meditation, means living with confidence in the entirety of the existence.

 

When our action is generated by the deep core of life, that is dance. Dainin Katagiri, Zen Master

 

The Time of Presence

 

It takes time touching what we don’t know about us, we need to learn what is behind physical and verbal expressions. A strong motivation can support us and hep us to practice.

 

Our body dancing is the dance itself, there is no distance between us and dance, no separation. This is what appears as “beautiful”: the attention we put in every shape at the maximum level of effort and presence.

 

Dance, secret space of a Mandala

Dance born and dies, appears and disappears , continuously changes, is the fluctuating world.

Us, dance, and all the beings are together in the dancing act that becomes in this way peace and harmony.

 We reveal our true heart. Fully immersed  we cannot see dance, nor even think about its meaning, we can just dance.

Our comprehension results from the dynamic of action founded on the identity of body, breath, mind: it means practicing something with full and perfect devotion.

 

Epiphany of the Body

 Action becomes a behave characterized by beauty and truth, it is respectful, and shrouded  by a dignity that comes from the deep of the existence of every being.

 

Dancing the Nature we create a union and an interdependence with nature. At the same time the nature guides us and teaches us something about itself. We discover the existence of an infinite connection, constant and dynamic, between us and all the things around us.

Body and mind perfectly connected, flexible, without hesitation, are the exact perfection of the human personality.

Free the dance of the thousands forms inside you and from one you will become everything. Tiziana Procesi, student.