Ryan Moore
OAKLAND, California, United States
chasing the TaKeTiNa dream
<div><font color="#000000"><u><div style="display: inline !important; "><u><b><font face="'comic sans ms'" size="4">"Educational Philosophy:" Or, "A big part of what I want to offer the world:"</font></b></u></div></u><br></font></div><div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-size: medium; ">I most enjoy teachers who example an embodied understanding of a living practice. Whether this is why I am dancer or this reason is true because of my </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-size: medium; ">love for dance, my kinesthetic learning</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-size: medium; "> preferences have repeatedly led me to the dance floor.</span><br></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">It is not that I want to learn about dance more than I want to learn about other things. Rather it is that I learn best through engaging with information via my body and dance has been the most obvious model of that kind of learning. I've gradually come to understand that my love of dance is not a love of dance per-se, but a hunger for an education that offers students the opportunity to process information with their bodies. Information accessed via conscious, somatic engagement offers insights which can live and grow in us long after the lessons end, insights that remain readily available for us to access in our everyday lives.</font></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Hitting a drum, hammering a nail, dribbling a ball - of all the models of kinesthetic learning available, I was drawn to dance because the subject matter often revolves around what I'm naturally inclined to think about: the collective human experience, our individual understanding of it, and our conscious participation in it. A</font><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-size: medium; ">lthough dance does not deal explicitly with those themes, the kinesthetic learning experiences I've had while studying dance have been the most effective fertilizer for the growth of my understanding of them - an understanding I take with me when I step off the dance floor. </span></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">The reason I said yes when I was first asked to be a dance teacher was a desire to offer those same learning experiences to others. Most people who study dance don't become professional dancers, but many people who study dance learn lessons in the dance studio that they continue to apply for the rest of their lives.</font></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Throughout the seven years I've been teaching dance, I've often been frustrated by what I used to perceive as my own inability to define the essence of what I was trying to teach. Although this frustration has everything to do with my limitations as both a dancer and a teacher, I've finally realized it has just as much to do with the limitations of the form itself. Or rather, the problem is that I've identified as a dance teacher when what I'm really passionate about is something else entirely.</font></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">The kind of learning experience I want to offer is more akin to psychotherapy. As I would define it, psychotherapy is any practice intended to cultivate an awareness of both internal orientation and external participation, an awareness which can then be referenced as a guidebook to help us navigate our way through the activity of life.</font></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">The essential definition of what I want to offer then is not dance, but rather some form of somatic psychotherapy: some communicable practice which will guide people into engaging bodily with information that they can then apply on a daily basis to enrich and improve their life experience. </font></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Out of the many permutations of somatic psychotherapy, I am drawn to TaKeTiNa because the embodied language of TaKeTiNa is rhythm. <br></font></div></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><u><b><font face="'comic sans ms'" size="4">"What's so great about a bunch of people standing in a circle making rhythm?" Or, "Why TaKeTiNa instead of something else?"</font></b></u><br></font></div><div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-size: medium; ">Rhythm is information that is initially accessible only via the body.The ability to create a cognitive map of rhythm is a skill that emerges slowly, after many hours of playing time. To try and 'get' a rhythm, we first have to </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-size: medium; ">engage physically - stepping our feet, clapping our hands, striking a drum, speaking or singing out loud. When studying rhythm, just as when studying dance, the lesson is not learned with pen and paper, but somatically, with our bodies themselves</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-size: medium; ">. </span><br></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font color="#000000" size="3" face="arial"><br></font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font color="#000000" size="3" face="arial">Rhythm is universally accessible - tapping our toes to the rhythm of the radio is something most of us do unconsciously. Although not everyone is able to do so readily, the task of clapping along to a beat is something everyone understands; a task everyone intuitively has some sense of how to accomplish.</font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font color="#000000" size="3" face="arial"><br></font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">In TaKeTiNa, the kinesthetic lessons which take place as participants are guided deeper and deeper into rhythm revolve around those themes I am most interested in - the collective human experience, our individual understanding of it, and our conscious participation in it. Whether or not these themes are referred to explicitly during a session, the way the TaKeTiNa experience is structured naturally guides the awareness of the participants in that direction. </font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">TaKeTiNa is obviously a collective experience. All of the participants are standing in a circle together, simultaneously stepping, clapping, and singing. Within that collective experience, each individual has their own unique understanding of both the technical challenge of mastering simultaneous rhythmic cycles and also the deeper questions regarding the underlying intention guiding the entire process. Finally, the process itself repeatedly demands that everyone maintains an awareness of their conscious participation: allowing attention to drift away from the physical act of stepping, clapping, or singing inevitably results in falling out of rhythm. </font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">This process can be understood as a microcosmic example of life itself. All of humanity is here on Earth together, simultaneously getting on with the business of life - eating, pooping, working, playing, loving, fighting, procreating, dying. Within that collective experience, everyone has their own understanding of both the unique practical challenges of their individual life and also the deeper questions regarding the underlying intention of life itself. Finally, our quality of life is enriched and improved dramatically when we cultivate and maintain an awareness of our conscious participation in it. </font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">TaKeTiNa is not intended to prepare participants for a performance at some later date, the process is always about engaging with what is going on right now. Participants are not allowed to linger in a rhythmic pattern that does not demand their full attention, the group is continually pushed to the edge of it's ability. By doing so, the process ensures that whenever participants focus on anything other than the unfolding rhythm and their embodied understanding of it, they lose their connection to the rhythmic matrix being maintained by the facilitators.</font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">However, losing this connection is not bad, rather it is understood to be an essential part of the process. Just as it is impossible to live life perfectly every single second all the time, it is impossible to flawlessly maintain a connection the complex rhythmic matrices established in TaKeTiNa. In this practice there is an inherent appreciation of falling out of rhythm because the value of being able to return over and over again is so apparent. If we were never to fall out, we would never be offered the opportunity to re-connect. We would be static, lingering in an unchanging state of perpetuation, and thus disconnected from the dynamic truth of life itself.</font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">The group nature of TaKeTiNa is integral to offering the participants the opportunity to return over and over again. Because there is always a large group of people maintaining the complex rhythmic matrices, there is plenty of space for individual participants to fall out and return over and over again. The parallel is clear: life itself never rejects us. Regardless of how badly we screwed up yesterday, we get to wake up today and re-engage. </font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">By standing in a circle with a bunch of other people and playing complex polyrhythms for hours at time, participants have the opportunity to cultivate an embodied awareness of their internal orientation and external participation. It's as if the process itself is continually asking them: "Where are you placing your attention and how is that affecting what you're doing right now?" </font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-size: medium; ">I see this question as inherently psychotherapeutic; I believe this is one of the most important questions to ask ourselves if we are interested in improving and enriching the quality of our lives.</span><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><u><font color="#000000" face="'comic sans ms'" size="4"><b>"Tying it all together:" Or, "Why it would be so awesome if I raised the $:"</b></font></u></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Years before learning about TaKeTiNa, I was already using the language of rhythm to explore and communicate themes of internal orientation and external participation. </font></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">What follows is a transcript of a spoken word poem I wrote and performed many times throughout my two years as a member of an educational touring ensemble in Chicago. </font></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">("Be The Groove" is a Chicago based rhythmic performance ensemble which weaves hip-hop, body percussion, found object percussion, and other rhythmic vocabularies to create multi-faceted performances. Our educational touring show was a 45-minute set of all-original material written specifically for students age 5-12, incorporating themes of listening, community, and individuality. Find out more at </font><a href="http://www.bethegroove.com/content/">http://www.bethegroove.com/content/</a><font color="#000000">.)</font></div><div><font color="#000000" face="arial" size="3"><br></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">"I struggle to find a rhythm sometimes.</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Most times.</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Most days </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">it seems as if different parts of me </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">are moving different ways.</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Like when I'm sitting in class,</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">and my foot's tapping real fast,</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">but my brain is slowly, </font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">falling, </font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">asleep.</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Or when I'm driving to work,</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">and I'm the jerk who's speeding -</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">reading text messages and swearing.</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Not caring that those around me are driving safely,</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><i>but because </i><u style="font-style: italic; ">I'm</u><i> late I think we should <b>all</b> drive 65.</i></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">And the reason I'm late in the first place is because </font></i><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">I didn't set the right pace.</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Like running a race:</font></i><br></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">if you start out too fast </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">by the end </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">you're </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">out </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">of </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">gas.</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">And if you start out too slow...</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">...well, you know. </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">You're not gonna win, right?</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Win the race / Win the fight...</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">...now I call it a fight because when my rhythm's not right</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">and I'm perpetually off-beat</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">my whole life feels like:</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><b>DING!</b></font></font></i><br></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">I wake up and step into the ring </font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">and suddenly I'm ducking and weaving, </font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">footworking,</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">firmly believing I need to <b>beat</b> my opponent </font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">whoever they may be.</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Whether it's teachers, </font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">constantly talking </font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">about math and science and history,</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">or my parents, </font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">always telling me how to be -</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">or anyone else under the sun</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">who gets in between me and my <b>fun</b>.</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">But in truth </font></font></i><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">in, </font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">side I, </font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">realize</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font><font><font class="" size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">I can't always blame it on the other guy because</font></font></font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font><font><font class=""><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">excuses, </font></font></font></font></font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font><font><font class=""><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">tend to, </font></font></font></font></font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font><font><font class=""><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">multiply -</font></font></font></font></font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">it's up to me to open up my eyes and see</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">the world is, </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">always, </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">in time.</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Even when it feels like it's not.</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">So how do we hear that beat and hook in? </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Let <b>go</b> of the belief that we need to win</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Find a flow uptempo or slow</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">so long as it fits</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">and feel when to stop...</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">...</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">and feel when to go.</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Feel when to say yes!</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Feel when to say no.</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font face="arial" color="#000000"><font size="3">Feel when it's right to </font><font size="4">crescendo</font></font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">and feel when the time is right to be </font><font face="arial" color="#000000" size="1">quiet</font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">.</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">When to listen, </font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">when to speak.</font></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">When to sleep </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">and when to eat. </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Sometimes what we need is the space to be alone someplace</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">and sometimes what we need is the sight of a friendly face</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">but we <u>need</u> to know the difference</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">we need to find our rhythm.</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><i><br></i></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><i>And when we finally find it,</i><br></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">frustration fades away</font></i><br></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">and when we're blessed with a beautiful day</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">we're free to step outside and enjoy the sunshine </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">because our homework is done, </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">on time, </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">and we're ready to have fun.</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">So we've moved from being at odds to being at one</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">and when we're happy more than we're not, </font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">we look at our lives and can see there's a lot to be thankful for</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><i>'cuz</i><i> we're not <u>fighting</u> anymore </i></font></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">and we're not always <u>racing</u> out the door</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">it's more like we're making <b>music</b>.</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">And maybe each day is a note.</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">And maybe each year is a song.</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">So the next time you hear a tune you know, </font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">feel free to sing along.</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Don't worry, </font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">you really can't get it wrong</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">so long as you know </font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">what your rhythm </font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">sounds like.</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">To close, I'll tell you how mine goes:</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Now my rhythm is right </font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">so my body fees light</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">'cuz the beats in my hands</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">in my feet</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">in my legs</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">in my chest,</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">my chest,</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">my heart -</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><b>beats</b> </font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">'cuz it knows </font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">that the speed of the cars on the street is the same</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">as the blood in my veins</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">and my pulse doesn't slow</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">but it <u>grows</u> as it flows </font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">through me.</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Moves me.</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Soothes me.</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000">Grooves me."</font></i></div><div style="border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; text-align: center; "><i><font size="3" face="arial" color="#000000"><br></font></i></div><div style="text-align: left;border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font color="#000000" face="arial" size="3">No matter how many times I recited this piece, I always loved performing it. Inevitably I would find some new part of the text to bring to life in performance. I found it easy to engage the kids with this poem because the poem is honest and as the author I believed every word I was saying. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font color="#000000" face="arial" size="3"><br></font></div><div style="text-align: left;border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font color="#000000" face="arial" size="3">I believe that greater self-awareness changes us in ways that ultimately guide us towards deeper satisfaction; I believe music and movement are extremely effective cultivators of this self-insight. </font><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-size: medium; ">As I've grown in my own self-awareness, I've been trying to communicate what I believe more and more every opportunity I get, but my communication has been ad hoc and improvisational, pulling from a diverse and fragmented collection of vocabularies and practices. It's time to step up.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font color="#000000" face="arial" size="3"><br></font></div><div style="text-align: left;border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font color="#000000" face="arial" size="3">With a clear, solid structure of a specific practice to frame my communication I could be really, really good at this kind of work - my desire to do it comes from a loving space inside of me. This loving space inside of me wants to give and also has a clear sense of <u>what</u> it wants to give, it just doesn't yet know <i>how </i>to give. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font color="#000000" face="arial" size="3"><br></font></div><div style="text-align: left;border-width: initial !important; border-color: initial !important; "><font color="#000000" face="arial" size="3">TaKeTiNa is one of many <i>'hows.'</i> It will not be the only practice of this kind I pursue throughout my life, but it is unique in that it is the <b>first</b> one. TaKeTiNa represents a deeper shift within me from a vague sense of "I love music and dance!" to a clear awareness of "I want to use music and movement to help people cultivate self-awareness."</font></div>
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