Kickstarter

Hello My Dearest Kickstarter Angels!!

The last couple months have been absolutely blitzing...but totally and completely exciting.  I will be going to Italy next week to share the Every BODY Can Dance message with the dancers at the International La Luna Dance Camp, in Ancona, Italy.  And then, in August, I will be presenting yet another, OFFICIAL FREE Anatomy For Dancers(T-shirts, etc, the whole shebang) workshop in NYC...exact dates to come soon!  The response to these workshops have been outstanding, and only make me more intent on sharing the message and spreading good, solid info to the community!

To that end, I have just teamed up with my good friend, Chris Duncan of Sydney, Australia.  She is the owner and president of DanceLIFE, which is the biggest online dance resource in Australia.  I will be one of her contributing writers, and will be publishing content from the Anatomy workshops, for the entire community to access.  Please take a moment to see what your generosity has made possible...its wonderful and extraordinary, and I continue to thank you endlessly!!

http://www.dancelife.com.au/anatomy-for-dancers/

So our first workshop on May 13th...went exceptionally well.  The group was small and intimate, but the feedback and response was invaluable.  I am already in the process of taking the info from our first workshop and re-working details for the next one.  In addition, I recently had the pleasure of sharing the "Every BODY Can Dance" method with dancers in Vienna, Austria...and Paris, France, and let me say that the reception was fantastic!!  A couple quotes from a participant from our last workshop!!

"the way you demonstrated them and how you brought these from movement and dance (and not by relying on dance terminology per se. I don't share that, so whenever people start using those terms, I'm off.) The examples were vivid and memorable."

"the straightforwardness of the format and the clarity of the goals. The idea that we're learning vocabulary. Going through a list of terms. I felt like I was developing a more precise or nuanced way of looking at/thinking about movement and the body."

Overall, I am most excited about the possibility of using dance itself to make anatomical concepts relatable and accessible, in a way that makes people excited to learn about the inner workings of their fantastic machines!! 

The last couple months have been such an incredible journey for me!  Wow...working with Jason was so enlightening in so many ways.  In my outside case studies I interviewed dancers who were wheelchair bound, with disabilities, age limitations, weight restrictions...and I am only further convinced that dance is for EVERY BODY!!  The more that we know and understand the human anatomy, the more we realize the human capacity for motion, breath, rhythm and DANCE!

I cannot express to you in words, how grateful I am to have had your support and participation behind this project.  And as I now start to move into the workshop phase, the project is really now JUST BEGINNING...my goal from the outset has always been to empower dancers through education and knowledge.  Now through Jason's research and expertise, my own technical knowledge and interviews...I feel confident that in the coming months and years, we will be able to present something of profound value to the community.  

I will now be taking the project into the next phase, which involves three parts.  First, is the access to the anatomical knowledge, the nitty gritty details, what muscle goes where, what bone attaches at which joint, etc.  Dancers need to be able to approach this information in a way that is fun and not overwhelming.  Jason has a phenomenal way of breaking down incredibly complex ideas and concepts into understandable nuggets.  While my research with Jason was VERY thorough and covered EVERY muscle and bone in the body...I will choosing the parts of the body that are most critical to a dancer.  

Secondly, the method of relating this information to dance students is key...and I believe dance itself can be used to teach people about their bodies.  This is something that I feel is rather innovative and unique...unlike an anatomy class where you learn out of a book, I propose to use dance as the tool for learning.  I think that this method will allow the average dancer to retain far more information, because it pertains directly to their body in an experiential way.  Have you ever noticed how someone who has knee surgery suddenly becomes an expert on the mechanics of the knee joint?  So my question is, why wait until the damage has been done to educate ourselves about our instruments?

Lastly, once people are aware of the peculiarities of their unique, individual bodies...we are then able to find ways in which they are able to move most effectively within the vessel that they have been blessed with.  This is when we truly start to demonstrate that EVERY BODY can dance!! PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO: http://abcnews.go.com/US/video?id=8246927

All that to say, my work is far from over...but the initial phase is drawing to a close.  I am so excited give a full update as to our first workshop on Sunday, May 13th, at Manhattan JCC from 9-12 noon...if any of the sponsors are in the area and would like to attend as honored guests, please email me and I will give you all the specific details.  Once again...thank you from the bottom of my heart...you are angels!

Ryan

Just a little update for all beloved sponsors...

The project is going along really well, we are putting together the first draft of the syllabus this week! The focus of the project has taken a slight turn in direction and is now looking at how dance teachers can use dance education to inform and educate their students about anatomy, in a way that is exciting, engaging and not "information overload." We are calling it the "Sesame Street" approach, teaching students anatomy through dance, educating them about their anatomical structure in a way that doesn't feel like "learning." Our hope is that teachers who start to embrace this method themselves, will then have the tools to start reaching out to people who currently have no connection to dance...the every BODY can dance component. In any case we are very happy and excited by the progress we have made thus far. 

ANATOMY TIP OF THE DAY: ANATO-SPEAK!

So with this open-minded, no-fear approach to learning, one of the first, and biggest,  hurdles is engaging people in the language of anatomy.  In essence, its simply a far more articulate way of describing the body's geography.  "Anato-speak" is really like learning a new language, but once you master a few basics, words and phrases that sounded so foreign, suddenly start to make a whole lot more sense....so lets look at an example.

LATERAL AND MEDIAL: This might seem obvious to some people, but for many it might be an eye-opener.  Whenever you see the words "Lateral" or "Medial"...it is a like a direction marker.  If you drew a line down the middle of your body so you looked like a half-n-half, this would be your "mid-line."  Now imagine you are standing with your arms at your sides. Which is closer to the "mid-line," your right hip or your right elbow?  The hip is closer...and therefore "Medial" while the elbow is "Lateral."  See? Not so confusing!!  OK now, lets look at your RIGHT knee joint.  You have two ligaments on either side of the knee joint that keep your bones in place.  The one on the right side of your knee is called the "Lateral Collateral Ligament."  The one on the left side of your RIGHT knee is called the "Medial Collateral Ligament."  Now that we know this, when someone says "laterally rotate in the hip joint" a light bulb appears...hmmmmm, this is what dancers commonly refer to as "turning out!"  As Oprah says, "this might be an Ah Ha moment" for you.  The idea is not to suddenly become an anatomy expert overnight...but little by little we can start to talk about our body in a more articulate way, move past the fear and discomfort of  "Anato-speak," and enjoy a deeper understanding of what is really going on underneath our skin!