How to become spectacular, innovative, unforgettable, and poetic:

By Natica Angilly

Creativity is becoming unique, memorable, surprising, and always challenging yourself. The desire to achieve the extraordinary, and your success in fulfilling that desire, may be in knowing a few easy secrets. These old dance secrets may serve as guidelines to help you to become a gifted strategist in all the realms of creative endeavor and innovation. They have been known to be helpful in changing perspective. Consideration of outcome, impact and consequence is now the hottest topic of our new philosophy of "green." A natural connection to ourselves and to the relevance of our creations can be more deeply felt. Common dance dynamics, otherwise known as use of energy forces, may be just the secrets needed to be re-discovered!

Establish, Explore, and Expand are word guides to help set intentions for this challenge in self development and the intent toward the spectacular. All movement looks and communicates differently when its qualities or dynamics are changed. Motion and motivating forces, greater or lesser use of energy by the body while moving in time and space, provides the dynamic. Exploring and expanding dance dynamics such as speed of movement (how fast or slow), contrasting energy forces (intensity - how strong or soft), and spacial emphasis (up-down/out-in/small-bigger), etc., will give you the opportunities and possibilities of the innovative, memorable, and even the spectacular element you may be seeking to become your own best dancer. If a movement series conveys expressive dynamics or qualities it becomes rich and ready for human association and appreciation.

Establish – Exercise the magic: Establish a few of your basic moves, gestures or directives for your dance. Something simple to work with like turns, arm gestures, directed diagonals, moving upstage, and creating some communication with the audience (like a bow) will give you a base for exploration.

Explore: the traditional dynamics of motion or life (such as changes in the speed of your dance). Change or re-new the tension-intensities, attitude (expressive intention), facial connection (approach/level/direction/attention/ intention.) Inflect and test these qualities of movement with each directive until you find the dynamic, or series of dynamics, which seems to give the work a renewed impact, clearer perspective, or intensifies expression or communication.

Expand – Effecting a change: this refreshes or produces a renewed quality that can transform the series or chosen moves into an unusual, unexpected, more visual, more understandable, or more mysterious work. This may help to bring forth the spectacular ! The unexpected is always surprising – keep in mind that the only current "art crimes" are considered to be predictability (boring or inappropriateness.)

Here is an excerpt from a poem by my husband and poet Richard Angilly to help you to inspire the spectacular:

Expand –
what comes?
Expand what comes and see where this takes you!
Jump out –
That's Passion!

What a difference the spice of applying a daily dose of dance dynamic or well directed energy choices might do. With a bit of exploration and consideration of thoughtful expansion, we may all have a more productive and a more appreciated use of our artistic and poetic energies.

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