Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Life, Music, One Hoop, Suffering, Wisdom.
Tags: Peter Sellars, politics, pundits, theatre, World Theatre Day
Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent or Great Lent!
“Two years of COVID-19 have dimmed people’s senses, narrowed people’s lives, broken connections, and put us at a strange ground zero of human habitation.
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What seeds need to be planted and replanted in these years, and what are the overgrown, invasive species that need to be fully and finally removed? So many people are on edge. So much violence is flaring, irrationally or unexpectedly. So many established systems have been revealed as structures of ongoing cruelty.”*
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– Peter Sellars, Theatre, Opera and Festival Director, World Theatre Day Message Author 2022
During a really lovely conversation with one of my yoga-buddies, she shared her father’s view of modern politics and politicians. It’s a view very similar to the view of life that William Shakespeare shared in As You Like It: “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts.” I can, unfortunately, see that in a way I never could before these last few years. However, when it comes to referring to certain television pundits as entertainment I have to push back. For sure, the people in question are not journalists – even when they are considered by some as a primary source of news. But, as someone who spent twenty-plus years in the performing arts and entertainment industry, I get a little prickly about the comparison.
And this is where I (kind of) get caught in my own logic.
Entertainers tell stories. They tell our stories; as art imitates life. Sometimes they tell us stories of people we’ve never met and will never meet, but immediately recognize. Sometimes they tell us stories in a way that allows us to recognize ourselves, maybe even in a way we never would have without the fourth wall. Entertainers tell the stories of the world. And live theatre is a collection of archeologists, sociologists, and psychologists – tossed together in a social experiment-cum-ritual.
You may look at the above description and, while thinking of certain political pundits that I may or may not have been alluding, think, ‘Well, that description kind of fits.’ Except – and this is a big caveat – when we show up to watch theatre, we consent to be part of the social experiment, part of the ritual. We show up with the intention and expectation of being amused (which is part of the original meaning of the word “entertainment”). We show up with the intention and expectation of focusing and paying attention to the ideas and stories presented before us (which is also part of the original meaning). We show up planning to have our emotions manipulated.
In fact, that is part of the ritual, part of the original meaning of the word “entertainment,” and part of the social contract when we come together (even virtually): The performers will make us feel a certain way in order to make us think a certain way. As we feel and as we think, we also start to process our stories and the stories around us.
Theatre, like journalism, comes with a certain responsibility. So, while I can (unfortunately) see how politics is theatre and people sometimes consider political pundits entertainers, I push back out of respect for all those professionals entertainers who take on the responsibility, because they understand the power of art to inform as well as to amuse. Today, which is World Theatre Day, I also celebrate those professionals – onstage, backstage, and in the front-of-house – who help us make sense of ourselves and the world around us. Theatre is one of our universal rituals and today, maybe more than ever, we need our rituals.
“Where are our ceremonies of remembrance? What do we need to remember? What are the rituals that allow us at last to reimagine and begin to rehearse steps that we have never taken before?
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The theater of epic vision, purpose, recovery, repair, and care needs new rituals.”
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– Peter Sellars, Theatre, Opera and Festival Director, World Theatre Day Message Author 2022
Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, March 27th) at 2:30 PM. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “04242021 All Sides of the Story”]
NOTE: Due to artist protests, one song may not play on Spotify. As I support artists in their efforts to bring about change, I am not re-mixing affected playlists.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
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### Mono no aware ###
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Bhakti, Changing Perspectives, Daoism, Dharma, Donate, Faith, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Meditation, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Movies, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Suffering, Taoism, Texas, Twin Cities, Vairagya, Wisdom, Writing.
Tags: Brett Bailey, cherry blossoms, mono no aware, sakura, Shahid Nadeem, streaming yoga, World Theatre Day, yoga, Zoom
“We gather to weep and to remember; to laugh and to contemplate; to learn and to affirm and to imagine”
– Brett Bailey, Stage Director from South Africa, World Theatre Day Message Author 2014
In As You Like It, William Shakespeare famously wrote, “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts.” Art imitates life, which sometimes imitates art (because art can inform our lives). That overlap between inspiration, those being inspired, and those creating the inspiration is one of the beautiful things about art. It’s what makes art alive.
Today, however, the theatres are dark. The front of house is empty. There are no children, über-fans, or well-heeled patrons waiting in the green room, the wings, or at the stage door. On the big stages, there is only a single “ghost light” in place to make sure no one falls in the pit . . . and yet, social distancing means there is no one in danger of falling in the pit. It’s heartbreaking for so many artists and dedicated audience members, and people like me. For most of my adult life, before I started teaching yoga, my professional life was spent behind the scenes – quite literally keeping track of exits and entrances. I worked on legit theatre, musical theatre, dinner theatre, classical and modern dance, as well as opera and musical revues. I worked in different parts of the world; with artists from all of the world, and Friday night was always a big night.
Even if one company was in rehearsals or in a layoff period on Friday, another theatre was performing. Theatres are usually dark on Monday nights. Not Friday nights. Especially not this particular Friday night, as it happens to be World Theatre Day. Since it was initiated in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute, World Theatre Day has been celebrated on March 27th by performing artists all over the world. Today, many theatres will not celebrate. Others have moved their celebration online.
Each year, an artist is selected from a different host country to write a message about theatre’s enduring role in the world community. This year’s message was written by Shahid Nadeem, Pakistan’s leading playwright and the head of the renowned Ajoka Theatre, who partially focused on the spiritual and transcendental power of theatre.
“Our planet is plunging deeper and deeper into a climatic and climactic catastrophe and one can hear the hoof-beats of the horses of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. We need to replenish our spiritual strength; we need to fight apathy, lethargy, pessimism, greed and disregard for the world we live in, the Planet we live on. Theatre has a role, a noble role, in energizing and mobilizing humanity to lift itself from its descent into the abyss. It can uplift the stage, the performance space, into something sacred.”
– Shahid Nadeem, Playwright from Pakistan, World Theatre Day Message Author 2020
It’s weird (and heartbreaking) to think no one in my former role will be asking people to turn off their cellular devices – unless someone jokes about the fact that so many tonight will be watching their “theatre” on their cellular devices. It’s weird (and heartbreaking) to think something I have always taken for granted is suddenly not existing as it did.
And yet, if I learned nothing else from doing live theatre, I definitely learned about the temporal nature of things. Everything changes. That’s one of the beautiful – and also one of the most challenging – things about live theatre. It is always changing. You can have the best, most exhilarating performance of your life, followed by one where everything is just a little off. You can have a horrible final dress rehearsal, followed by a standing ovation on opening night. As a professional – onstage and backstage, as well as front of house – part of the job is to stay in the moment.
Staying in the moment requires being fully present with everyone and everything in the moment. We can look back later and work on fixing what went wrong. We can marvel at the unscripted audience reaction we want to figure out how to cultivate again and again. But, right here and right now it is time to turn up the music, turn down the lights, and breathe. The curtain is going up on this day in our lives, and what happens next can be (will be) simultaneously beautiful and heartbreaking. Like the cherry blossoms (sakura).
Flashback Friday: Today in 1912, First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda Iwa, wife of the Japanese ambassador to the United States, each planted a cherry blossom tree on the north bank of the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park. These trees were part of a larger shipment of cherry blossoms meant to replace the ones initially given as a gift of friendship between the two countries. Normally, at this time of year, thousands of people can be found in D. C. celebrating the brilliance of these trees, just as thousands normally celebrate in parts of Japan and China. Normally….But, today the cherry blossoms are in bloom, while most people are inside, watching the beauty on their screens.
In Japan the fact that blossoms peak at one end of the island at the same time the blossom season is ending on another part of the island is a great illustration of mono no aware (literally “the pathos of things” of “sadness of things”). The fact that we can see this beauty even as we are socially distancing might also be considered the “sadness of things.” However, that very literally translation doesn’t quite work in English because it almost precludes appreciation of the beauty. The Japanese phrase is about simultaneously holding/celebrating/appreciating the beauty and the pain of the change that brings loss. Please check out the following links if you are interested in reading my take on mono no aware as it relates to YIN Yoga (April 5, 2017) or the physical practice of yoga and meditation (April 8, 2019). NOTE: While both posts include a bit of practice, only the 2017 includes a complete (YIN Yoga) practice.
Right now, I am appreciating the beauty of being able to share this practice online. I am also very much aware that this too shall change; however, I endeavor to stay in the moment. With that said, I am currently planning to host 7 online classes as follows:
MONDAY 5:30 – 6:45 PM for Common Ground
TUESDAY 12:00 – 1:00 PM & 7:15 – 8:30 PM (both) for Nokomis Yoga
WEDNESDAY 4:30 – 5:30 PM for Nokomis Yoga & 7:15 – 8:15 PM for Flourish
SATURDAY 12:00 – 1:30 PM (Nokomis)
SUNDAY 2:30 – 3:30 PM (Nokomis)
Everyone is welcome to join any class (although you will need to register in advance for the Flourish class). All online classes will currently be on ZOOM and I will post the meeting IDs on my “class schedule” late Friday afternoon. Each class will have a different ID, but that ID will be the same each week.
If you are new to yoga or new to vinyasa, please send me a message (myra at ajoyfulpractice.com) before joining the group. I apologize to my YIN Yoga folks, but at this time I am not streaming any full YIN practices, I will, however, continue to post or link you to the practice.
Those who are able may purchase or renew a package on my online store. Anyone can also make a donation (in lieu of a package) to Common Ground Meditation Center. (Donations are tax deductible.) If you plan to purchase a Nokomis Package please note that there is a discounted package for students, seniors, Healthcare Providers, and First Responders.
I want you to practice; so don’t let any financial issues be an obstacle you can’t get over! If you need it, I got you.
### AS WE SAY IN BALLET, MERDE ###
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A Joyful Practice 