This is a dance piece performed and choreographed by Jozef
Fruzek and Linda Kapetanea. Jozef was one of my teacher's at the last Ido
Portal movement camp. As a kid I stayed away from gymnastics and dance, partly
of my own doing but also because I allowed others to write my narrative for me.
You are too tall for gymnastics...You are too gangly for dance. It is silly
that we cling to these narratives even as adults, but after working with Ido
Portal for several years I slowly shed these insecurities. Now, I love
gymnastics of all sorts (the acrobatic elements, the rings) and I love to dance
and I find myself craving it more and more. Hopefully, Jozef will be visiting
Flux soon and you will all have an opportunity to learn from him. The sad thing
is, these gendered narratives that are prescribed to young kids are still being
played out. Who is typically drawn to dance? It is mostly thin girls. This is
unfortunate because not only are so many other body types missing from the
realm of dance, but dance itself suffers too. So often I come across dancers
who are not even close to reaching their full potential because they are so
weak. They display little hip drive which is essential to the generation of
power in the lower body and they often cannot support their own upper body
weight. Don't let others tell you or your kids what you should be doing or what
you should be good at. I regret that as a scrawny ass 12 year old I felt that
the world of gymnastics and dance was somehow off limits to me. Write your own
narratives and rewrite the myths.
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