Dance, and the Gate
each teacher stands at a gate,
the student on one side,
and the empowering wealth
of world upon world
on the other side,
accessible to those who find the way
from where they are to where they could be,
a gifted teacher can see both sides of the gate
and find hopeful paths to link the potential to the possible,
this afternoon I received a great gift
of sharing more than an hour with five dance teachers,
who have spent 50+ years of teaching dance at Carolina Friends School,
the visiting allowing the vision and practical realities of the past
to suggest what the future might need,
there is a charge, a burden, and joy
in maintaining tradition and still finding ever new ways
to help those at the gate move forward with confidence and flair,
throughout our visit, I am heartened by the stories,
by how well each dance teacher has listened
to the vision of possible paths
and found how to let the student and the ways forward
find themselves in harmony,
our bodies move upon the world
and we often call that intentional movement dance,
the way the inner designer
moves across the world
expressing self in the physical,
in using the physical to open doors to revelation,
from the simplicity of just walking in beauty
to the release of rightness and meaning
in what the soul choreographs and expresses
with intention and the power of self.
by Henry H. Walker
June 30, ‘21
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