‘The hand is the cutting edge of the mind’, said Jacob Bronowski.

So too the foot for circus artist, Roxana Kuwen, who confounds our expectations in her performances. You’ll find the one below posted on the FB page. Many thanks Moondance!

How we see the world is an interesting issue. We see a foot and a hand and they often have a range of possibilities that are rather solidly defined. What if that range of possibilities were converted to probabilities rather than the ‘concrete facts’ that are so often the basis of our perceived limitations?

How do we create the stillness necessary to go with our limitations and explore their full potential? In my experience, people (myself included!) have a tendency to look at their limitations in isolation and then struggle against them. We tend to compare ourselves to people such as Roxana or Sylvie Guillem and seek to imitate in five minutes what has for them been a lifetime of practice.

Perhaps if we begin with where we are - if we allow our limitations to be there unchallenged .. and look for other connections we may find something that is unique and satisfying. So I invite you to look at the photos above and below as inspiration rather than an ultimatum ..

The connection between the hands, feet and face create a wealth of possibilities ..

The diagonal connections we have been exploring this past few weeks can be seen so clearly here .. from front to back .. from hip to either shoulder .. and from hand or face to either foot.

The endless possibilities of movement can shape our sense of self and world. How does this happen?

Over thirty years of practice I still find that discovering new degrees of freedom in movement feels like opening into an ocean of new potential.

The traditional owners of the land now called Australia have a conviction that the ceremonial songs and dances they perform maintain their world. It’s an idea shared by many indigenous cultures. Those songs and dances are sacred, secret and ceremonially passed between generations.

To learn them a child would leave their home for weeks and learn a new language to speak its significance. It is an immersive experience with responsibility for certain songs and dances shared amongst the community.

Perhaps they were onto something ..

Movement has meaning and magic. It shapes space and creates form ..

So this week we’ll consider our hands and feet as extensions of our inner experience. We’ll coax that beauty within and consider the shape of our spaces, the dynamism of our arches and the strength and precision of our limbs

It’s often the simple things that are the doorway to the most beautiful openings

It’s finding that path of least resistance that takes you to the source of your garden.

Now heres a thought .. what if that command to leave the garden was actually more of an observation? Perhaps the gate has always been open ..

This blog post relates to the 9th lesson in the Central Limb series. You can find that lesson by clicking here

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The Central Limb 9 - Conducting with the hands and feet