Tides, Amidst An Ever-Present Love
“Dancing is not just getting up painlessly, like a leaf blown on the wind; dancing is when you tear your heart out and rise out of your body to hang suspended between the worlds” - Rumi
Jennifer Archibald’s world premier, Tides, debuted on Ballet West this November, eight months into the Coronavirus pandemic. The audience was socially distanced and masked, the dancers were also masked with only dancers in relationships partnering together. This creation was surreal, but also soul nourishing to watch.
The dark bare stage invoked a meditative quality. The opening is set to the track, Placeless, by Kronos Quartet, Mahsa Vahdat which features beautiful Persian singing of the words of the great mystical poet, Rumi. Rumi is possibly the most widely recognized Sufi poet. Sufism is a mystical form of Islam, and emphasizes the inward search for God. The Sufis practiced meditation and dance as means to access the divine.
Through meditation and dance, one can at times detach from form and identity, and in a way, become placeless. Through this placelessness, one can access a collective consciousness. Archibald’s choreography reflects a strong love of movement and in this way the ballet feels like a divine offering.
Her musical choices continue to reflect a connection with a collective or divine consciousness. The next tracks used in the ballet are Impossible Shamanic Voices, featuring the haunting melody of Mongolian throat singing, and Medicine Chant. Many shamanic practices involve working with psychedelics which are referred to as “the medicine.” Ayahuasca has been used for generations in South American countries for healing ceremonial practices and has recently gained popularity in the US. The active component in ayahuasca being DMT, which is referred to as the spirit molecule and is said to activate the pineal gland, or third eye.
“Close both eyes to see with the other eye” - Rumi
The medicine offers insights and understandings not previously accessible as more neural pathways begin to open in the brain. Clinical trials are now validating the use of psychedelics for various treatments, including for depression (recent publication by Johns Hopkins Medicine), addiction, PTSD, and for terminally ill patients who are afraid of death. This past week, Oregon became the first state to legalize psilocybin for mental health treatments.
Many claim that while on the medicine they experienced the most overwhelming sense of love they’ve ever felt. This kind of transcendental experience has been healing and therapeutic for many. It has been my experience as well. As my sense of self and form fell away, I felt a sense of love, compassion, and connection to all things. I have also had this experience while in meditation. I am you. You are me. We are one. And we are love.
During the past months of political unrest, there was a meme circling the internet that said “cops need to do ayahuasca.” Perhaps it’s not a bad idea for all of us. As Marianne Williamson would say, we must return to love. Dance, meditation, and even psychedelics are means to connect us, and help us awaken to our oneness.
Archibald’s beautiful work felt so appropriate for this time and encapsulated everything I love about ballet. Ballet can be a prayer. It can be an offering to something greater. It can speak to our collective humanity which experiences ongoing tides, internal and external, and express our true nature: to live from the heart. To be love. Archibald’s choreography shows us a love that is powerful, strong, and commanding.
Movement is medicine. Dance and meditation are medicine, they help us transcend this plane where we can get caught up in pettiness, divisiveness, and judgement. Archibald’s ballet felt like a visceral and embodied prayer for humanity. Certain arm gestures seemed to frustratingly ask, why are we not living from the heart? Why is there violence? Why is there prejudice and hate? The piece felt like a beautiful heartfelt cry for love, passion, and strength during these uncertain times. It was almost as if Archibald was asking the audience to remember the timeless wisdom and love that resides within the hearts of all humanity. We are placeless, together. We ride the tides, together.
Note from Jennifer Archibald:
Emptying. Filling. Emptying again.
The tide is constantly in a state of change.
Could this be true to our interior tides? Our emotional state?
Respecting the rhythms of its mystery.
To notice that it’s not about being full or empty,
But it will change again.