Today's musing/offering on the blog is inspired by Audrey Johnson's amazing improvisation class online this morning through Shawl-Anderson Dance Center. Thank you Audrey! (Read her piece on the blog about improvisation here.)

I loved Audrey's class and all of the spirals we explored – big and small, body parts, traveling in space, and emanating outward and inward. It reminded me of my love of this simple theme in all of my dance work – as a mover, as a teacher, and as a writer. Today I wanted to share a few of the ways that spirals show up in our dance life.

Please join me, and add ideas below in the Comments section! Thank you.

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Robert Smithson and the Spiral Jetty

Ironic that we explored spirals today, as many months ago I had hoped to be in Salt Lake City this weekend to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Robert Smithson's "Spiral Jetty" piece in the Great Salt Lake. I have evoked this image many times over the years though have never experienced it in person.

Screenshot respectfully taken from the Utah Museum of Fine Arts website

 

More Images of Spirals

In addition to Smithson's art, I keep a Pinterest board of various images of spirals. I love using Pinterest boards in my teen dance classes as visual references. We used this board in years past when doing a spiral-themed comp assignment.

 

A Movement Poem

Back in the spring, I wrote a series of 52 poems to inspire daily movement explorations while in quarantine. Here is one of them with spiraling in it! Enjoy. Read the full description here.

 

A Children's Book

Lastly, do you teach creative dance to children? I am reminded of this wonderful picture book, Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature by Joyce Sidman and illustrator Beth Krommes. Consider using it as a springboard in one of your dance classes in the coming weeks.

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