May 2020 update

I am so happy to check in and report that after a couple of months of lockdown, we are finally back in the studio on Thursday nights with REAL LIVE DRUMMING and BEAUTIFUL SHINING FACES smiling back at me, as we share this beautiful experience of music and dance together.  On my first night back, about mid-way through the warm up, I had a good look in the mirror at my dance whanau behind me, and I had tears of joy welling up in my eyes to be with these beautiful dancers who I love, once again! To be back sharing what I love with other humans in person! How much I have missed this immersive experience of connectivity each week! The live drums inspiring and awakening us, the movers moving, and the joy overwhelming me in the best way possible in a wave of emotion!  There is nothing in the world like the collective experience of expressive movement and music!  Dance is life!  

Lockdown was such a huge change after the great high of Newtown Festival with 80,000 in the street partying down in our dance neighbourhood. Suddenly being at home in solitude with our families/bubbles and connecting with a screen both keeping us together and dividing us was such a stark contrast.

It has been a new experience of zooming Moringa Dance classes and practices and also getting to experience some new enriching classes with international artists from around the world, making the world a smaller place and connecting with the international drumming and dance community. During that time, I also participated offering free workshops in online versions of International Dance Day festivities held by International Dance Day Wellington and El Barrio Latino Bar, and shared some of our performance videos to keep the teams inspired for the virtual Relay for Life event line up, and offering virtual dance and yoga workshops in the Shift-It Collective.  

I am continuing to make zooming into live classes available as long as I have interest in this option in our dance community, so please be in touch if you are still staying home or even just logistically find it easier to dance from home! Zooming in is a koha-based experience, and I am also now offering an option of affordable koha for my live classes as well for anyone who is lacking funds in this unprecedented time.  

I am so grateful to be in New Zealand in this wild time of history.

Sending much love to all of you.

Stay safe and be strong! 

Yours in Rhythm & Dance,

Jenny