{"id":410,"date":"2014-08-30T20:02:18","date_gmt":"2014-08-30T20:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/?p=410"},"modified":"2014-10-13T00:58:58","modified_gmt":"2014-10-13T00:58:58","slug":"aerial-dance-a-lifelong-pursuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/aerial-dance-a-lifelong-pursuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Aerial Dance = A Lifelong Pursuit"},"content":{"rendered":"
Susan Murphy has had a profound influence on my work in aerial dance, and I am thrilled to introduce her to the AerialDancing.com community.\u00a0 Susan began training with Terry Sendgraff, a gymnast in California who saw potential for expression in the air.\u00a0 Terry is credited with inventing the single point dance trapeze and starting a movement of self expression and healing through aerial dance.\u00a0 As one of her proteges, Susan has performed her work at Lincoln Center and currently tours with Girls on Trapeze, an all-female aerial troupe whose work, Herself Rising, recently won Circus Now’s International Contemporary Circus Exposure competition in 2014. If you’ll be in New York January 8th, 2015, you should check it out! Susan will be performing a solo about her grandmother and great-grandmother with plenty of other fabulous pieces from the company at the show. Also Upcoming: Susan is also hosting a retreat this September 2014<\/a> at her studio. (See the end of the article for more on that!)<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Susan currently teaches at The Marsh Studio<\/a> in Darien, GA.\u00a0 Anyone who has worked with Susan knows that there is so much more to aerial dance than tricks. Susan specializes in bringing the heart and spirit into performance. \u00a0She encourages each individual to find his\/her own voice through movement, and to proudly share it with others. Her ability to inspire students to dig deeply into the soul and express outwardly is incredible, and something I hope to achieve one day in my own teaching.\u00a0 As an aerialist in her 60’s who recently got a hip replacement, she continues to inspire others through her classes, workshops and performances.<\/div>\n
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Please enjoy the following reflection Susan Murphy has written pertaining to the aging process from an aerialist’s point of view, and how she has come to gain new perspective on life. For those of us dreading the aging process, fearing that our work quality will be lessened or lose significance in our lives as we “grow older”, keep reading to be encouraged! Following your dreams is a lifelong pursuit that only grows deeper with years.<\/div>\n
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\"Susan<\/a><\/h2>\n

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The Cup Has Passed to Me<\/h2>\n
\u00a0\u201cWe choose to become what Alice Miller calls \u2018enlightened witnesses\u2019—people who<\/div>\n
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through kindness, tenderness and focused attentive love return folks to themselves. It IS a<\/div>\n
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returning\u2014not a measuring cup. We don\u2019t hold the bar up and ask people to measure up<\/div>\n
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to it. One simply shows up and commits to telling the truth. And so the voices at the<\/div>\n
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margins get heard and the circle of compassion widens. Souls feeling their worth, refusing<\/div>\n
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to forget that we belong to each other. ~Father Gregory Boyle<\/div>\n
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Integrity and authenticity of self influences people and moves them. My life and<\/div>\n
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teaching are becoming one in my 60\u2019s, whereas before, life and occupation often<\/div>\n
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diverged. \u201cIt\u2019s a falling upwards… \u201c…a bright sadness…sad because I now hold the pain<\/div>\n
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of the larger world and brightness because life is somehow still very good. We are now<\/div>\n
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invited to forget ourselves on purpose, cast our awful solemnity to the winds and join in<\/div>\n
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the general dance.\u201d ~ Richard Rohr \u201cFalling Upwards\u201d<\/div>\n
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Dance performance as a second-half-of-life reality can seem daunting as we consider<\/div>\n
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making art with the medium of our bodies. The diminished physicality of painters,<\/div>\n
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writers, sculptors, videographers, photographers, bloggers does not necessarily impinge<\/div>\n
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on their ability to make art, as it does on ours as dancers. Or does it necessarily have<\/div>\n
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to?<\/div>\n
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What better testament to the living presence of our humanity (especially as we age)<\/div>\n
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than the viable model of a teacher\/performer in her 60\u2019s, 70\u2019s, 80\u2019s and even into her<\/div>\n
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90\u2018s~~the model of \u201cstill here\u201d, as Ram Das says. Yes, still here and creating, whether<\/div>\n
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as performer, teacher or both. Granted, it will \u201clook\u201d different and \u201dfeel\u201d different, yet<\/div>\n
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there is the availability of an enlivened Spirit without the ego\u2019s need to be stroked. (The<\/div>\n
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ego is just plumb worn out from all its purposeful and necessary striving.) Haven\u2019t we<\/div>\n
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all felt a vacuous emptiness, watching the flash and dazzle of technical prowess without<\/div>\n
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heart and soul, nuance and tenderness towards the self, the audience and the<\/div>\n
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apparatus? Haven\u2019t we also felt the quiet stirrings of connected tenderness when<\/div>\n
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watching embodied breath-and-intention filled dance…vulnerable, often simple, nothing<\/div>\n
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to prove?<\/div>\n
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A critic from the NY Times, Jennifer Dunning, said about the work of Sally Gross,<\/div>\n
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choreographing in her 70\u2018s: \u201cShe doesn\u2019t go for the great outbursts but perhaps of<\/div>\n
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things remembered. She\u2019s not flailing about or showing too much but you feel it as if<\/div>\n
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there is something burning within. Authentic simplicity is complex without being<\/div>\n
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complicated.\u201d What is that quality, that feeling that stays with us after the lights go<\/div>\n
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down? How long can we simply move on the trapeze with integrity and presence, with<\/div>\n
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that \u201cbright sadness\u201d garnered by the asking, over and over, the questions that we now<\/div>\n
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have time to ask? Because creating from silence takes on a spiritual dimension, I value<\/div>\n
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it as a meditative practice and as a way to start making a dance. And, guess what,<\/div>\n
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young dancers? You can have it all, if you want it! Yes, you can. Creating from that<\/div>\n
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quiet place in the self, giving breath to the fire of your very potent technical skills.<\/div>\n
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As a teacher and performer, I am not competing or trying to WOW! my students. They<\/div>\n
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WOW! me, no question about it. I do love working with that fierce out-there physical<\/div>\n
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virtuosity, making me curious about what turns them on (to their own sweet selves),<\/div>\n
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what brings out their protected underbellies (yet eager to be revealed) and how to find<\/div>\n
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the quiet passion in their body\u2019s voice (of pain, of joy, of love). Having spent weeks of<\/div>\n
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watching and coaching young aerialists at New England Center for Circus Arts, I am<\/div>\n
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convinced anew of their desire to create solos with meaningful content~ creating work<\/div>\n
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with heart and soul, dances that touch their audiences and continue to glow (in<\/div>\n
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themselves, as well) in the aftermath. Yet, it is only when the dancers are asked to go<\/div>\n
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beneath the surface with their intentions that a truer Self steps forth; psychic and<\/div>\n
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physical loins girded with a different power that is art\u2019s arena.<\/div>\n
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~<\/div>\n
\"marsh<\/a><\/div>\n
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Upcoming Retreat Sept. 19-21<\/h2>\n
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Continue to be inspired by Susan Murphy by joining her at her upcoming retreat Sept. 19-21, 2014. It will be a fun, challenging and relaxing weekend to inspire you. Susan will work with you on aerial skills, performance and dance technique, creative improvisation, and choreographic development on the piece of equipment of your choice. If you are interested in character development, Susan would be happy to work with you exploring Archetypes as an inroad to your character. “Archetypes represent fundamental human motifs of our experience as we evolved; consequently, they evoke deep emotions.”<\/div>\n
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Set in the beautiful marshlands of the Georgia coast, you will also have the opportunity to kayak, bike, gather mussels, and relax in a hot tub after a day of aerial play. Also assisting in the workshop is Andrea Fors, a long-time student and now professional teacher and performer in her own right. Andrea moved to Darien from Atlanta where she was co-directing DAIR Aerial Dance Theater. This team has a lot to offer you!<\/div>\n
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What:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/b>Multi-equipment\u00a0Aerial Dance Retreat<\/div>\n
Date<\/strong>: Arrive Friday evening, Sept. 19 – Sunday, Sept. 21<\/span><\/span>. \u00a0(Since we will be working til late afternoon Sunday, you may also spend Sun. night and have more time in the studio.)<\/div>\n
Cost:<\/strong> \u00a0$ 445, includes 9 hours of aerial class time, a 30 minute private lesson with Andrea or me, all meals, and accommodations. \u00a0($250 deposit to hold your space; refundable up to 2 weeks before the Retreat.) \u00a0Payment arrangements can be made. Andrea will also be available for private lesson in lyra or fabric.<\/div>\n
Place:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0The Marsh Studio, between Savannah, GA and Jacksonville, Fla. \u00a0(Directions upon registration.)<\/div>\n
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Send a check to:<\/div>\n
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Susan<\/span> Murphy<\/div>\n
1258 Blue Heron Ln., SE<\/div>\n
Darien, GA 31305<\/div>\n
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There are only a few spots left, so reserve your spot as soon as possible!
\nMore information can be found here. <\/a><\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Susan Murphy has had a profound influence on my work in aerial dance, and I am thrilled to introduce her to the AerialDancing.com community.\u00a0 Susan began training with Terry Sendgraff, a gymnast in California who saw potential for expression in the air.\u00a0 Terry is credited with inventing the single point dance trapeze and starting a … Continue reading “Aerial Dance = A Lifelong Pursuit”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-articles","category-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":441,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410\/revisions\/441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}