Here are some notes from the Global Underscore in Buffalo, NY:
window reoccurring window
almost everyone spent time looking out the window
I was under the impression that through most of the underscore everyone was in a different part of the underscore
ether
chairs
laughter
sound effects
broom
instruments
use of space !?
I noticed how space is used differently in the underscore vs. the usual jams held in the same studio
John at column
later Aaron at column
Kelly with drum on her face
lots of solos
what was said:
"went fast"
"lost"
"you almost cracked my shell open"
"liked idiot button option"
"awareness in body felt new"
"waiting for an engagement to happen"
"meditation journey"
As the last event of a weeklong Dance Improvisation Fest produced by Columbia College Dance Center and Links Hall (organized by dancer/improviser Lisa Gonzales and others), Nancy and Mike hosted the Global Underscore 2011 in Chicago.
The talk-thru (Saturday) and Underscore (Sunday) took place in Columbia’s pleasant, spacious, “black box” theater—a wide, Marley-covered floor space with about 10 rows of comfortable raked seating rising from the floor level. Our dance encompassed the full room. Mike had a grand piano on the stage/floor area along with other instruments and electronics. 35 dancers gathered from Chicago and further afield to practice together. We were excited to be joining everyone in this worldwide mostly-simultaneously practice of the Underscore.
We had a computer set up on a standing podium near the Underscore pages and maps, where people could—during the dancing portions of the Underscore—stop by and jot down a “real-time harvest” image or thought. Then, after the Final Resolution, we shared harvest while Clare Tallon and Hope Goldman scribed furiously into the laptop. Both harvests, and the list of names, are below.
Thank you, Claire Filmon, for creating this Global Solstice Underscore, and thank you Jesse and Dey for making it happen so lightly and joyfully this year.
And thanks to everyone for jumping into the score on such short notice. Amazing!
Love to you all,
Nancy
PARTICIPANTS
Nancy Stark Smith (Florence, MA), Mike Vargas (Florence, MA), Laura Swedenborg (Ashtabula, OH), Hope Goldman (Chicago), Chantelle Hougland (Urbana, IL), Alysha Perrin (High Point, NC), Nicole Alexis Klein (Die, Drôme, France), Noam Frankel (Chicago), Laura Sova (Chicago), Carly Czach (Chicago), Keland Scher (Chicago), Mars Miquelon (Mazomanie, WI), Debbie Safeblack [sp?] (Chicago), Rachel Brezis (Chicago), Allison Smith (Chicago), Heather Good (Madison, WI), Michael Carrico (Chicago), Keisha Turner (NYC & Illinois), Kori Martodam (Chicago), Tihana Jovanic (Ashburn, VA), Rossi Dimikonova (Chicago), Travis Robb (Chicago), Kate Fiello (Chicago), Chad Cole (Mount Prospect, IL), Holly Jaycox (Battle Ground, IN), Rek Kwawer (Madison, WI), Ray Chung (San Francisco, CA), Andrew Brightman (Battle Ground, IN), Rob Welcher (Chicago), Jason Seymour (David Lakein) (Berlin), Jija Sohn (Williamsport, IN; Amsterdam, NL), Ingrid Skoog (Bloomington, IN), Clare Tallon Ruen (Evanston, IL), Lindsay Reich (Wilmette, IL), Daniel Halkin (Chicago, IL)
Real-time Harvest
12:43 we transition from pow-wow to bathroom, stretching, early preambulating. We are 35 in the room. And off we go.
Joy feat play ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Sacred v ordinary. Poetic v mundane. Holding space for both at all times.
Stretching v dancing. Dancing v dancing w Mike music: making every move seem important, intended, poetic, fluffy, deep
What does it mean in this context to cause a R
Some people did small dance for 10 minutes or more.
Home
One eager. One tearful. Manybeingwheretheyare.
As we stood facing Buffalo, at first, I imagined a string running through each of our cores and gradually twisting into one rope just outside this room; that rope ran to Buffalo, where it unwound and each string connected to a person there then twisted into the rope again past their room. That rope twisted and untwisted its way around the world and back through us. Eventually, I imagined that it was pure energy and light that connected all of us.
When facing east with the rest of my comrades in this circle I felt very warm. My temperature and energy rose.
The power of stillness to unite holds such beauty.
What is it about that which is unfamiliar to us, which often sends us—whether near or far—a distance away…?
Per me a b l e
Hey ho n away we go
I
How could I think that I can’t live without this
WHAT’S ALL THE DEDICATION TO HARMONY AND SIDESTEPPING OF DISHARMONY?
I bowed at 3:00 because it felt like a beautiful moment.
Silence fills the room, the clearest sound: Patience.
Random is beautiful. Almost falling makes me happy.
There is so much beauty in fear aosnocasbp9ah9ah\jshqvpweh
It is generous to fall….
Raw
Every person has the ability to connect with another. ‘Connecting’ is exclusive to no one. You just have to be open to it.
The silence of the harvest
After the hefty grazing,
They rest like monkeys in the sun,
With no predators in sight
Dancing in red lipstick for the first time, for some flair under the white-cold LED’s of the Columbia stage studio. Wondering half a dozen times: “Is it all over my face?” Thankful for the serendipitous wearing of black sleeves.
Post-dancing HARVEST/SHARING:
(Holding Mike’s big baby toy “instrument” as a talking stone.)
Keland: so many moments of beauty that I thought I was done crying and I started again. I felt so grateful and appreciative to be home after a break. How did I think I could do that [take a break]
Ray: Can’t think of a better way to spend my first visit to Chicago.
Kori: it was so great to be able to dance so un-self consciously, it usually takes me a week of festival
Chad: my first week of CI and I finally found something I’ve been searching for my whole life
Nancy: I really loved those sparse piano chords Mike played in the beginning—one chord and then let a lot of time passed and then another one. Linked in an irregular and deeply satisfying way. I also observed for awhile, 3/4 of the way through, and I felt very engaged: I was watching a city, an environment of engaged, erratic, irregular, yet porous individuals and events. I felt interested and fully engaged.
Mike: it was about 3 o clock when I looked up, and I had to bow cause it was beautiful. I guess we kind of live for those moments. I guess everyone’s more or less ok, doing what they want to be doing; seems like a pretty good deal
Rosie: I’m very grateful what you taught us yesterday, the container, I felt that today, to connect to people so seamlessly, to allow the moment to happen by itself. It was graceful. At one point I thought I was dancing with someone…but ended up I was dancing with someone else.
Mars: I want to say…the permeability of sacred and mundane. I had to plug the parking meter, but I also organize workshops and Nancy I just wanted to thank you because when you came to Mazo three years ago you mentioned this. And I struggle much less now than I did then about the permeability of the sacred and mundane; that practice has really helped me.
Laura: I didn’t know anybody when I got here…now I feel I do
Rob: I was with several of you at Martin’s workshop. 5 kinds of contact dancers: wind in your face, and river of sensation. How do I choose those dances based on choosing certain partners, interesting
Michael: so many different people, so many different dances, you expect stability and get softness and vice versa, you expect softness and you get this strength. Some of the smallest things can take up a whole dance, fingertips
Keisha: I was filled with gratitude for this practice, especially when we faced Buffalo, I had an energetic circle around the globe. Also a lot of gratitude, I didn’t know anybody before this day and I suddenly had someone’s legs around my neck…
Lindsey: this is wonderful. I had a rough long morning before I came and you all are wonderful
Rachel: Moment in the skinesphere noticing the reflections of the people on the [Marley] floor … that was very powerful when connecting to the ground. I thought the facing was also powerful, I was thinking of facing Jerusalem, [the way we do as Jews sometimes when we pray] it was powerful to think someone was facing my way
Andrew: I enjoyed Telescoping Awareness, catching someone’s eyes across the room
David/Jason: armpits, mystery woman, never too much water, one with the curtain.
Daniel: very satisfying to have the time to go through many different states and see other people go through many states, dances evolve. Things that built up, people standing and watching, and that became a thing
Heather: walking into the room and I had a strong sense of nostalgia and I had to work through that for the first part, just to be here with the loveliness of now. I had my list of people I had to dance with, I had to let go of that craving, this is it! My 4 hours AAAAhh it was better than nostalgia—it was real!
Holly: I was really aware of this group of people with whom I’ve have varying levels of experience—some I’ve danced with and known for years, others very little—it created another texture, dancing also with people I didn’t know—in Boulder and Buffalo.
Alison: at one point I was spinning next to the curtain, it was cool, physics is surprising, and lots of people were walking and then they weren’t, they were all quiet
Noah: my first experience with scheduled/organized contact, it was very challenging physically and emotionally to stay engaged in magical or mundane. The talk yesterday helped be prepared for anything. This was Really fun.
Laura: I thought this would be a class but it became [a different kind of learning] and YAY, I did a supported handstand flip!
Ingrid: I loved the musical accompaniment. I loved it. My car was taken this morning and then returned. I came into the Underscore with a big knot in my chest. The first dance untied my knot
Matthew: I came in feeling the Gap big time and some experiences gave me a reframe for that—sometimes bringing me out of the gap and sometimes following me down the rabbit hole
Clare: I felt like a star in a movie with everyone—largely the music felt really cool…a summer block buster –
Hope: I was able to let go of a lot of fear, largely that when I dance with someone I can really just be myself, not expect anything of myself. I was paralyzed to take your class at Bates, so it feels really freeing to have this catharsis, to feel liberated.
Kate: I was worried, can I keep up? Nancy said “don’t worry!” and it almost immediately dissolved, it was lovely
Alysha: having a conversation with an untrained dancer about connection, they wished they could have that connection with people that dancers have. during the jam I was trying to figure that out—I don’t know your background but I didn’t feel that I couldn’t have connections with certain people or not. Realizing that anyone can connect with anyone with a willingness, hopefully I can convince my friend.
Carly: really beautiful things being said. I usually enter a jam setting with a thousand butterflies, having lots of ambitions, that I have to perform a certain way to grow… I’m not sure if it’s fatigue or growth from this week but I didn’t enter the space that way but I entered completely present today
Nicole: I just wanted to point to a moment when three quarters of the way inside of it something was really together in the whole room, we were all in some energy that was vibrant and beautiful, very powerful feeling to come together and be ready to accept and live through that. I love this space where we can just be and it’s as if the dance continues outside of this room
Debby: just joyful blessed play being immersed in an ocean…something bigger than myself and it was effortless to be a part of that
Jija: I felt dizzy; I’m getting into gardening and nature a lot and came to Chicago yesterday and couldn’t digest it all, fear of the space and dance floor, so it felt really weird. It reminds me when I started to contact, it was dizzy but really good stuff. Message of life
Rek: during the small dance I felt really strongly pressed between the two walls of Buffalo and Boulder…changed my small dance bc of the two directions of energy coming towards me. I think I take more risks during an underscore, something about having this container that I’m not aware of them being risks but it feels a lot bolder
Tihana: I noticed the timing of the score was helpful in having a completely different experience of the jam than normal. Usually so conscious of decisions that it shuts down some other things, the underscore was taking care of everything. Felt kind of like in a different state than usual, loved the gaps when they happened, different experience with them than usual, experience them differently
Travis: felt and appreciated the global connection and dance community
Chantelle: so many wonderful friends, not enough time to dance with everyone, still feel new to contact. But what struck me was the sense of belonging with the community, once you really feel like you belong you can really be yourself that really frees you to be yourself in other communities. I found it I’m here I’m more than I was before and now I can take that elsewhere and I’m grateful.
Nancy: a last thought. We’ve been into James Carce’s book: Finite and Infinite Games relative to what we do and thinking of it as an infinite game…where the point is to keep playing and to want to keep playing, finding when it works and when it doesn’t. there’s a way in which you have to bring yourself to the dance, there’s effort and payoff. Thank you for making the effort to come and dance and lose and find; it’s a pleasure to be able to do that with you all. Let’s get up and circulate and reverse the flow [by facing Boulder].
From Brandin Steffenson to Nancy in an email next day:
We had an amazing Global Underscore in Williamsburg [Brooklyn, NY]. Enthusiastically attended and the dancing was rich and playful and all accompanied by the traffic from the expressway running parallel to the diagonal wall outside the window (skinesphere to the sounds of combustion engines buzzing by at 60 miles per hour somehow underscores the notion that City Life Wellness is a haven of beauty in our industrial world).
Postscript:
Interesting practical harvest points came up in discussion the following week with Jesse, Nancy, Dey, and Brandin. Aspects of the structure that could be tweaked. Questions about stretching the form in certain ways (or not). Perhaps we’ll post them later on. If anyone has questions, conundrums, suggestions, issues about the Global Underscore practice that you’d like to share, please do! [NSS]
Super short recap.
We started our summer solstice lab which is an extended 4 hour event. Part way through we all stopped and did a small dance facing the Chicago crew.
The small dance broke up and the global underscore continued.
At the end of our 4 hours we had the pleasure of gliding on moving couches that ended in a small circle for harvest.
Good time.
Told you it was a short recap ;)
Love to all from Boulder, CO - always open to visitors from around the world.
Below you will find the Harvest from the UnderScore held in Parc Lafontaine, Montreal, Qc, Canada, on a gorgeous sunny day.
François : J’ai passé un beau moment. Merci. C’était lent pour moi, tout simple. Être ensemble, avec nous, être ici, c’est ce qui me nourrit. Être comme on est, avec nos limites.
Guillaume : Je suis ému. J’ai un genou blessé et j’ai participé sans danser, simplement en étant là. Je suis content de m’être senti relié, de créer des liens.
Christelle : J’ai aimé danser dehors et avoir des fourmis dans les yeux. J’ai trouvé ça plate que la moitié de la gang soit à Chertsey, mais bon… j’ai passé un bon moment, merci.
Nelson : Je trouve ça très cool de regarder nos pieds en ce moments (note de la preneuse de note : nos pieds sont verts et bruns d’avoir dansé dans le gazon).
Daniel : Quand j’ai vu le petit groupe, je me suis dit on va faire avec ce qu’on a. Mais au fond, faire du contact c’est entrer en relation. Quand il y a de l’écoute, ça marche, quand ce n’est pas là, on s’ennuie et on veut passer à autre chose. J’ai dansé avec plusieurs personnes aujourd’hui, j’ai fait des découvertes, ça m’a permis de sortir de mon espace de sécurité.
Camille : Découverte de la liberté. Pas de cadre, ce qui m’a permis de passer de gracieuse à ridicule. Je célèbre la liberté aujourd’hui.
Christian : C’est mon premier jam, super belle découverte.
Maty : J’ai trouvé difficile de faire l’UnderScore et de tenir le temps en même temps. J’étais pressée de passer d’une étape à l’autre. J’ai particulièrement apprécié la petite danse, observer mon bassin.
Bruno : Je suis content d’être ici. Ça faisait 2-3 ans que je n’avais as fait de contact-impro. Merci Mère Nature pour le temps parfait. J’ai beaucoup apprécié, c’est ce dont j’avais besoin aujourd’hui.
Catherine : C’était ma première fois en plein air, j’ai été déboussolée jusqu’à ce qu’on arrive dans l’engagement et l’échange de poids. C’est agréable de sentir l’herbe sous le pied.
Isabelle : Je ne savais pas qu’il y avait l’UnderScore, alors je suis allée danser au studio 303, puis je suis venue vous rejoindre après. Très agréable. J’espère apporter un peu d’énergie de la danse pour apporter de la vitalité dans ma prochaine activité.
Stéphanie : J’ai eu de la difficulté à embarquer dans l’UnderScore, pour toutes sortes de raisons… la nouveauté de faciliter (ce que j’ai beaucoup aimé et aimerait recommencer si besoin) le fait que la grande partie de la gang est ailleurs, être dehors. Aussi, j’ai fortement expérimenté la connexion de répulsion, ce que j’ai trouvé difficile. La répulsion est vraiment une connexion.
Serge : Mon moment fort a été de l’UnderScore a été dans le croisement des kinésphères, je me suis retrouvé à 4 pattes, moment de connexion très fort à l’enfance.
It was really a great chance to circulate in another Underscore practice. In Lisbon it was the first time that the practice arrived with it's full logic structure and philosophy. Your communications were so strongly with us. All the participants in the thanksgiving revealed their 'obrigadas' and were grateful about the practice.
Many mentioned the feeling of a dynamic, generous and committed body and the often resonance of parts of the structure low and high kinesphere, pow-wow, idiot button, skinesphere and connections-intersections. in the next weeks will be feeding the Underscore blog with some more info also from the participants present in Lisbon.
Our Underscore was lovely. It was a small group of 9, and three of them were doing their first Underscore. It was a beautiful day, and the studio was full of light and summer breezes. It felt very timeless, and many commented on how deeply they relaxed into the afternoon's practice.
There was a bunch of wheeling around of the several large potted plants on wheels that were in the room, which was a fun element!
An excerpt from Dani's letter to Nancy:
"Ecki and I were invited by Masha and Sasha, to facilitate the first ever Weekend Jam in Moscow.
We joined the Global Underscore on the 19th during the last hours of the event. As our schedule for the jam didn’t work with your timing, we joined your first 2 hours of practice. I did a very simple introduction for the group so everyone could join in.
You and Mike were very present in the space for me and others. The group was composed of about 60 people and 50% of them had practiced the Underscore with you. I guided them in the small dance (as many didn’t know what it was...) and faced St. Petersburg (they knew we were facing them).
We danced for 2 hours, in a very intense shared space. The energy of the room was really strong and focused. Many memories of other global underscores came to me, and I was very inspired to have all of you in images and sensations, which give me inspiration to dance for almost the 2 hours, even though I was sick (I got a strong viral flu as I landed in St. Petersburg which accompanied me for 2 weeks!)
I saw people’s dances blooming that night!
Because of the jam frame, I proposed the organizers start together...but if some arrived later they could also join (we had a paper with suggestions at the door). Also I invited all those who needed to leave earlier, to do it. But leaving without interrupting the dance and without offering to the space any "social activity". They could say goodbye internally... and just leave the space.
We sat with 48 people for sharing the harvest for about 1 hour. Words were deep and full of thought. Many of them named that it was the most focused jam they ever had experienced, some said all jams should be like it! Words of freedom, clarity, openness, inspiration, connection, energy, appreciation, thankfulness.”
Presents : Céline FUZEAU, Haleh GHEYTANCHI, Florent, Tâm Antoine NGUYEN-MINH
* "Une danse sacrée au delà de l'océan, avec lui, avec vous, avec le grand tout...quand mon mouvement fait le tour de la terre et me revient en plein coeur, je suis là, plus que jamais vivante et mon corps s'émeut de ses rencontres ensablées. A cet instant le ciel et la terre se confondent, les mouettes passent et le soleil poursuit son voyage vers le grand ouest, il décline, je m'incline. MERCI" . Céline
No translation
* "Le sable... la force gravitationnelle. Gravit'air, aussi ! Le sable, et la mer, le vent, tout d'abord ont été très présent. Et puis les directions, des amis, des inconnus, des villes au delà des yeux : Jesse, Nancy, Poitiers, Buenos Aires, Australie... D'abord : difficile de se bouger dans le sable, si meuble, sans rebond. C'est pas un studio de danse !!! Un premier engagement, et puis un autre avec Céline : nos doigts d'air et nos corps de vent s'allègent, intuition et intentions jouant entre ciel et terre. Et nous sautons et nous sortons couvert de sable gravitaire !" . Tâm "Sand - gravitational force. Sand, Sea, wind moving the air with force...Then directions : friends, people, cities beyond the eyes : Jesse, Nancy, Poitiers, Buenos Aires, Australia... First difficult to move in the sand, wet and so limp...it's not a dance studio !!! First engagement, then another with Celine, our air hands and wind bodies get soft, flying from sand to sun, intuition and intention playing together...We jump ad get covered with sand happy." . Tâm
below you will find the notes I (Jesse) took during our harvest...4:30-4:55pm and then continuing again from 5:03-5:15 or so. we were eating homemade hummus with crudite and vegan chocolate muffins. a feast!
----
• memories of my first global underscore in 2006 with claire filmon in desolate santa monica.
• (lots of passing the talking "stick"/remote control on the first go round...)
• 2 moments, both where I saw something and liked it, but didn't think I could do it, and then I did! 1) swinging on the I beam... and then at the end with the paired handstands...
I think I even said it out loud, "I can't" but then I did! and then it was so cool that there was applause and we were the end.
• this passion takes courage. these floors are now soaked with your passion energy. ONE LOVE.
• it was as much fun to be dancing as to be watching, this joyous playful romp all the time.
during the 1st stand i felt hit 1-2 minutes in by DC. POW.
• this was my first underscore, my first jam. i'm glad they coincided.
• really happy to see this food.
• so rarely do i have positive experiences this close to the bqe (the brooklyn queens expressway, a huge 8 or so lane elevated highway just outside the windows)
someone called out: it's been renamed "the conduit of possibility"!
• it was serendipitous to run into old old friends and be brought here. i felt transformed, as though i progressed through time.
• everyone (literally) said thank you
• each time more is revealed about myself and how to interact with other people. it's interesting putting pieces from the contact class together here. interesting also coming up against internal blockages, choosing to stay, choosing to go.
• i was fascinated by the individuality of people's feet, the contact of seeing, the connection in just seeing someone's hands, one small detail draws me in.
accepting people from their ground...
worship, each time we touch each other's feet...
• magical sublime funny profound
• i watched a lot. everyone was so engaged, very much doing what they were doing. as we were doing this, i could feel a disappearing, almost as if you can disappear...
(we pause for small stand...)
• today was like eating this muffin. delicious & spongy. i feel blessed to have this connection in my life. i find it extraordinary. if i didn't have it, i don't think i'd be very happy. thank you for creating a space where we can dance like dolphins, like natural beings. no words to describe it. upside down, multidirectional, multidimensional, sensual, loving, accepting.
• i felt during the stand just now the history of everything that just happened. like the resonance after plucking a guitar string. all these dances have been recorded in my muscles, skin, psyche.
• this was my first underscore. i was so powerful! with so much energy. so relaxing.
• there was so much caring that we expressed for each other, it's part of the form. it struck me. we care for each other in this work.
• it's a mystery, coming from that place of no energy to the opposite place. i don't need coffee. i just need this. i want to live life like this. i am learning to apply to real life. it was a good underscore.
• during the first stand, i thought, "what does Chertsey need right now?" and was answered by a deep violet purple energy. during the second stand, i felt sad and asked everybody in the whole global circle to help me get home...
Dear Sebas and Geneviève,
Thank you for your messages and especially for your energy.
We in Geneva were very happy to be connected directly to you and indirectly to all the global contact improv community around the world.
We did our opening small dance facing Cavigliano in east Switzerland.
It was a great and inspiring event for the 13 of us here in Geneva on Sunday.
Hello Geneviève,
Thank you for your nice paris-report and your energetical support.
we had 2 lines taped in our studio, one facing paris, one facing geneve, crossing somewhere in the middle of the room. And although we didn't do a beginning- nor ending-small-dance, these 2 lines were there through our whole underscore and reminded/linked us to you every now and then, giving direction/lines/input/form to parts of our dances. that was a nice element.
And we had a nice harvest, reminding us of the beauty of this form of jamming.
--
yours / met vriendelijke groet,
Sebas van Wetten
Nathalie & I (Genevieve) had a 1h dance, plus harvest, beginning with a small dance facing Utrecht to receive the energy you send us. We then had a dance connected with 3 others directions (Wassim's group in Geneva, Jerome's group in Gif sur Yvette, Jesse's group in New York).
It was an open air dance, which we really appreciated.
Enclosed (sorry it's fuzzy) : our map, 1 picture of the spot.
this was posted as a comment, but deserves it's own posting...
---
Sunday, 19 June 2011
NZ Underscore Practise
Hello everyone! Here in New Zealand there was a three hour Global Underscore Practise led by Val Smith nine hours ago in Auckland from 1pm - 4pm and in Wellington a practise was led by Juliet Shelley seven hours ago, from 3 - 5.30pm. It was nice for us to know we overlapped so in New Zealand we had the Underscore practise happening over a period of four and a half hours in total. There was a photographer here in Wellington so we will post some photos soon. We faced Perth, Australia for one small dance and Boulder, Colorado for another.. we thought of you there. We thought of Nancy and Mike in Chicago and it was just a beautiful time that we all had here in Wellington, NZ. One dancer who attended said this was the first time she had relaxed,(while she was awake, not asleep..) ever.
Sleep time for me here now on Sunday June 19th in New Zealand at 10pm.
Enjoy your dancing and speak soon, Juliet :)
On June 19, from 1-5pm EST (New York time zone), we will hold a Global Underscore event. This event is directly inspired by Claire Filmon’s “Global Underscore Solstice,” an event which she created and developed with great care and vision from Paris over the last ten years with the Paris Underscore team and others. Claire will not be organizing the event this year as she is taking a sabbatical year from the project.
With Nancy Stark Smith’s direction and your participation, we have already begun an amazing event together! We are 31 locations in 14 countries. It’s incredible.
We are so excited to join together this Sunday for this special event, practicing the Underscore together and forming a circle around the world. Here is the list of facilitators and some of the participants, in the order we will face each other around the globe (we will face each other in the east direction to open, west to close)...
1. Chicago, Illinois Full Practice
2. Buffalo, New York Full Practice
3. Washington, DC Full Practice
4. Brooklyn, New York Full Practice
5. Chertsey, Quebec Full Practice
6. Montreal, Quebec Full Practice
7. Plainfield, Massachusetts Full Practice
8. Easthampton, Massachusetts Satellite
9. North of Quebec City, Canada Full Practice
10. Watertown, Massachusetts Full Practice
11. Buenos Aires, Argentina Full Practice
12. Cayenne, French Guiana Satellite
13. Lisbon, Portugal Full Practice
14. Bordeaux, France Full Practice
15. London, United Kingdom Full Practice
16. Poitiers, France Full Practice
17. Cardona, Spain Full Practice
18. Barcelona, Spain Satellite
19. Palma, Spain Satellite
20. Paris, France Full Practice
21. Utrecht, The Netherlands Modified Jam
22. Geneva, Switzerland Satellite
23. Cavigliano, Switzerland Satellite
24. Livorno, Italy Full Practice
25. Salonica, Greece Full Practice
26. Saint Petersburg, Russia Full Practice
27. Perth, Australia Full Practice
28. Coolah, Australia Satellite
29. Wellington, New Zealand Full Practice
30. Gothic, Colorado Satellite
31. Boulder, Colorado Modified Jam
We are doing the practice between noon and 4pm Central Standard Time in the US, (Chicago time) where Nancy Stark Smith and Mike Vargas are holding a workshop. This year, we are many, some simultaneous full Underscores, some non-simultaneous Underscores, some simultaneous stands with modified jams, and some solo satellites. Mostly we begin together and end together. Trust in the power of our intention to keep our global circle strong throughout the weekend, beginning at 5pm in Bordeaux on Saturday, and ending at 5pm Sunday here in New York City and along the east coast.
We will hold our circle with our focus, attention and intention, letting our slightly different timings echo throughout the circle.
In the full simultaneous Underscores, take your opening global small dance stand from 0:50-1:00 into your practice. Face the east, towards the city listed after yours above (Boulder, face Chicago). In the ending global small dance, from 3:55-4:00, face the west, towards the city listed before yours above (Chicago, face Boulder).
If you are doing a satellite, take time to send energy to your neighbors in both directions, and to receive energy from those directions. Our global practice will encircle the globe the whole weekend!
If you are linking with Chicago, follow the schedule below for our linked practice.
0:00 start time
0:45 preambulation
0:50 opening global small dance, facing east according to the map
3:55 closing global small dance, facing west according to the map
Note: you can start preambulating or small dancing earlier than specified.
Please collect your harvests from the practice, in your native language! Post your harvests, in text, photos or videos here!
We invite you to drop deeply into this practice and bring your personal, community or global intention to it fully.
Below is the current list of participating cities. We are 23 locations in 13 countries, practicing simultaneously (or almost) during the weekend of June 18-19. YES! --
