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<channel><generator>iloblog 1.0</generator><title>Reaching Out In Dance Feed</title><link>http://www.reachingoutindance.com/</link><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&#039;Reaching Out In Dance&#039; is my firm in where I offer dance teaching, workshops and performance within ballet, jazz and creative dance. There is a link on the right side where you can read more about my firm &#039;Reaching Out In Dance&#039; and what I offer. This also functions as my blog site, so below I post blogs related to the field dance, pedagogy and other interests as psychology and traveling. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description><item><title>Are you the best that you can be?</title><link>http://iloapp.reachingoutindance.com/blog/www?Home&amp;post=7</link><description><![CDATA[  A few challenging questions: Do you think that you spend your time in the best possible way that you can? Can anything be done differently in order for you to function better- both for yourself and those around you?   I tend to soak up and care too much about the things I really can't do too much about (like traveling to the jungle and find Kony myself and 'arrest' him was my most recent plan- then at the same time I also start hinking about EVERYTHING that happens out there but that is not mentioned in the media... I guess that is a LOT.. -okey, a small deviation).  My problem is that when I hear about something that really gets to me and provokes me, I right away start to think through which career I must have in order to directly go in and solve the problem myself- in of course- the BEST way which only I can.. (Ya, I know- a BIT naive... )   When I hear, read or witness what happens around us, on the news, tv- newspaper etc, I sometimes feel that the dance and art is a total waste of effort and time. I start thinking about what it's purpose is and how it can serve the man. If you would let me begin, I could come up with hundreds of reasons why the dance has to to be in our society:-) My point is that it may be easy to want to do a little bit with every thing that happens around us. My boyfriend reminds me: "May Linn, what happen's out there is not yours or your world right now at this moment. Though it may be later, but right now your world includes... " -and he goes on. Sound's rational and sensible doesn't it?  In order to be good at what we are doing and to be able to have the chance to contribute, we need to stick to one area at the time...   What I notice also steals a lot of energy and often leaves me feeling inefficient, is THINKING- thinking that includes comparison betweeen my abilities and someone else's in the dance studio - or just genereal worrying about how to get through the day or how to have enough time for this and that.   What I've noticed, well- maybe always known, but just recently experienced for real: is that competing with no one but myself leaves me feeling that I perform my work a LOT better than if I were to compare and start to have a competitive insinct.. Concentrating on myself when I work and leave any negative thinking about my efforts aside- really does somehing to my daily performance. This MAY not apply for everyone, but for me- comparison, a competitive instict and too much thinking just leaves me feeling tired and drained.. I may not even be that conscious about where my focusing and thinking is- but when I am, I have to re-adjust myself and 'economise' my thinking and effort to the better! This I have to do in order to reach my goals and to be the best copy of myself that I can be. Both for my own sake, AND for the people around me!  
 ]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:13:25 +0100</pubDate><category>Performing Arts; Dance</category></item><item><title>&quot;How can I find food today&quot;, vs. &quot;How can I find peace, educate myself in the best possible way and get the best possible job ever?</title><link>http://iloapp.reachingoutindance.com/blog/www?Home&amp;post=6</link><description><![CDATA[    
  Demostrants downtown Toronto feb 20th 2011. Yelling for democracy and freedom in Libya. 
   
 I really can't help it but to laugh of myself and my sense and feeling of total peace, tranquility and freedom once I place my butt in an aircraft and know that I'm just gonna be here and nowhere else for the next 8 hours… I'm thinking: "Does it really have to take an aircraft and an 8 hour duration flight to calm me down from the hustle and bustle in my daily- life?  
 The feeling of tranquility is what I can feel just by placing myself on the train, except then my stop would usually be 15 minutes later.. Those times when I'm tired and exhausted, with a lack of time to spend on myself and to just have it quiet around me, I wish I could stay on the train for the whole day..  
 Though in the air- you get the feeling of being above it all, and you get the sense of having a distance to the daily life which constantly encounter you and put it's demands and pressure on you. With it's stress and constant pursuit for even more efficiency, we can often even feel tons of anxietey of not having enough time to do or even think about the things we wanted to get done or put into action..  
 Our souls and hearts are malnourished for tranquility...  
 I think- that for the majority of us, we DO need, indeed- the time to separate ourselves from what goes on around us all the time, and the daily life that we are forced to take part in. It doesn't matter whether you love what you study or work with a lot- you still need the time for yourself- to be able to hear yourself breathe..  
 For me, I hear  my   own  pulse and thinking when I'm captured inside a boeing or airbus taking me overseas.. And when on the ground, I have to find my own place and time to relax… To be able to sometimes be at a distance or to be able to overlook your daily life from an outside perspective- gives you the opportunity to get close to your own self, to what you are and to what you do in life. 
 Once I'm here- I feel like I'm in my own theraphy session.. :-) Especially those times you happen to be served a five course meal, with as much to drink as you want, to be able to lie in a seat that can 'roll' into a bed and have access to whatever you may need. It certainly can feel like too much.. Except I think that 'oh my' -  Now  I sense myself.... I often actually have to be in the air before I get to collect and sort out the thoughts from my daily life that has been gathered up inside of me.. Also how incredible privileged we are in this society.. I have to look  down  on the gorund beneath me, and recieve a physical 'earthly' overlook before I start to sense how incredible fortunate I am.. After being served warm roasted peanuts and champagne, I was handed out a variety of newspapers- read through an article about the Middle east's forever- on- going conflicts in the people's desperate pursuit for 'democracy and freedom'- me being able to loook at the world through their perspective- and through my own eyes.. Being able to live the life I do, and at the same time now and then just recieve a glimpse of what other people's life are like out there,- I think for myself - 'I'm so glad I'm born in Norway and that we've been given the opportunity to help other people out there with whatever it may be..  
 It's just too sad our lives are SO filled up with EVERYthing- both work and school and a 'human' constant longing for more and better education and social status, that  our  problem here in the western word is that we long for just a moment where we can breathe for ourselves, catch up mentally with our schedule and at the same time locate our inner peace.. While in other parts around the globe- people long for quietness from their hunger or the conflicts deeply rooted in their country's culture and religion… We long for freedom to spend time on what we want to do now and then, others want the freedom to be a part of running their own country. We all KNOW about it, it's just about us allowing ourselves to take the time (it doesn't matter whether you don't have it, then you have to  demand  the time) to get back to yourself, where you stand as an individual, what you really want and to gather your strength again… We have to be carfeul to not become slaves of the time- but that we take the control over it and that we are concious about how we spend it… And it can help us to be better at not being slaves of the time when we look at it all through the perspective of the world and through the perspective of each society's different need and the enormous divergence between these cultures regarding the way the different societies are being run.  
 ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 20 Feb 2011 18:26:26 +0100</pubDate><category>Travelling &amp; Tourism</category></item><item><title>Pictures of me in action</title><link>http://iloapp.reachingoutindance.com/blog/www?Home&amp;post=5</link><description><![CDATA[    
 ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 06 Feb 2011 22:17:09 +0100</pubDate><category>Pictures</category></item><item><title>&#039;Reaching Out In Dance&#039;</title><link>http://iloapp.reachingoutindance.com/blog/www?Home&amp;post=4</link><description><![CDATA[   I am soon to be done with my bachelors degree at The Norwegian School of Ballet in Oslo and will then practice full time as a teacher and dancer.  
  I started my firm about a year ago with a vision of the dance to be spread out to the society in a more meaningful way than today. I wanted dance to be a helpful tool for people to restore their self-image, insight in themselves and life. Both through practicing dance themselves,- as an effective, fun and good training method or through just observing dance performances.   
  I teach ballet, jazz and modern dance for kids, youth and adults. I also arrange creative dance classes, in where guided improvisation and contact improvisation is in focus.   
  If you are responsible for an event and would like it to be a feature of lyrical jazz dance or ballet piece in it, please contact me.   You might also be a representative of an organization or institution and would like to see more dance in your community, group or class.  
    
   Regardless of any dance- enquiry, please contact:   
  ~ May Linn Elli  
  Phone: (+ 47) 93 87 93 36  
  e-mail:  may-linn@reachingoutindance.com    
   
 ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 06 Feb 2011 21:43:51 +0100</pubDate><category>Firmaet Reaching Out In Dance</category></item><item><title>Encouragement</title><link>http://iloapp.reachingoutindance.com/blog/www?Home&amp;post=3</link><description><![CDATA[    
   
 This is for those who have choosen a slightly different education and career: 
 In order to perform well mentally and physically, we need to not worry about how our career path may form the future. I recognise how often I question my own interest and passion as an educational matter, and how I, too often, allow myself to doubt it's possibillities as a way of living and earning. It is especially during those times, when the fear around how dance as an art form or therapeutic matter (as I've written a bit of earlier,) can be practiced as a safe profession, I often ask myself: "Why the heck didn't I go for medicine?!" 
 But the truth is, no matter how hard or impossible it may seem: if you want something in life, you will get it. If you have certain goals you so badly would like to achieve- you can do it. What makes it seem impossible, is just your confined thoughts and other's confined thoughts. You're actually your own worst enemy when it comes to negative thoughts and fear. It affects you so much and steals away so much energy and passion. So get rid of it.  
 Your success is not depending on you having the perfect assets and skills TODAY. It's about your passion, attitude and endurance. It's about you maintaining that passion and endurance that will take you through those hard hours or day. And it's that passion and endurance that will get you where you want.  
 So go ahead and take the chance- get out of your comfort zone and give it all. 
 ]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:30:53 +0100</pubDate><category>Performing Arts; Dance</category></item><item><title>&quot;the vision of modern dance&quot;</title><link>http://iloapp.reachingoutindance.com/blog/www?Home&amp;post=2</link><description><![CDATA[   These days, I'm reading a book called 'The vision of modern dance'. That book contains writings from the world's greates visioners and leaders within modern dance. As I read, I feel inspired and strenghtened. What inspires the most, is that I feel I share some of the same visions and desires for the dance that these great developers and artists of modern dance do. I relate to the majority of these ideas represented in this book- and I believe many others out there do that as well. Therefore I will share some of the quotes and paragraphs that I have been reading and that made my heart beat stronger and faster. Either you dance, or not- these are both for dancers and non-dancers. At the end, I share some of my thoughts on dance and dancer's daily life, before I end with a final quote.  
  Quote from Isadora Duncan:  
 "Oh, what a field is here awaiting here! Do you not feel that she is near, that she is coming, tis dancer of the future! She will help the womankind to a new knowledge of the possible strength and beauty of their bodies *She will dance the body emerging again from centuries of civilized forgetfullness, emerging not in the nudity of primitive man, but in a new nakedness, no longer at war with spirituality and intelligence, but joining with them in a glorious harmony. This is the mission of the dancer of the future." 
  Quote from Loie Fuller:  
 "What is dance? It is motion. What is motion? The expression of a sensation. What is a sensation? The reaction in the human body produced by an impression or an idea percieved by the mind".  
 "As a matter of fact, motion has been the starting point of all effort at self-expression, and it is faithfull to nature. In experiencing one sensation we cannot express another by motions, even when we can do so in words. Since motion and not language is truthful, we have acccordingly perverted our powers of comprehension".  
 (Oversettelse: Bevegelse har faktisk vært utgangspunktet for alt forsøk på selv-uttrykk, og er tro mot naturens essens. I opplevelsen av ett uttrykk, kan vi ikke samtidig uttrykke en annen gjennom bevegelse. Siden bevegelse, og ikke språk er sann, har vi følgelig pervertert vår evne til innsikt.)  
 My own conclusion of what Loie Fuller says in this piece, is that motion is what we truly can rely on and trust in, cause it is  pure  and  true,  compared with the linguistics. 
  Quote from Ruth.St Denis:  
 "I see the dance being used as a means of communication between soul and soul- to express what is too deep, too fine for words. I see children growing straight and proportioned, swift and sure of movement, having dignity and grace and wearing their bodies lightly and with power. I see our race made finer and quicker to correct itself, because the dance reveals the soul."  
 "Dancing is the natural rhythmic movements of the body that have long been suppressed or disorted, and the desire to dance would be as natural as to eat, or to run, or swim, if our civilization had not in countless ways and for divers reasons put its ban upon this instinctive and joyous action of the harmonious being." 
 * * * 
 As a dancer, it is easy for our energy to be drained, by just looking at your own reflection from the mirror and recieve the yielding from the teachers that are rarely satisfied no matter what you do and how hard you work. But why should they be satisifed, when you rarely aren't satisfied about your own effort either? Teachers do have a lot of power and impact on our feelings and attitudes towards ourself when we surround ourselves in their atmosphere and teaching daily.  But  at the end, it is our descision to decide how we want to look at ourselves. We have to look at ourselves through our own eyes. Not their's. And we cannot do well for their sake, but we dance and do well for our own sake. For our passion's sake and for our vision's sake within the dance.  
 We dancers all know how the perfect technique is suppose to LOOK. Kinesthetically we can feel it during our visions of a choreography in our head, even though our physical bodies does not yet have that strength and flexibility to practice that today. But we can get there if we want to! During classes, when you stand or lie there: tired. The sweat runs down your body, and it's hard not to slip on the floor, cause you're so soaked. Mixed with the blood taste in your mouth, and even your vision is all blurred. Or maybe it's your psoas muscle that is cramping up. -again. When you're in that state, don't just look at the exercises as exercises that makes your body hurt, as mentioned later. But say to yourself that you consider the practice and exercises tools toward making your body a good  instrument  for communication and expression. An instrument that serves God and his visions. You also do it for your own sake- you develop yourself in the best possible way- mentally and physically by gaining so much strength through such a physical and mental strain that dancers daily encounter. Below, I end with a quote from Hanya Holm: 
 "What you are capable of is so marvelous that it is almost impossible to imagine what you could do if you achieved it. Don't say you can never get there. get as far as you can with a full heart and with full conviction, then try to to drive on a little further. To achieve something takes strength. You are not born with that strength, you have to gain it. Don't look at your exercises as something to make your muscles hurt, but as something that will helt to improve yourself . Know that you are a human being, that you are able to take life as it is. Life is not an escape. It is not an excuse. It is not idle cowardliness. You must think: " I can do more this year than I did last year because I have grown meanwhile.". Don't dull yourself with copying something or someone, remember that sometimes you absorb much more through your pores than through your head".  
 ]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 27 Oct 2010 23:43:06 +0200</pubDate><category>Performing Arts; Dance</category></item><item><title>Dansens potensiale i samfunnet</title><link>http://iloapp.reachingoutindance.com/blog/www?Home&amp;post=1</link><description><![CDATA[  Det er fort gjort å begrense dansens funksjoner til kun å gjelde underholdning, kunst og kultur. Dansen har derimot mange flere potensielle bruksområder som nokså nylig er blitt introdusert og tatt i bruk rundt om i verden. - Enten i form av fysisk/psykisk terapi- såkalt 'danseterapi'. Eller som pedagogisk virksomhet. På denne måten bærer dansen et stort potensiale som ikke bare er med på å utvikle, reflektere og forme kulturen vår, men også  enkeltmennesket  og dets muligheter og kvaliteter.  
 Danseterapi og bevegelsesterapi er ofte definert som 'den psykoterapeutiske anvendelsen av bevegelse og dans for kognitive, sosiale, fysiske og atferdsforhold.' Danseterapi-feltet er ganske bredt. Men hovedsakelig hjelper en danseterapeut mennesker med å ta tak i alle slags utfordringer de måtte ha i livet. Det gjennom å øke egen bevisstgjøring ved hjelp av bevegelser. Problemområdene hos 'pasienten' kan være mange og ofte er målet å øke selvtillit, selvkontroll, mental og fysisk bevissthet. Det er påvist naturlige helbredelsesprosesser gjennom bevegelser- psykisk og fysisk. 
 Dette er danseterapiens funksjoner og personlig tror jeg den kan ha en mye bredere og større effekt på enkeltmennesket i og med at pasienten deltar aktivt ved hjelp av kroppen. Dette fordi alt av vi opplever og erfarer, lagres erindringer og minner i kroppen, som da ofte lettere kan bearbeides gjennom bevegelse. Dette er rent terapeutisk, men dans i seg selv er en veldig effektiv måte å utvikle selvtillit og selvinnsikt på. Ikke minst er det en treningsform som hos mange skaper glede, overskudd og samhørighet. Dansen skaper bånd mellom og innenfor grupper i tillegg til å virke til det bedre på frimodigheten og frihetsfølelsen.  
 Ikke minst er dans språk. Noe av det jeg synes er mest frustrerende, er å ikke forstå eller bli forstått når det er snakk om språk jeg ikke behersker. Dansen kan brukes på alle slags internasjonale scener og fremdeles klare å komme fram med et budskap som alle kan forstå.  
 ved hjelp av multimedia, lys og musikk er det ingen begrensninger på hva man kan formidle. Følelser og stemninger kommuniseres gjennom dette. Noe alle som mennesker kan relatere seg til, uavhengig av rase, kultur og språk. 
 Utifra dette har dansen en unik frigjørende og utviklende funksjon som tjener til det beste både for enkelt individer og samspillet i grupper.  
 ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 05 Sep 2010 11:22:51 +0200</pubDate><category>Performing Arts; Dance</category></item><item><title>&#039;Homesickness&#039;</title><link>http://iloapp.reachingoutindance.com/blog/www?Home&amp;post=0</link><description><![CDATA[    
 People say 'home sweet home' and then usually refer to the one and only home where the family, relatives and friends are located. The place they've spend the most of their time. To me, home is associated with places I love and places I learn to know. Even though it's just been a stay for five days, I always feel strongly connected to places I've visited. People left a trace in my heart and I got to see things in a new perspective. Whether it's the history of the country, the history within each individual I talked to. Or that it suddenly just became much clearer to me why things are the way they are today.  
 Everytime I've left a place, I feel I've left a potential home. A place I could have stayed for a longer time. It doesn't matter whether its a developing country or within the western world. Sometimes I even imagine that: If only the time back in the 'real home', where education, job and career usually sets place, could be set on pause, I could investigate this place for a few years. Learn even more about the people and the culture's distinctive characteristics. (Although staying for years would have made it far more difficult and sad to then leave the place.) 
 My eyes have never been dry as I've been on the different flights taking me away from the place I just got to know. Whether it's been from Toronto, Canada where I stayed for a schoolyear (which was, this far, the most tearful flight overseas ever) or a domestic, bumpy flight somewhere within Asian air space. Either from Malaysia, Thailand or Indonesia. When I am home in Norway, the slightest thing, whether it's a specific song or the country is mentioned in the news- I feel homesick and want to go back. I left a part of me when I left the place and hopefully got to enrich other people's life with my own life-experiences and advice. I've also been enlightened by people's wisdom, experiences and stories. When I miss a place I love, it is usually because I got to know the people there in a meaningful, deep way. Therefore, the desire to follow them up, help them and support the small society grow a lot during the stay and still follows me when I'm back home. Then it's important to realise that you can affect and help people in just the same, meaningful way over there as home here. People need help and support all over the world. So don't imagine yourself that you need to travel to the other side of the world to help out in a meaningful way. I tend to think that way. But as you long for another place, and wish that you were somewhere else with other people, doing something important and 'meaningful'- you miss out on the time you could have spend on your people where you are right now.  
 I was so bad (and sometimes, still is) that I could be so stressed out of staying in Oslo for so long without going abroad. It ended when I finally sat on a plane. Thinking: I'm finally on my way to a new place with new people. New culture, new atmosphere, new this new that.. It feels  great  to escape sometimes. To go away to be stimulated and receive new impressions from other places and people.  But .. The feeling of constantly wanting to fly away will never let go if you don't learn to  also  truly appreciate and benefit from the place and people you spend your daily life with.  
 We usually feel very enriched and grateful by meeting new people and cultures. By opening up to a stranger on the other side of the planet. And having deep and credible conversations with people you just met or just got to know. Every place bears the potential of a place to stay for a long time- at least to me. It is just important to live your moments to the fullest wherever you are- whether you are visiting a place for the first time, staying for a longer period of time, or living in the same place where you've always lived.  
 ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:16:14 +0200</pubDate><category>Travelling &amp; Tourism</category></item></channel>
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