Live and in-person

Three years ago, on a sunny spring walk one Saturday afternoon, my pal Gusta and I stumbled upon a live concert in a neighborhood park. With the pandemic still raging, the mostly masked audience members sat in small, socially distant groups.

Knowing that local performers needed work and that the community was aching for art live and in person, Tandy Beal, the founder of our marvelous local dance company of international acclaim, organized a series of concerts. In 2021 and 2022, Keep on Trucking featured a wide range of regional artists performing on a flatbed truck in parks around town. 

Tears started rolling down my face as we stood at the edge of the crowd, listening to the music and watching folks sway with the rhythm. It was my first time at a live music event in a couple of years. Never had I gone so long, and I had been sorely missing it terribly.

Though I was crying, my waterworks were tears of joy and gratitude. I was thrilled to be swimming in music again, reveling in an ephemeral melodic moment, not alone but in harmony with others.

A similarly profound and nearly overwhelming sense of appreciation sweeps through me each time I begin teaching another Feldenkrais postgraduate program. What a joy and privilege it is to work with colleagues in the same room! 

I can track the buzz in the room when they’re working with each other to know how the exercise is processing. Is the excitement building? How focused are the participants?

When working online, it is impossible to follow how learning unfolds at a distance respectfully and without interrupting or being overbearing. Yes, I can visit break-out rooms, but that is not even close to the kind of unobtrusive monitoring I can do when we’re all in the same geolocation.

Surveying the learning landscape over time gives me a sense of how things are going, what questions challenge whom, when to offer assistance, and when to hang back. When they work together, I visit every group, allowing me ample opportunity to witness, encourage, acknowledge, and coach each participant. Perhaps most importantly, I can help everyone identify what they might be missing and suggest what’s worth working on and improving.

There’s still space in my upcoming postgraduate course in Paris at the beginning of September. The four-day program, which examines one lesson composition in depth, will be conducted in English with French translation. To find out more and to enroll, please click here.

I took the photo at the top of today’s posting.