In the movement practice Authentic Movement, one person moves, and one person witnesses. The role of the mover is to follow authentic impulses in the body and move spontaneously with eyes closed. The role of the witness is to observe open-heartedly and offer complete presence to the mover.
The role of the witness, in many cases, is considered to be a passive role in this duo. Just sit and watch, right? But it is easy to imagine that the mover could be influenced by the nature of the witnessing. If the mover is witnessed by a parent, the dance may be different than what it would have been if she were witnessed by a lover. The dance will be different if she is witnessed by someone who she feels can’t understand her than if she is witnessed by someone whom she knows to have greater understanding than she. The depth of witnessing determines the dimensions and weight of the container in which the mover can place her dance.
So ultimately, the witness is co-creating the dance? I’ll take this even further. The mover is working with the raw materials of her body and soul, presumably completely attuned to her inner impulse. Those raw materials are more than the summation of her dance language, emotional palette, and soul knowledge until that point in her life. The raw materials are shards from a universal unconscious that temporarily surface as waves and images that belong no more to the mover than to the witness. If the mover drops into that vast and deep realm of consciousness, then what flows through her is not of her conscious design. She is actually responding to something being called from her, being drawn out of her.
I believe that the witness is the representative of that call. The witness anchors the calling sound for the mover, keeping it always just out of reach so the mover is propelled into deeper and deeper experiences. If the witness can wield his power effectively, he can elicit and generate dance that is healing for the mover and, eventually, for the world. The witness creates the dance by placing his focus on the mover’s growing edge toward wholeness and surrendered service to our world.
So if the witness creates the dance, it becomes outrageously important who witnesses us. Choose your witnesses wisely. Who witnesses your dance in this life? Your partner? Your spiritual teacher? Your deepest self? The stars above? The Earth herself? Does your witness call forth your deepest dance? Or does your dance shrink and shrivel up with the witnesses you have chosen?
And how do we witness others? Can we witness each other in a way that brings out the best in each other? Can we hold our silent awareness on the growing edge of our community? Of our entire species? Could that call forth the true dance of the human being?
Are there any human souls remaining that are large enough to offer full witnessing for nature's wild dance?
The role of the witness, in many cases, is considered to be a passive role in this duo. Just sit and watch, right? But it is easy to imagine that the mover could be influenced by the nature of the witnessing. If the mover is witnessed by a parent, the dance may be different than what it would have been if she were witnessed by a lover. The dance will be different if she is witnessed by someone who she feels can’t understand her than if she is witnessed by someone whom she knows to have greater understanding than she. The depth of witnessing determines the dimensions and weight of the container in which the mover can place her dance.
So ultimately, the witness is co-creating the dance? I’ll take this even further. The mover is working with the raw materials of her body and soul, presumably completely attuned to her inner impulse. Those raw materials are more than the summation of her dance language, emotional palette, and soul knowledge until that point in her life. The raw materials are shards from a universal unconscious that temporarily surface as waves and images that belong no more to the mover than to the witness. If the mover drops into that vast and deep realm of consciousness, then what flows through her is not of her conscious design. She is actually responding to something being called from her, being drawn out of her.
I believe that the witness is the representative of that call. The witness anchors the calling sound for the mover, keeping it always just out of reach so the mover is propelled into deeper and deeper experiences. If the witness can wield his power effectively, he can elicit and generate dance that is healing for the mover and, eventually, for the world. The witness creates the dance by placing his focus on the mover’s growing edge toward wholeness and surrendered service to our world.
So if the witness creates the dance, it becomes outrageously important who witnesses us. Choose your witnesses wisely. Who witnesses your dance in this life? Your partner? Your spiritual teacher? Your deepest self? The stars above? The Earth herself? Does your witness call forth your deepest dance? Or does your dance shrink and shrivel up with the witnesses you have chosen?
And how do we witness others? Can we witness each other in a way that brings out the best in each other? Can we hold our silent awareness on the growing edge of our community? Of our entire species? Could that call forth the true dance of the human being?
Are there any human souls remaining that are large enough to offer full witnessing for nature's wild dance?
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