Hard Times Require Furious Dancing
Join me for Sacred Rest + new Somatic Book Club workshop 💜
In the midst of the daily grind lately, I’ve often been overtaken by tears, followed by the irresistible impulse to dance.
When I stop and pay attention, my body calls for freedom from the constrained postures of grind culture: shoulders hunched over a laptop, head bent down while fingers tap on a device, eyes tense and fixed on a screen, glutes and hip flexors clenched while driving, legs marching up and down stairs during chores–all the while, the whole body bracing for the next wave of suffering and heartbreak in the world.
I’m so grateful that I grew up dancing—in the very white, colonizer world of ballet, yes—but also in the worlds of rhythm tap, jazz, modern, and African dance, under the influences of Alvin Ailey, Savion Glover, Bob Fosse, and Debbie Allen.
Dance is in my bones, my deepest tissues.
When my mind is past full and I don’t know what else to do, I dance.
And I’ve been doing a lot of furious dancing these days.
Alice Walker shares in the foreword of her poetry collection Hard Times Require Furious Dancing:
It struck me one day, while dancing, that the marvelous moves African Americans are famous for on the dance floor came about because the dancers, especially in the old days, were contorting away various kinds of stress. Some of the lower-back movements handed down to us that have seemed merely sensual were no doubt created after a day’s work bending over a plow or hoe on a slave driver’s plantation.
Wishing to honor the role of dance in the healing of families, communities, and nations, I…invited friends and family from near and far to come together…to dance our sorrows away, or at least to integrate them more smoothly into our daily existence…though we have all encountered our share of grief and troubles, we can still hold the line of beauty, form, and beat–no small accomplishment in a world as challenging as this one.
Every time I dance, especially in these times steeped in intense grief and troubles, I remind myself of my own agency, of my own possession of (and access to) beauty, form, and beat. I contort away various kinds of stress, and integrate my sorrows, so I can free up energy to reclaim joy and keep doing the work that is mine to do.
So what’s on my playlist for Furious Dancing?
On repeat: “MY POWER,” one of many collabs with African artists on Beyoncé’s 2020 visual album The Lion King: The Gift.
The Lion King: The Gift cover art
Tierra Whack names the fire I feel (“Never seen so much rage from a queen”) and Beyoncé urges me to “get loose, get loose, get low, get low.”
As I shake and move to these words, I am both physiologically and mentally getting loose, from the rigid and oppressive postures of whiteness, white supremacy, and grind culture. Getting low is about getting out of our heads and down into our bodies, and connecting back down to the Earth, who uses gravity to pull us closer to her (which we can think of as a form of love).
I live out Alice Walker’s assertion: “Hard times require furious dancing. Each of us is the proof.”
Are you also furiously dancing through these hard times?
I would love for you to contact me and share your fave furious dancing songs!
(I have been too ill to dance at different points in my life…if dancing just doesn’t work for your body right now or ever, for whatever reason, you might find some inspiring dances to watch instead.)
And whether you dance or not, I invite you to join me in these other ways to care for yourself in community:
My virtual Sacred Rest gathering (every Thursday!)
My upcoming in-person workshop at Atrium
(Can’t make the virtual class? Contact me to receive a recording you can access on your own schedule.)
Read below for more details on both classes.
And feel free to share this post with anyone who might benefit from these gatherings :)
Your rest friend,
Stacy
WEEKLY SACRED REST
Date: Every Thursday
Time: 5:30-6:30 pm PST
Where: On Zoom
JOIN ZOOM MEETING:
https://zoom.us/j/97764119321?pwd=5vtWbSnjNGjKBL6aqqQdJ5GZM9f3Cm.1
Meeting ID: 977 6411 9321
Passcode: time4rest
March Workshop at Atrium in the Breathe Building
2305 SE 50th Ave, Portland, OR 97215
March 1, 8, and 15
10:30 am PST
We are living in a time of incredible transformation, and incredible burnout. How can we keep showing up to do the work of creating the world we want, in a way that sustains us?
Join somatic facilitator Stacy Carleton as we explore these questions and disrupt grind culture in this three-week experiential workshop and book club. In each 90-minute session, we will check in with our bodies, minds, hearts, and spirits through somatic inquiry, engage in gentle movement to settle our energy, read and reflect on excerpts from Tricia Hersey’s Rest is Resistance, share our stories of rest and unrest, and embody radical community care with a closing guided rest practice. This workshop weaves together inspiration from meditation, yoga, qigong, mutual aid networks, and community organizing.
Each week features a different passage from Tricia Hersey’s book. This is a book club where no pre-reading is required and you are encouraged to relax while the facilitator Stacy reads to you. (If you would like to read ahead on your own and support Tricia Hersey’s work, please pick up a copy at your favorite local bookstore.)
Following the reading, you are invited to reflect through writing, drawing, or quiet contemplation, with an opportunity to share your experiences with the group in a supportive container.
Cozy clothes are recommended to keep you warm and comfortable during our guided rest practice—I recommend wearing layers. Blankets will be provided, or feel free to bring your own, along with a pillow if you choose. Props are available for you to set up your own rest nest during our time together.
Explore what happens to your capacity for navigating and creating social change when you reclaim your birthright of rest and make space for slowness, tenderness, and the inherent wisdom of your divine body.
PART 1 SCHEDULE
Week 1 (March 1): ~p. 27-34 (The idea of rest as resistance and rest as reparations)
Week 2 (March 8): ~p. 61-67 (Why we are not resting)
Week 3 (March 15): ~p. 82-89 (Who is resting for)