Play

Me at Layali Dubai, party dancing the night away on my birthday in March 2012

"Improvisation, composition, writing, painting, theater, invention, all creative acts are forms of play, the starting place of creativity in the human growth cycle, and one of the great primal life functions. Without play, learning and evolution is impossible. Play is the taproot from which original art springs; it is the raw stuff that the artist channels and organizes with all his learning and technique. Technique itself springs from play, because we can acquire technique only by the practice of practice, by persistently experimenting and playing with our tools and testing their limits and resistances." --Stephen Nachmanovitch Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art

After a week of mental gymnastics beginning a new academic piece, I spent my weekend recovering and cooking to prepare for my work week. Cooking recharges my mental battery; it is a kind of work, but also a form of play for me. Many visual artists (I am also a painter) love the engagement of cooking--using physical, sensual materials to make a creation. I'm mostly a recipe-follower, so it's a nice respite, a paint-by-numbers when I have so many creative and professional demands.

My first week on the diet has culminated in some of the necessary weight loss, and I feel sparkly-good. I have been eating beautifully and with gusto. On Saturday, I visited my farmers market and made some gorgeous fish (I'm mostly vegetarian but indulge in seafood because it helps a great deal with table fellowship), gazpacho, and grilled zucchini.

This was a beautiful meal, but the structure of the diet is still a major cognitive shift--in thinking about what I eat and making choices. As this goes on, I realize it won't take as much effort because it will flow into habit. But for now, I was really in need of freedom.

Last night, I had the sweetest taste of that. I didn't cheat on my diet, and yes, I do look quite forward to the nightly desserts that this diet recommends (Can I say peanut butter cup??? Mmmm) Still, it wasn't that. It was the dance event at Jebon, where my lovely teacher Layla put on an energetic, skillful, and at times hilarious dance performance. In between the other lovely dancers, the Turkish band plays for open audience dancing.

I'm not too shy about getting up to "party dance." In fact, I'm becoming known as the party starter in terms of warming up the dance floor. I agree with my teacher, Amar, that you learn something each time you perform. However, I also think there's something so great about the casual performance of party dancing. It's freeing; I can experiment. I also practice new steps or technique that I am trying to set in my body (much like I am trying to set my new eating habit.) Yet there is also incredible freedom and flow that I needed in this moment of of restraint and discipline. By "playing" at performing rather than doing it officially, and in costume I am released to explore the music, sometimes socially with others. It's wonderful food for a dancer, and a great feeling to remember when actually doing a performance.

The best and most experienced dancers, like Layla bring a sense of play and fun to their "official" performances, too. Last night Layla gave up half of her drum solo to tutor a young man from the audience in drum solo moves, put her arm around the clarinetist during his solo. If there is anyone who knows how to play and bring fun to a show, it is Layla.

And lastly, even in the midst of the strictest phase of my diet, I got to eat the fun-nest food: a bowl of edamame! With good friends (I'll write more on how dance has brought a whole wonderful group of friends into my life), delightful treats, and the vibrancy of live music, I return to my work week fortified and strong.

(This post from a quiet reference desk.)