This totally reignited my passion for this topic, and makes me VERY curious to know how many of you are having these experiences on the dance floor? If you are having them do they feel abstract to you? Aside from dance do you have another form of feminine based spiritual practice such as tantra? I have so many questions for you.
So, when we go beyond our technically great following, and we become very sensitive, able to adapt to many different styles, have deep empathy, our own musicality, and sovereignty as a dancer, we can then enter the realm of what I am coining for now as “high priestess following”.
Feedback is an amazing tool in our quest to improve our dancing. When we receive comments about what we’re doing well, what’s not working, or what we should try to change, it provides us with direction.
Photography: JS Almonte
Author- Rachel Cassandra
To keep up with Rachel Cassandra be sure to explore plenty more at KizombaCommunity.com, including more articles, instructional videos, and information on connecting to kizomba all over the world.
The reality is this perception of the female kizomba artist could not be further from the truth. In a truly beautiful and synchronised kizomba dance both partners are 100% invested. Each person is giving 100% of their energy, and both people are receiving the other person’s energy. They are a harmonious team, representing yin and yang, lead and follow, invitation and response, to create something that looks and feels like real kizomba connection and artistry.
Because Kizomba does not invite spectators. Infact, she discourages them. Tricking them with her supposed simplicity, she saves the subtle beauty of the dance to be shared between the dancers. Onlookers only see that bubble of calm which extends from their matching sleepy smiles, they don’t even know they share.
It’s a weeknight, you wander into your local club for your after work dance fix. Inside the dimly lit rooms the sweet sounds of salsa emerge, erasing the stories from that mid afternoon meeting. You slide into your dance shoes and let loose for a while. When you feel yourself getting into your happy dance bubble you saunter into the smaller, steamier room to get your kizomba and bachata fix for the night
Summer is here, it’s a “scorcher” as people would say here in Australia. The usually balmy nights of the season of abundance have been swept away by smoke and ash. I crave those mild nights, walking by the sea with a singlet on at 6pm. Hearing the lorikeets frolicking loudly in the sea misted trees, and sensing with delight the approaching tropical storms. I miss those nights laying in bed with just a sarong, waiting for the cool reprieve of the summer night thunder. A gentle pattern of rain would start, and then happily drench the garden, the sky would light up in delight as it saturated our warm land. My garden would erupt lusciously blooming, giving birth to more buds than you could imagine. Shades of green that tricked my eyes with their vibrancy surrounded my house. I would dance on those hot summer days, more than any time of the year. Ideas would race to my body as I relaxed beneath a shady tree.
The next stage is that kizomba light bulb moment! Its that moment where you are dancing and in an extremely cliche fashion the whole world seems to disappear, and you think you might be floating. This is pure connection. You are having an incredibly special conversation with someone, and it can be with anyone, and last a whole song, or many.
