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Closure ceremony open letter
We could start this letter by going through the marketing mottos that we created for us to condense our values, mission and message into catchy words that are easy to remember. We could start with the numbers, how many participants, how many classes, teachers, hours, emails (which by the way, Giacomo sent around 500 emails in the last 3 weeks to support this Summer intensive).
I am not going to start this ending in that way. We will have time for all of that later…
I am going to concentrate on the beginning, the middle and the end of these three weeks. The foundations, the reason, the motor, the initiations, the recipients and the most important aspect of these three weeks, the humans who have created, in the main sense of the word, this home that exists inside a tiny reality among the many others that are happening right now.
THE BEGINING
The Towards Vivencia team.. those passionate souls of dedicated individuals who did a lot of work, a lot of heavy work, but in reflection, without struggle.
It was like the team was sailing a whole, vast ocean. There were waves, sometimes a little bit of rain, sometimes the toilet of our ship stopped working or the cabin got a bit messy. It wasn't perfect, but the winds were steady. They were soft when we needed a break and strong at the same time when we needed to be pushed. Those winds, of which I will be talking very shortly about, have carried us across the ocean that has been this Summer intensive. And they carried us here, safe and sound, because we had a very clear direction.. A direction but not a destination. A structure, but not a selfish agenda. A direction, but not a destination.
We didn't know where we were going to arrive.. but here we are. Now it is time to discover this new land and take it from here…
THE MIDDLE
The journey was so well supported because of the teachers who were leading all those classes. Because they were more than just brilliant, generous, fun, cool, wise, exotic and exciting humans… They were themselves, and they were also their teachers, and the teachers of their teachers and so on and so forth. They are the accumulation and most current version of all the knowledge and practices, the hours and decades, the words and the sentences that have been created and put to use in order to articulate dance. They say the words and move the movements with the weight of time and the generations before us, once again carrying us swiftly through the sea of dance.
THE END
At the beginning of this journey, we talked about the house we would be building together, the people who would prepare each room and the masters of ceremonies who welcomed each of you to this space. But in this reflection, I leave the best and most important component of this journey till last, like a good dessert after a perfect meal.
You, the dancers, movers, and inhabitants of these rooms. With your sweat, your desires, your frustration and success have not only decorated each and every room in the most beautiful way, but have also planted a very solid foundation for the future of our home.
Movers, you do not wait for the favourable winds, you do not silently accept the systems that don't support you, you do not passively see how the world is shaped without your input. You literally create new systems, you support one another, and in that way you are best supported. You shape the world with your art because when you leave the dance studio you are transformed… you are stronger, you are more resilient, you are full of beauty and you are more human…. With your constant transformations, you transform the world…
You are creating the winds of change!!!
So here we are together: the TWV team, the teachers and the movers. Not different parts of a whole, but a whole in itself. Over the last 3 weeks, we sailed the seas of cyberspace, building home together in the space where none had existed before. Gliding along, seamlessly floating, we have barely touched the surface of what we can do together. We just set the foundations of a future home for dance and dancers beyond geographical and time borders.
There is still loads to learn and plenty of space to grow, but we are confident that this is only the end of the beginning…
Towards Vivencia. The book
Designing Presence Entering Towards Vivencia
Designing Presence offers a unique insight into the training that has helped people around the world to cultivate more presence in both professional and personal settings. It explains the research behind the method of Towards Vivencia, shares stories of how it has been implemented and offers practical exercises to apply it in any context.
Presence is something that is often talked about, but is difficult to pin down. We have all experienced moments when we felt one with what we are doing and with our environment. However, this feeling is usually fleeting. We don’t know when or how we will experience it again. Towards Vivencia is the first methodology of its kind to train performers to locate and replicate that specific state of consciousness associated with presence and peak performance. Based on over twenty years of experience, combined with research in anthropology, philosophy and the latest advances in neuroscience, Towards Vivencia enables performers to become fully engaged with their experience in order to operate at their highest possible level.
This book aims to equip readers with the ability to actively design their experiences and create lasting changes not only in how they approach performance, but how they approach their everyday lives.
‘When I founded Acosta Danza, it initially felt like two companies, one trained in ballet, the other in contemporary dance. By working with Jorge, they merged into one.'
Carlos Acosta
‘There are individuals who dare to dream and put it into action. Jorge is one of them’
Julyen Hamilton