Agreement(s)
When dancers improvise together there is usually the tacit agreement to make something happen, to meet, to dance together in some fashion.
In most improvised dances the participants are able bodied, adult human beings, courageous enough to entertain the notion of moving in an improvised fashion with one another and trusting that all participating movers will try and find common ground.
Even in the most unsuccessful improvised dance there is some common ground, if only the fact that the movers are all bipeds.
In our work with horses we have found that the rules of kinetic engagement are different for humans than they are for horses.
Many of those clever, human dancer assumptions do not mean anything to our equine partners.
Posted by JoAnna Mendl Shaw at 1:52 PM - Permalink
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A Response to "On Even Footing"
One of the many things I love about the work we do with
dancers and horses is how it engages different worlds in creative dialogue.
After posting "On Even Footing" I received an email from Jenny-Marie
Heide, one of the equestrians we have had the pleasure of meeting in the course
of our travels. Jenny-Marie is an equestrian and an officer in the US Navy. She
and her husband Nate are stationed in
Italy.
Their work takes them all over the world.
jms
Jenny wrote me this email:
Equal footing...is, of course something we are always
exploring with our horses, partnership vs. leadership and then trying to find
the balance in there to be equal. But also recently an ongoing discussion
between Nate and I looking at our efforts in the Navy to "build
partnerships" with African countries when the balance of power is so
unequal. So often what is called "partnerships" in the Navy is really
a bid for control, to be the alpha while trying to make someone else feel equal.
Equality and partnership cannot exist in such imbalance and in the end nothing
is really gained for anyone.
I think again about how my interpretation of alpha has
evolved - I do not want my horse to fear me and to follow my lead out of fear,
I do not want to dominate my horses. I do want to have enough communication to
hold their respect when I need it for my safety or theirs, but to communicate
to them that I respect what they can teach me equally. My understanding of
alpha is more now about having the skills and communication to lead when I need
to, and to be able to allow them to lead at times to better teach me. Through
balance, the constant shifting of alpha as a means of teaching and learning
between us, we become more than if either of us leads always.
I find that also in our marriage, there are times when
each of us has better skills to be the lead, and together sharing the lead,
learning from each other, we find equal footing in the balance and a greater
power together to reach our goals. So I think that yes, there is always a need to
shift power, but how we choose to pursue it and use it makes all the difference
in the world. I think without that dynamic of changing leadership in a
relationship we would not teach or learn very much at all. Two complete equals
are in balance, but it is a static, stagnant state.
Posted by JoAnna Mendl Shaw at 7:08 AM - Permalink
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On Even Footing
To Our Equine (and human) Partners:
I want to meet you on even ground
You and I as equals
I prefer to think that our interaction is not only about negotiating alpha status
Is that even possible?
I ask myself this question when I am in a round pen with a horse
Sometimes when I am at a party with lots of strangers
Occasionally in faculty meetings
I ask myself this when I return from the summer and greet my colleagues
I ask myself this when my husband and I argue
When my son wants attention
Are we always negotiating for power?
Posted by JoAnna Mendl Shaw at 8:18 AM - Permalink
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