Today, April 29th, is International Dance Day!
There is something wonderful about dancing… moving… connecting to the music and the rhythm… that beautiful sense of letting go of our busy “monkey mind” and just expressing our Self from that wordless place of emotion in our heart and soul.
So, just for today (and perhaps all days!), dance… move… sway. And if you have mobility challenges — like I did for many years — dance in other ways in any way you can and wherever you are: dance in your mind, dance in your chair or bed, dance in your seat on the bus, dance with your arms, your hands, your eyes, the nod of your head, dance in your soul.
And if you feel foolish dancing, throw that thought away.
“We’re fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.”
Japanese saying
I originally found the quote described as a “Japanese proverb”. I was curious about the phrase and whether it truly was from Japan. Sources confirmed that this “proverb” appears to come from the chants that the dancers (and spectators) use when they dance the “Dance of Fools” at the annual awaodori festivals (aka Awa Dori aka Awa Odori) in Japan each August.
Per Pilot Guides, “Awa Odori takes place during the Buddhist observance of O-bon, when the spirits of the dead are thought to return to their ancestral homes. In Tokushima the departed are welcomed back with a performance of the Dance of the Fools, which dates back more than 400 years.”
I love this idea, celebrating the ancestors with dance! As we approach Bealtaine (NH) and Samhain (SH), the veils are thinning and we may feel the other realms, and a connection to the Ancestors and other residents of those realms. Perhaps dance will become part of my celebrations!