Peace and booty, that's how I sign a lot of emails to people, personal or professional, I do not discriminate with booty blessings! Booty as a blessing, what a radical concept. I mean we live in a world where the booty is judged on all sides--it's a sin, it's too sexual, it's a problem, it's too big, it's too small, it's for sale--and the list goes on. What did the booty ever do to get such a funky wrap? I have my ideas of course, but you'll have to come booty shake with me to really grasp the sacredness of booty. I want to share with you the magic and transformation I experienced with a group of courageous women who joined me for my first "Booty Energy Dance for Women" a few days ago at the Emergence Community Arts Collective in Washington, DC. The Bootyism is on! In fact, while reading this post, SHAKE YOUR BOOTY!
We started the Bootyism with drawing our booties. I had music playing and handed out file cards and crayons. I wanted us to get out of the everyday humdrum and prepare the consciousness and the heart for diving into booty love. Honestly, I have never drawn a picture of my own booty. I picked up the crayon with no ideas in mind. I've seen my booty drawn by others because I've done figure modeling, but to draw my own...hmmm. So we sat quietly, regressing back into childs-play and crafting two-dimensional booties. Afterwards we looked at them, and passed our booties back and forth to our neighbors in the circle. Then closing our eyes, taking deep breaths, we visualized the image of our booties. I had big visions of doing a whole meditation, but my cell phone rang in the middle of some beautiful Japanese flute music, and two more sisters came to join the group, so I switched booty-gears.
Opening our eyes, and stretching out our legs we massaged our booties "walking" back and forth on our thighs. Already, as we're stretching, I am tired of hearing my own voice, but this group is quiet, and curious, and waiting for me, I assume, to tell them exactly what Booty Energy Dance is. And inside I feel like not talking, and just moving. It's always a balance, having to explain something for the Left Brain, but needing to experience the movement for the Right Brain. If you hadn't guessed, I am definitely more right-brained, and sometimes ignore the whole logistic breakdown of movement. I'm learning to balance, of course. So anyway, my lovely group of sisters seem to be relaxed and ready, so we stand and open up our hips and and feet and chest and arms with simple gestures. I really want everyone to feel comfortable, to move to their own rhythm.
I didn't explicitly say this, but I purposely don't "teach" people how to dance. I can't, even if I tried. Like I can't teach you how to make your heart beat, or how to breathe. Just so, the dance is inherent, innate. The breath is the first dance, I tell everyone. I use the words "teacher" or "students" to describe the dance workshops sometimes, but only because the general expectation is that I am going to show you how to do something. I figure if anyone is up for a new experience and comes to dance with me, she'll "learn" soon enough that her movement is her teacher. I'm just a conduit of remembrance. The reflection one might have ignored when he looks at himself in the mirror, and thus sees the light, the possibility, the life in me and my dance instead.
Booty Energy Dance evolves as play. My goal, if I can even have one, is to insight lots of laughter, sweat, and confidence in oneself. Everyone's booty is different and moves its own way. We can share movement all the time, learn someone else's booty moves, but so many of us never even experience our own booty's vibration! It's like never knowing what your own skin feels like, because you only touch others' skin to see what theirs feels like. So again, as I ask in each post, have you felt your booty dancing? Like really just put some music on and let your booty lead you to wherever? That's one of the games we played. I had burned a CD with all different types of music and every 45 seconds to a minute, I would switch the track. The music varied from R&B to hip-hop, to calypso, to classical piano, and on. I love to surprise people, and lots of new booty dances emerged on the floor.
We talked about our booty politics. How we feel about the booty in society, how we were raised to love or hate our booties, and more. The conversation was deep. My own mother talked about her negative booty feelings shaped from being teased as a child, and how she came to appreciate her big booty later in life. It's so hilarious that I am her daughter, you know, the bootyist that I am. You might think my mother was a card-carrying bootyist herself. But quite the opposite, she covers the booty religiously with blazers and skirts that are too long and jeans that are too big. On more than once I've pleaded with her to take the big, hot, shoulder-padded blazer off with that pastel outfit! But alas, I am really her daughter and it was powerful to share the workshop with my original booty shaker. Yes, your mother is your first booty initiator. Think about it, your mother and father were engaged in a sacred booty dance to conceive you, and then in a miracle, your mother "booty-danced" you out of her womb during labor. Booty dancing is essentially a return to the source of life, the origin of your experience. When you activate the booty, you allow yourself to be in tune with the life force energies! Look out around you, see the walking dead? Those not dancing, those not embracing the miracle of life within themselves? See their booties stuck and stiff, foul and molded over in fear and insecurities? Do humanity a big favor, bump booties with somebody. Save the world!
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