The last entry maybe needs some more elucidation. I realized this long ago, but am only now just starting to really accept the conclusion one must form from its acceptance. The way to become great (and I specifically refer to the technical sense here, though my earlier definition still applies) is to dance with those who cannot dance at your level. And it is to approach this dance as worthy of as much attention and admiration as a dance with the best dancer in the world.
To dance with a beginner is to maintain control in the midst of chaos. the beginner has strange, unpredictable movements. The beginner is loaded with tension, and generally uses you to support themselves. To dance well with a beginner means to dance your own dance without being affected by unexpected impetuses, and without being physically overbearing so that they cannot dance their dance. We have to lead without forcing and without comprimising. Ahh... I suppose that is it. How difficult it is.
I once did a wonderful exercise with Brenda. I walked across the floor, and she poked and prodded me in different areas. This touch was naturally a surprise, and more often than not, knocked me off axis. the point of the exercise is to absorb these inconsistencies in your movement, and not let them affect your groundedness. O-sensei was once in a car crash, and he emerged unscathed, while everyone else was seriously injured. When questioned about this occurrence, he offered up the explanation, "in the moment before the crash, I grounded my Ki (qi)." It is this calmness in the midst of a crash that dancing with a beginner is like. This is why most of us get frustrated or tired of dancing with beginners - because we have to stay grounded, in control, and in rhythm with outside interference. The task of the social dancers is to minimize this interference, while still dancing as an individual.
Dancing with beginners is thus the best way to get better, not to mention the best way to build an amazing community. In a dance with a beginner, we are forced to reassess which motion is possible. We can choose only those particular movements that we are most comfortable with. For many people, and I don't try to separate myself from this crowd, this can be frustrating and exhausting. But the beginning dancer gives that shock to our system that is necessary for improvement.
It should be stated that these are still thoughts half-formed. I am exploring these concepts, and my responsibility in a dance and in a community.
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Thoughts on groundedness:
What is groundedness? It's rather difficult to explain. We all have a sense of what it means, but in terms of our bodies and posture, how can we make sense of it? In my Pilates lessons (which I may soon become addicted to, to the woe of my bank statement.) my instructor has been pointing out that I tense my left hip instead of relaxing it downward. I saw a good image in my book recently to visualize this concept. Imagine the near end of your femur (the hip socket) sinks down towards the ground. Then to lift your knee if front of you, imagine that there is an invisible string tied to it which allows the work to be done effortlessly. when lifting the knee, maintain heaviness in your hip. My hip rises with the leg. I essentially crunch my left side muscles. I have no idea why I do this, or what I'm trying to accomplish, but this is my default. My goal is now to relax that hip and keep it heavy in everything I do. This results in a state of groundedness. I will thus try to define groundedness as the state in which our body exercises the least amount of effort necessary to perform any movement or to maintain any given position. Good posture is the state where we are perfectly grounded. There is no excess tension in our system. I used to get very frustrated at my own tensions, and Brenda would tell me just to acknowledge the tension, breathe into it, and slowly it will dissolve itself. This is the process she was talking about - finding where you can expend the least energy possible.
Imagine the shoulders. Many of us hold excess tension there. If we can allow those to drop down to where they would naturally lie, we will... hmm, I don't know. I want to say lots of things, but I don't really know what good posture and alignment accomplishes. I have a gut instinct and a belief, but I can't confirm it. I will say that one of O-sensei's sayings was "A good posture indicates a good state of mind."
