The Stanky Leg

For the last couple of months I have been on the kick that muscle energy is "it" in terms of understanding the power of poses. Most people have a hard time hugging into the best part of themselves, my opinion is that they have forgotten the best part of themselves so they don't know exactly what to hug into--

In JDC, this is more a challenge to my teaching than any other class, muscle energy is almost non existant-- it's not that the kids are not able to grasp the concept, it's that they don't understand why. I've noticed that to them, hugging in, finding the strength inside invoked a sense of anger. Anger became the one emotion they could access and still protect themselves from actually feeling, anger in JDC is the default emotion-- when you're frustrated because you're beginning to actually feel something, anger is the one emotion that they are framiliar with. So it is easier to get angry than to feel and open.

Last week in the girls class we were working Vira II, with an emphasis on the strong brightness that comes from muscle energy-- I used all the good words - strength, power, capable, honor, engage, etc. and still no no avial their back leg the power leg, the leg that lends itself to become the looking glass into the best part of yourself remained like a limp peice of iceburg lettuce. I kept on this idea that getting the kids to tap into that greatness that they were born with, would make somesort of shift--

I demoed, great responsible back leg strong and full of energy demo's and still when it was their turn, back leg limp, back leg falling apart-- At one point I felt that maybe they were sending me a message-- the big "F" you message that no matter what thye were not going to try-- not today--.

The one of the girls, said out loud, "Miss Jen do mean not to have a "stanky leg"?" Not to come off as not in touch with my cool side, I said, do you mean stinky--the girls laughed, no I mean Stanky she replied, and my non-cool old lady came out and said, tell me what you mean. "Well, when we are dancing, their is this move called the "stanky" leg, and it's where you let a leg jsut kind of hand there doing nothing, you now it's so much more than stinky, it's stanky. So is what you want is for us to not use the stanky leg, but to keep it straight and strong." Feeling like an old, out of touch, realizing I'm not hip and trendy, and for pete's sake, maybe as uncool as my mother---"I meekly replied, "Yes!" And then it happened, a miracle, Divine Intervention the back legs of these beautiful girls went from "stanky" to strong and the poses looked stronger than ever and their hearts shined like the light of 10000 suns.