3. Why Pray?

Brainstorm
After a long discussion around whether or not to continue our exploration of the choreography associated with "Baruch Atah YHVH," we decided that our initial session on choreogrpahy was a great starting place, but we were excited to take our inquiry in slightly different direction. Our goal became to work with the journey the blessing formula takes us through. This means delving into the move from directionality to no directionality, from groundedness to lack of groundedness, from movement where I am being held to movement where I am not being held, from the familiar to the unfamiliar. Our plan is spend the rest of the semester experiencing the arc of these words. Our first two sessions will be on this move from the familiar to the unfamiliar. Bring in the next part of the blessing formula "Eloheinu Melech haOlam," our third session will explore the move from the unfamiliar (YHVH) to the communal (Eloheinu). Finally, our fourth session will play with the entire phrase: familiar (Baruch Atah) to the unfamiliar (YHVH) to the communal (Eloheniu).


Outline
I. Warm Up (10)
Everyone walks around the room and begins to weave between other folks, then picks someone to follow (or tries to put him or herself between two people). Goal: to break the ice without being too deep at first


II. Theme (2)
This is 2 of five sessions moving through the words Baruch Atah YHVH Eloheinu Melech HaOlam
This week and next week are focused on the move from Barch Atah to YHVH
The paradigm we are working with explores:


Baruch Atah --> YHVH
Familiar --->Not Familiar
Grounded ---> Ungrounded
Oriented ---> Not Oriented


III. Framing (3)
Our movement today will be exploring this transition between paradigms through an extended Rag Doll exercise. We will begin by finding a partner. A begins by being the mover and B begins by being moved. At first A will be fully in control of moving B. Increasingly, B will begin to take ownership of movements, resisting, embellishing, rejecting, transforming A's guidance. The intervals of time between A's touches will become increasingly longer. As B continues to move on his own, A is still present, accompanying B, engaged in the movements. We will cue the timing of contact. To transition roles we will give warning and come into a period of breathing time to end one segment and begin the next


IV. Movement (30)
A b (15)
transition


B a (15)
transition


Baruch Atah YHVH


V. Discussion (10)
Can you be in partnership dancing without ever touching your partner?
What is the experience like of moving from structure to unstructured?
How was this experience different for A and for B?


VI. Closing (2 min)

Accompanying
It was fascinating to see the way movement unfolded today. One instruction that Adam gave was for partner A (mover) to accompany partner B (rag doll), even while B increasingly took control of her own movements. Almost every pair performed this accompaniment by mirroring one another, and some pairs actually didn’t touch one another at all. In our minds partner A would gradually step back, following and observing his partner as she continued to move on her own. We are wondering if the wording of our instructions for “accompanying” made people think of mirroring, or if the way that seemed most natural to “accompany” was to have both partners doing the same movements. Alternatively, could it be that moving into the unknown is frightening and mirroring was a way to stay in the “known”?


To Speak or Not to Speak
Our closing discussions have become increasingly dynamic each session. One theme that was brought up today was how language can stand in the way of us losing our reference point and having new experience. Jordan noted that when he and Hillel broke the rules of the exercise a few times and spoke words to one another it interrupted the flow of their movements significantly. On the other hand, Rick mentioned that really having the words “Baruch Atah YHVH” repeated over and over at the beginning could help to ingrain them in the movements. David brought words into his music in such a beautiful and seamless way that it didn’t feel like a cognitive experience of holding words, but rather part of a sensory experience where the words moved in around and through us. We are interested in playing with the idea of letting the theme/reference points fade into the background as we move through the arc of these sessions.


Partnership
Allan shared that he really felt connected when he was in the space of moving himself, rather than being moved by his partner. When he was being moved he felt much more in a headspace, thinking about the movements that were being done to him, rather than being fully in his body. Leora, a perspective student who happened to be at school for her interview today, joined us for minyan. Though she had just met her partner Avi this morning, she shared that she felt totally connected to Avi. This gave her a new experience in her explorations of the ways she connects to the kahal during davening, something she's been thinking about a lot lately. As the touches from his partner (Adina) became intermittent and he mostly followed his own impulses for movement, Adam found himself repeating the movement given to him by Adina over and over again as a means of integration. Adina felt joyousness in the touches from Adam throughout her movement. To her it felt like Gd giving her playful nudges to expand, change, try something new.


To Move or Be Moved
We all had different experiences of the movement today and different preferences for which role we found more comfortable. Amy said that she likes to be the mover were she is in charge of how the actions will unfold while Avi described being much more comfortable in the role of the rag doll, being moved and directed by her partner. Similarly, while Alana found it difficult to move from being grounded in her partner’s directions to ungrounded in her own experience, Arielle relished the experience of getting an impulse from her partner and then getting to riff on it and make it her own.


Leaving Space
In reflecting on the experience of moving from being directed to not being directed Adina felt it was important to have space where she was just open to receiving direction and movement from Adam. This allowed new information to enter and for her body to move in non-habitual ways. It is interesting to think of how this transfers to our prayer experience. In what ways do we leave space or create the appropriate openings for new information (Gd?) to enter and move us in new ways? It felt important to begin with the groundedness of relationship building with the partner. This helped to create a feeling of safety and a sense of being held. Perhaps it is necessary to start from a solidly grounded place in order to move into the unknown in a healthy (vs. self-destructive) way. If so, “Baruch Atah” is like take off/landing strip for the soaring experience of “YHVH,” for the exhilaration and fear of the unknown