Imagine large rectangular pieces of solid
colored flowing fabric thirty-six times the size of a piece of
construction paper. Fabric that is machine washable and
dryable, colorfast, translucent, lightweight, and ravel proof.
Fabric that can stretch, hang, float and tie with ease. Pieces
of fabric dubbed Dancing Colors™. What do you do with Dancing
Colors? Anything and everything!
We're not
even trying.
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Combine them with a moving body or a
gentle breeze and they take on a life of their own.
Kinesthetically they're an amazing teaching tool for
spontaneous dance, encouraging bodies to swirl, leap, float,
fall, undulate, twist and relax. Self-consciousness disappears
as attention focuses on the flowing fabric. Everyone begins to
move because no one can resist the magic of the colorful
scarves. They also make perfect props and scenery for story
dances about the weather, seasons, ocean life, birthing,
growing things - the list goes on and on.
Dancing Colors make castles in the air.
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When you're not dancing with the scarves,
use them to design mural size wall and floor graphics, as easy
to change as the images in a kaleidoscope. Or you can tie them
together and hang them from hooks, light fixtures, furniture,
poles and ropes to create environments which awaken the latent
architect in everyone who desires to alter three-dimensional
space on a whim. Right angles disappear. Environment and moods
change color in minutes. Unlike walls of plaster, surfaces of
fabric breathe and pulse with the movement of the air and the
people they surround.
Then adorn your bodies with the scarves,
which can be tied, tucked, wrapped or draped into myriad
creations, instantly activating the costumer in everyone. Link
several bodies with the colorful fabric and giant flying
dragons, dinosaurs, or new creatures and creations emerge.
It's a flying
dragon!
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The power of working together to create
something bigger than anything you can make on your own
becomes at once a visual reality - in color!Which leads us to
the colors, currently 15 in the Dancing Colors rainbow. They
are the primary and secondary colors: red, yellow, blue,
orange, green, purple; black, white and cocoa for all the
archtypal images they evoke; pastel pink and blue for their
calming qualities; and the blends that have a strong vibratory
effect on human beings: magenta, fuchsia, chartreuse and
turquoise. (Read Rudolph Steiner's color theories related to
developmental stages for additional insights.)
You can begin to explore the healing
aspect of different colors by observing which ones children
choose to gaze at or sit under while they rest, read, write or
listen to music. Certain wombs of color attract clusters of
children who curl up together for comfort.
New ideas? Possibly for us, but
historically every culture in every generation since the
invention of weaving has used large rectangles of cloth to
give space shape, color and rhythm! In Africa, South America,
Greece, Bali, the SW Plains and Polynesia fabric was often
sacred and used only for rituals and ceremonies. Often it was
decorated with symbols and images. Why not spray or brush
flexible paint on the Dancing Colors to create our own
ceremonial cloth and aid in the emergence of new rituals.
Another idea to explore.
Yes! They take us
flying!
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Why are we intuitively drawn to the
vibrancy and power of colorful fabric, regardless of age of
cultural background? The answer might be as simple as the fact
that we live on a rainbow planet, which is constantly changing
color - daily, seasonally, its atmosphere, its oceans, its
flora and fauna. And we've been given organs of sight and
vision to experience this color very deeply. Yet often our
institutions are decorated in monotones, numbing our color
awareness and sensitivity; denying one of the richest parts of
our experience on planet earth.
Our children need these colorful, fluid,
three-dimensional "dancing" tools of creativity. In the words
of Harold Rugg: "To provide a whole education, our theory must
contain a non-verbal symbolism...In practical terms this can
be implemented only in a school program that is motor focused.
This is the key to the building of a complete school of
living...the felt-thought of discovery...the two-fold approach
of intuitive identification and scientific observation."
Dancing Colors are one of the tools of
this motor creativity that requires no study of technique, no
large expenditure of funds, yet offers children of all ages
limitless opportunities to connect their inner and outer
worlds through the medium of form, color, movement and rhythm.
They aid the body in moving in accordance to the vibration of
the soul, which in turn is a tool in allowing the conscious
mind to come into harmony with the soul mind without
separation. As we encourage the use of imagery by our
children, they will become "more complete and functionally
enhanced individuals," in the words of Robert Masters.
Everyone is willing to be seen
dancing!
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Emily Janet Day, the founder of Dancing
Colors, is available as a consultant, in-service trainer and
performing artist for groups around the country. She is a part
of a network of dance educators, artists, and performers who
are available to facilitate celebrations, performances and
other events. Call (360) 221-5989 for more
information.
Children in photos appearing throughout the
article participated in the L.A.S.E.R. program at Laurelhurst
Elementary School in Seattle. Photos by Jane Duke.
