It's one a.m., it's a full moon and I'm walking like I'm on Mars right down Hollywood Blvd.. Just got back from Japan on Monday. Just left the Thursday nite Goth Party where I came alone and am leaving alone and with a newfound respect for the phenomena tagged jetlag, dancing alone, just being inside myself alone all nite. Feels about right.

Jet lag or no, my days on location in the United States are instantly American and notably [i]un[/i]Japanese. I woke at five a.m. to share a cup of tea with my Lover before he left for location on the movie he is working (okay, I woke not because at five a.m. I thought I'd really like a cup of tea, but because I thought he might have a better day if I did - I know he did). After he left I did tonya kay American style things, like spinning poi on his rooftop as the sun rose over LA, meeting my knife throwing partner to practice bullwhip cracks, taking a nap, taking a tap class and well, trying to not make eye contact while dancing like a straight pro, a sensual expert, like a cat with her tail slammed in a door, screeching all the way, at the Goth club just now, and while doing such tonya kay American style things, remembering the dance classes I was lucky enough to teach while in Tokyo last week. And how not only in class, but on the street, good posture was wholly Japanese. And yes, I glance black eyeliner tonite, leather bra tops and knee high moon boots, and recognize bad posture (the kind that slightly hunches the upper spine by drawing the shoulders in toward one another) as uncannily American.

So I stand up from where I am lying on the sidewalk, it's a big star, matching all the little ones with famous movie names in them, - my outstretched body fits right inside that big star, as I suspected. Perfectly underneath those four silver android women statues at LaBrea (you know the ones), perfectly underneath the full moon I am standing up. And as I walk back to my car alone, feeling about right, I do a little experiment: I try the American posture on for size. Instantly, I feel the state of mind this position creates in a body (I am a dancer - this is my language). I listen to the thoughts that arise and emotions that come up and allow myself to become all the things this posture implies: moving forward, slight protection, slight insecurity, outward display of "tough".

Then I try on the Japanese style posture, straightening up, and the immediate reflection in my body is: You are here. Right now. You could be anywhere, but you are here. And if you practice enlightenment through perfect posture, you might be in Chicago, you might be in Vancouver, or you might be in Tokyo, and you will still be here.

Enlightenment through perfect posture.

0 comments Links to this post