A true move is the powerful expression that emerges moment by moment from a space in which self and the world are playing.
- Arawana Hayashi
 

 

"The Art of Making a True Move" workshop investigates genuineness – an integrated relationship between body, mind, and environment. In her acclaimed workshops, Arawana invites participants to discover their natural creativity as she guides them through a gentle process of paying attention to the body and to physical and psychological space.  Through these non-verbal exercises, they discover fresh responses to challenges in the speed and fragmentation of contemporary life.
 
Arawana has presented “The Art of Making a True Move” in educational and cultural institutions, business and organizational settings, and at meditation centers throughout North America. The workshops provide a unique kinesthetic learning experience that strengthens personal confidence, creative collaborations, teambuilding, group communication, and leadership skills.
 
The Practice of Embodiment: Paying Attention    
Making a true move expresses body-mind synchronization.
 
Many of us are preoccupied with thoughts and mental models that hinder us from being thoroughly present in the body and open minded in conversations, tasks and creative thinking. Mindfulness practice, noticing sensations free from judgment and goal-orientation, brings us into the body and into the present.  We notice our habit of thinking rather than being. By returning attention to the body, the busy mind settles into a deep integration with the body. This practice promotes a sense of groundedness and presence.
 

The Practice of Collaboration: Playing within the Team.
Making a true move expresses genuine heart in working with others.
 
Most performing artists engage in collaboration and have skills in ensemble creative process. This step-by-step training enables groups to break old habits and gain fresh perspectives. The method shifts attention from the content of the communication to other important but often neglected sources of insight – rhythm, spatial arrangements, composition in time, choice making process, energetic qualities.  The team uses six simple everyday movements to create a “dance.” The simplicity of the form highlights what is emerging from the collective and teaches skills that enable the group to communicate genuinely.
 
The Practice of Performance:  Leading from Presence
Making a true move creates an emerging future.
 
Each participant takes a leadership role within the group, using gestures to illuminate the power of being present – the ordinary and extraordinary sense of “making a true move.”  
This practice emphasizes relaxing in the challenge, letting things arise naturally from the situation, and performing with clarity and conviction. It reduces the separation between performer/leader and audience.  Support and trustworthy feedback are always available.

‘A true move” is the expression of genuine art and enlightened society.

See also: Emodied Presence
 
 
Arawana Hayashi is a dancer/choreographer/teacher, founder and director of the Jo Ha Kyu Performance Group in Cambridge, MA. She is one of the foremost performers of bugaku, Japanese Court Dance, outside of Japan. She has received choreography fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the LEF Foundation. In addition, she is a senior teacher of meditation. She is on the creative arts faculty of theShambhala Institute for Authentic Leadership in Halifax, Nova Scotia.