Tag Archives: Dance

Notes From the 6 Train: Finding & Exploring Courageous Creativity

Courageous *the fist* Creativity *the other hand being creative* lol

This past Sunday I went to this Dance Therapy Healing workshop. I spent all day dancing, moving, talking and crying with an amazing group of women.

The workshop, Courageous Creativity, is all about unblocking your creativity. Tatiana Zamir, a trained dance and massage therapist, encouraged this through simple breathing and body awareness exercises. We also thought back to time whens our creativity was not valued or recognized. And then we danced that feeling of unworthiness out, and then danced in a way that reclaimed our sense of ideas and voices mattering. It was therapeutic and healing, especially since moving and being in your body is an art form that many of us don’t tap into. Our bodies retain all the stress we put it through, both physically and emotionally, so it only makes sense for us to turn back into our bodies for answers and guidance.

A little solitary movement after the workshop.

Dance is something I love. I use it as a healing mechanism all the time, but to do it with a group of other women is quite special. During this workshop, I realized some truths that I have to deal with in order to move forward with all of my creative endeavors. I am excited to put them into action! Right before the beginning of school was the perfect time for these realizations.

All Things Color, Love & Fashion,
Ayanna Lane

Notes From the 6 Train: Summer Flying High

As a follow up to my recent post, I want to share some exciting news. I’m officially an aerial performance artist! I had my first performance two weeks ago and it was magical.

The theme of the show was SPACE/TIME and it was held at my dance studio. My group’s concept was Star Wars & we had a major lightsaber fight in the air! The actually studio it was held in felt like outer-space. While performing, I felt like I was flying through the skies. There were no mirrors staring back at me, the spotlights were in perfect accordance with the musical cues, and the smoky atmosphere felt heavenly. I was flying.

The late night rehearsals, and early morning meetings, the mini freak-outs when out props would begin to malfunction, to the proper recourse when group members had emergencies and had to drop out – were all worth it. This is all the easy stuff behind performances.

What I find to be the most challenging (and gratifying) part of performing, is closely related to one my favorite concepts, “the personal is political”. This slogan was popularized during the second wave of contemporary feminism. It was used to underscore the inherent connections between personal experience and larger social and political structures. When I think of this quote, it’s usually in relation to performing.

This sentiment was found in several of the pieces from the showcase. There were pieces that emanated personal stories, experiences, pain and hardships, feelings, etc. Movement is powerful on it’s own, but truly takes on another life when others are allowed to engage. This is when the magic of the personal-political happens. Many of the stories from this past weekend fell into this category, such as; dealing with severe depression, internal strife about gender identity, or even being in full drag & dancing to music in your native tongue. Sharing your art and yourself with an audience is incredibly personal, but can easily become political, depending on the intention set forth.

All Things Color, Love & Fashion,
Ayanna Lane

Notes From The 6 Train: Quintessential Halloween Post

Last year I was stuck in class while the parade was going on and went afterwards because it was so cold outside. So as far as I’m concerned, that doesn’t count. So hooray for my first Halloween In NYC!

My Halloween ended up being much different than I had expected. It looked like this:

as opposed to this:

I’ve been working and training at an aerial and fitness dance studio in Chelsea the past four months. I attended my dance studio’s annual party an it was a blast! I got to see ghouls, goblins, ninjas & mermaids hanging, swinging and flying through the air. It was magical. It was beyond inspiring to see my peers, the people I work and train, performing so beautifully. It almost looked effortless, but because I know the amount of hard work and dedication that goes into any type of dance, especially aerials, I would be a fool to think that this feat was effortless.

After the performances we all got together and jammed. In the midst of this jamfest, I looked around and realized just how fortunate I am to have entered into a whole new community or creative, passionate and driven people (much like students at FIT.) The longer I live in New York, the more obvious it becomes to me just how many opportunities there are to create the life you want. As always, I encourage students to go out in the city and explore! We live in a city of chance. After this reaffirmation, I continued to dance until the wee hours of the morning. Best Halloween I’ve had in a long time.

All things Color, Love, & Fashion,
Ayanna L.

Maybe a Minor?

Camus to Caravaggio. Da Vinci to Darwin. Aristophanes to Zappa. Know who they are? You should. Because a well-rounded knowledge base is the sign of an inquisitive mind — and a solid liberal arts education is the best way to work that muscle – FIT’s School of Liberal Arts

Despite the fact FIT is an extremely specialized arts college, everyone here still has to take math, science, English and even phys ed. Yes, every FIT graduate has to complete two gym credits. This is because FIT is a SUNY school (State University of New York) and since we receive funding from the government, we are required to follow some of their rules. At first, this may seem very annoying and you are not going to want to do it. Hey, I feel you. Did I want to take another math or science class after high school? No. Did I drag my feet everyday to those classes when I took them here? Yes, but it wasn’t that bad, I promise.

In fact, I think that the liberals we have to take make for a nice break from the never ending deluge of fashion we are under (or photography, or graphic design, or interior design…you get the picture). Sure, you may not enjoy all the liberal arts classes you take, but I bet you will really enjoy a few. Because we are required to take so many liberal arts, it actually makes it easier to complete a minor, which can really bolster your degree.

You can declare a minor after completing five courses (or 15 credits) from the specified classes for the minor you choose. If you have transfer credits coming in from high school or another college, plus the class or two you are required to take in that subject here, you may already be more than halfway done!

I personally have finished an Art History minor and am one class away from finishing my Fashion Studies minor, and the classes I have taken for those have easily been my favorites. Yes, it is more hours of class, but knowledge and better understanding of the world outside your major’s industry can greatly impact the success of your work and make you a more rounded person. If nothing else, speak to your adviser and see how many classes you would need to complete a minor, you never know, you could be only one class away!

Fashion Studies minor example

FIT offers minors in English, Speak & Communication, Modern Languages & Cultures, Film, Media & the Performing Arts, Science, Math & Economics, History & History of Art, and Sociology, Psychology & International Politics. For a complete list of classes click here. There are really interesting and engaging classes so I encourage you to check them out. (side note: if you want descriptions of the classes you can copy the course number – i.e. HA 347 – and paste it into the search bar at fitnyc.edu)

–Emily–