Friday through Sunday in Ashland
It’s been such a whirlwind in Ashland. I’m going to break with my own guideline of writing about each dance separately. I’m a bit fuzzy about all the details, so I’ll relate them to you to the best my memory allows. Please forgive me if I mix up any of the details.
I arrived in Ashland on Wed. April 10th, having driven straight through from Portland. I’ve already written of the Wed. night and Thurs. morning dances, but from there things get a little hazy. You see I stayed for five days and attended seven dances. Each night I had barely taken off my clothes and climbed into bed when I was preparing for another dance.
So, first to familiarize you with the dance spaces, some of which I’ve already described: At 280 E. Hersey St. there are two studios, Dance Space and Studio Z (as well as Jerry Soloman’s Electric Bike shop). This address is a series of small individual work spaces, and these two are beautifully appointed. They are small, but adequate for their purposes. Dance Space is about fifteen hundred sq. feet, with a really nice sound system, and Studio Z is about one thousand sq. feet with a sound system that accommodates the room. I believe they both have sprung floors, with Studio Z having a heated cork surface. Oasis is new, recently created by Renee Jeffus in a small office building at 258 A St., on the second floor. Renee has done an amazing job of creating a multiuse space with room for about twenty five dancers and additional space for chilling. The night I was there she had snacks and a tea house available. Original paintings on the walls, tapestries and assorted inspirational adornments added to the general feeling of Spiritual awareness. She has done a marvelous job.
There is a third location for dance in this Alpine village at the Jackson Wellsprings. On my last tour I visited and wrote about a dance held there, so for a description see that entry. The important part of this venue is that Rara Avis is holding dances there occasionally (I think it’s once a month). For those of you who do not know who he is, go to youtube right now and look him up. He is responsible for many of the most beautiful chill and transitional music I’ve used through the years. If you’re in Ashville be sure to check on whether he’s playing and go.
Now to the dances I attended:
Friday evening is an every week event at Dance Space, and this week for the first time, Sarah who usually does alternate Wed. nights was our DJ. She had a great set and I danced to every tune. I saw some old friends and connected again with some new ones. Wonderful space, music and community.
Saturday morning and another of the new dances. The Ecstatic Soul (second and fourth Saturdays), created by Heather Rhea Dawn and held at Studio Z starts at 10:00 AM. Heather has recently moved to Ashland from the southern Cal. Area. She is an accomplished DJ and her mix was an eclectic array of tunes that took me to the nineteen fifties with “Lucky Lips” by Ruth Brown, and back again into the present. This group was small owing to the fact that only ten hours later Renee Jeffus would hold her first dance at Oasis.
I guess most people feel they have only so much dance in their feet. As I’ve said before, I used to think I could only dance twice a week. I now know I can dance every day of the week. The more I dance, the more energy I have to dance.
Saturday night and I’m off to Oasis and another opportunity to connect with Spirit. There is a pole in the middle of the dance space at Oasis, but it doesn’t get in the way. I actually used it to center my dance. Renee had specific goals in mind for the evening and gave us a few directions. For safety, she asked that we not do any Contact as the ceiling is low and the decorations all around the room might be affected. She also asked that we focus internally rather than as community. This accommodated her desire to create easy access to Spirit. The mix was quite good and I danced alone the entire evening, something I do many times anyway. I had a great time. Wonderful space, visit it for dance or one of the other varied things occurring there when you’re in town.
Sunday morning and off to Studio Z for 9:00 AM Ecstatic Dance created and DJ’d by Eden Luz & Ryan Ginn. This dance usually starts with a lot of Contact Improv. The first twenty minutes or so I lay on the floor and moved to the music, and then I felt the gentle brush of something across my feet. I opened my eyes and there was Melanie, a friend from previous visits. We had a very sensual, evocative dance together and from that point on, I was up and moving. It was a good set and I danced the entire time. When the mix was ending, many of the people left to go to the second dance of the day at Dance Space only a feet feet away. I’m not clear on why these two dances overlap when with a slight adjustment they could make it possible to attend both in their entirety. In any case, the closing circle was small and perhaps more intimate because of this. I stayed late talking with Eden about Ashland dances, arriving at the second Ecstatic Dance a bit late.
I seemed to be on time however, as they were still in the low key part of the dance. I danced with so many people it made up for dancing alone the night before. Diane Horbacewicz has held this dance for nine years and does a great job with the facilitation and the music. Talking with her after, she mentioned that in all that time she’s never repeated a mix. She uses tunes over, but never in the same mix twice. I was surprised. She’s the only one I’ve encountered that does that other than myself. Of course I’ve changed that a bit while traveling. When I’m DJ’ing for a new group I’ll sometimes use a mix I created for a different group. I do like to mix it up though with music I’ve recently accumulated. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I uploaded my entire music library before leaving Seattle, into a portable drive. So I’ve got about 60,000 tunes in a little box I carry with me. Anyone for a dance? What do you want to hear.
I’m in Mill Valley sitting in a Starbucks (Just for the wifi, not the coffee), and will attend a five rhythms dance tonight. I’ll be talking with you again soon. Till then,
Love and Blessings,
Franklin