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Jun. 9th, 2003 01:47 pmI've become obsessed lately with people's bodies. I find myself staring at everyone who is around me on the subway, looking at how their bodies are put together -- not in a judgmental way, or with any sort of comparison, but just admiring shapes and curves and individual bits. Watching they way this person's hands move, and that person's back curves. Appreciating one stranger's buff arms, and another's pillowy hips. And it's not just limited to other people. Never have I spent so much time looking at myself in the mirror, minutely examining the line where my legs meet my hips, and seeing how my silhouette changes as I stand differently.
I've come to the conclusion that it's a side effect of taking three bellydance classes a week. During class, I am focused so intently on how bodies move, and what they look like when they move, that I think this just carries over into the rest of my life. I have a different teacher for each class, and each teacher holds herself differently, and accentuates different parts of her body when she dances, and it's these individualities as dancers that make them each so interesting to watch. I had a conversation recently with friend from class where she pointed out that each dancer that we had seen at a show was associated, in her mind, with a specific part of the body (arms, hips, legs, fingers, etc.) -- not because this was necessarily the most prominent feature on the dancer, but because that was where that dancer's individuality came through.
Now when I look at people, I watch how they move themselves, and how they use their bodies, and how they sit comfortably in their skins. And I admire that, and hope that one day I will be there too.
I've come to the conclusion that it's a side effect of taking three bellydance classes a week. During class, I am focused so intently on how bodies move, and what they look like when they move, that I think this just carries over into the rest of my life. I have a different teacher for each class, and each teacher holds herself differently, and accentuates different parts of her body when she dances, and it's these individualities as dancers that make them each so interesting to watch. I had a conversation recently with friend from class where she pointed out that each dancer that we had seen at a show was associated, in her mind, with a specific part of the body (arms, hips, legs, fingers, etc.) -- not because this was necessarily the most prominent feature on the dancer, but because that was where that dancer's individuality came through.
Now when I look at people, I watch how they move themselves, and how they use their bodies, and how they sit comfortably in their skins. And I admire that, and hope that one day I will be there too.