PLANETARY parfum DANCE
Contemporary dance sensory experiment
IDEA AND CONTEXT
Idea: To experiment with the olfactory sense and visualization process in creating new inspired movements in dance related with the planetary archetypes and their correspondences.
Inspired by the stars and planets and their power over us, I used plants and scent to connect and feel the subtle energies that each individual planet and star sends to earth.
The plants gather this subtle energy sent by the planets, each plant with its specific affinity for a particular planet. Captured in oil this energy can be felt on the skin directly. The temperature of the skin, 37 degrees C, is just enough heat to release the perfume of each scented blend and inspire the performer to move in the rhythm of the stars.
Location: Corbu, Romania 2020
Context: part of the Dance Wanderer Retreat
STORY AND METHOD
I used the scent from hand crafted blends of scented elixirs, made exclusively out of freshly cold pressed seeds, herbs and spices, to experience a pure natural scent of the ingredients.
Imagine: In this dance experiment the performer has in their grasp a lively and powerful potion with which they can connect and explore movement and emotion - as if they have a handful of flowers, seeds and spices and they would have the power to squeeze them in to their palms, so hard that you discover their essences and oils gushing out of them and entering your body.
*the elixirs used in this experiment are extracted with the help of a non metallic organic press 100% natural and sustainable.
Every seed, herb and spice have its own unique vibration, each to a specific planet or luminary – Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn.
I choose to experiment the natural scent of the Sun and Jupiter herb elixirs.
I was interested in dancing on the perfume notes that results from the combination of herbs, seeds and spices with the same vibratory frequency as the Sun and the Jupiter planet. This way we can enhance the subtle connection related to the specific archetypes into our bodies.
Time of day – Sunrise and midnight for Sun Potion; Sunset for Jupiter
Place – Seaside
Total time - 30min- 50min
The experiment started with a guided meditation before the dance started, to connect with ourselves and the representation of that particular planet (specific words, emotions, mental images related to the planet archetypes) after this guided meditation the performers receive in their palm a small quantity of elixir that they were encouraged to anoint on specific parts of their body (hands, joints, legs, hair, face) wherever it feels fit.
Finishing the meditation, the performers are asked to put their palms together, inhaling deeply the natural parfum of the blend for 3 times, in a second of stillness.
Driven and inhabited by the parfum notes, the performer can start dancing freely guided by the scent, returning to the anointed parts of their body to reconnect with the parfum whenever he feels.
The dance continues freely until the scent is completely gone or the performer feels he is ready to step out of the trance like state.
The performers managed to connect with the oils in a deep way.
IMPRESIONS AND FUTURE EXPLORATIONS
Sun Potion Elixir experience
The Sun Potion had a solemn feeling and movement in dance.
The Sun potion is made out of plants encapsulating Sun energy.
Ingredients – chamomile, bay leaf, juniper, hazelnut, orange, rosemary, St. John's wort. The Sun represents personality, presence, our inner sun, and driving force.
Physically – The performers had experienced sensations, starting with the tip of the fingers, of the fine texture of the oils. The interaction with the Sun oil on the skin and all the sensations that a pure natural product gives you - the softness of the skin, or the sensation of warmth on skin.
Visually and Mentally: The performers experienced a state of solemnity, the Sun connected them to their inner identity, having recorded passing flashes of loved ones and centered feeling of awareness and just being, the pleasure of existing.
Jupiter Potion Elixir experience
The Jupiter Potion had a very expansive feeling and movement in dance.
The Jupiter potion is made out of plants encapsulating Jupiter s energy.
Ingredients – anise, hazelnut, cloves, dandelion, hyssop, fig, nutmeg, sage, star anise. Jupiter represents expansion, optimism, creativity, freedom and adventure.
Physically: The movement was amplified and an expansive trance started to immerge in a wish of never-ending movement.
Visually and Mentally: The performers experienced a state of expansion and freedom, no limits in exploration and abundant energy flow.
The dancers resonated very well with Jupiter potion, having recorded vivid imagery and trance like state of transcending time and space.
Furure explorations
The plan is to gather more information on the subject with the help of individuals who are interested and document the process. Then, even make a dance representation of the solar system for each planet around the Sun.
