Dancing The Line - the benefits of random

So many positives can come from setting aside a couple of hours to be a bit random. We entered the space with an open mind and a set of drawings on the wall, some ropes hanging down. What next?

Two hours of warming our bodies to the idea of moving in new ways, running through simple exercises inspired by lines drawn by Studio RE clients. We spoke of fascial lines in the body and of how a line drawn might reflect something more internal. We made a baseline, ready to return later for review.

We were artists, mothers, farmers, teachers - a random collection of lives ready to exchange memory and movement. Jasmine Susic, our glowing leader in dance, soon had us using our bodies in a way that normally we'd not think of: all levels, backwards and forwards, demure or dramatic. It's rediscovering this language of movement that brings a simple feeling of joy and at times spontaneous comedy. Childhood, basically.

And then came collaboration, invention and exploration. Take the line, make a shape. Such activities bring us back to playful but also ask us to be open, ready to follow another's lead, accepting of another's offering.

The real magic happens when the randomly gathered group has started to feel connected, with a little help from some black rope. To get entangled and disentangle. Funny and engaging but best of all done without speaking and with awareness.

Then, an exercise in relative precision when we learned some choreography and locked in some straight lines as we vogued. An excellent diet for our brains to memorize some steps - something that has become a bit of a rarity for many these days.

Finally, we sat together to eat a simple lunch of homegrown French potager, pesto, sourdough croutons and nashi pear upside down cake. The random and new feeling had faded as we were now bound by our common experience, with a chance to chat and understand even more about one another. Simple.

Images: Erica Collins-Savva and Elizabeth Collins