It’s time to shake off the winter and dance. Shake your groove thing, shimmy, move to the beat. Each Saturday Karen Chapman invites you to join her in a benefit for Blue Ridge Pride, starting this Saturday, February 26 starting at 9:30AM.
Expressive movement is a prominent and growing phenomenon in Asheville. While dance church is one of the largest regular gatherings, there is at least one expressive movement event every day of the week. Many of them are based on, or derived from, a practice known as 5Rhythms, developed by the artist Gabrielle Roth in the 1970s. The 5Rhythms philosophy can be summarized by her quote, “Put your body in motion and your psyche will heal itself.”
Karen Chapman is one of three certified 5Rhythms instructors in Asheville who hosts the Wednesday night event. She leads dancers through the tempos and their accompanying themes. These, she explains, are flowing (“Your feminine energy, grounded, Mother Earth energy,” she says); staccato (“Your masculine energy, your passion, your fire”); chaos (“An energy that’s releasing, that’s emptying the mind. It’s all about letting go”); lyrical (“It’s about the soul, about love and beauty and grace”); and stillness (“The mother rhythm, where all the rhythms come together”).