Tanssiva Meteoriitti 2023 – Dancing Meteorite 2023

Preamble

-If you´re going through hell, keep going-

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill is known for his role as a politician and the Prime Minister of Britain during the second World War. He was also a professional soldier. From personal experience, he understood the interaction and meaning of movement, thought, decision-making and responsibility-taking.

So keep going -

I believe it means action with a goal that is connected to our values. It is being present. Listening with our entire being. Movement is led by hope, and an attempt to think independently. What else do we have besides this moment, our body and its sensations, memory and conscience.

-Speak peace in a world of conflict, what you say next will change your world-

Marshall B. Rosenberg

The father of Nonviolent Communication – process, psychologist Marshall B.Rosenberg, has said that we become dangerous when we do not take responsibility of our own behaviour, thoughts and feelings.

Open dialogue, which takes into consideration multiple views and values is the only way to achieve ethically sustainable solutions. I appreciate and respect all choices that any person has made as result of thought and reflection. Diversity is richness. We can come together to build a future although we experience the world differently due to our individual experiences and histories. The most important thing is to maintain connections, interactions and compassionate listening.

Art has the potential to increase our understanding of the experience of others. Art invites us to listen and be present.

Art is about interaction and understanding different views. My work involves finding light in times of pain and hardship and pointing out beauty in imperfections. I aim to guide the audience to look at the moon, not the finger pointing at it. Instead of fatalistically accepting the shadows above us, we should maintain curiosity and attempt to understand where the shadows come from. I invite you to celebrate diversity.

Dance and movement are non-verbal communication.

As a dancer and performer, I am interested in kinaesthetic empathy, which involves multi-sensory observation. Kinaesthetic empathy describes a phenomenon where a person can understand and participate in someone else’s movement or their experience of movement simply by observing them. In other words, kinaesthetic empathy is about understanding the physical experience of others in the lack of verbal communication. Further, I believe it extends to animal and plant kingdom. It is about the interaction and interconnectedness between all ecosystems.

Reality and the world are in constant motion. Only change is permanent.

At any given time and place a person seeks to create meaning for their existence. It makes us human and separates us from other species. We wish to be meaningful, important and irreplaceable. Only a human being thinks that the world is built for them. If the human species, and the individuals and groups involved, would be organised similarly to the plant kingdom, we would not be experiencing the same issues and environmental crisis we are currently facing.

Diversity is the foundation of all life.

Diversity is a network. It is apparent in everything: the ecosystems, culture and thought. Diversity enables freedom of speech, thought, religion and movement. We know that the Earth is currently facing the sixth extinction. Biodiversity is threatened. Humanity is also at risk when critical thinking and questioning the common ’truth’ are judged as individual selfishness. Individual being is always constructed in dialogue with other people, nature and environment.

Who gets to determine what is right or wrong/good or evil?

Marshall Rosenberg (2003, p.23) writes that: ”life-alienating communication both stems from and supports hierarchical or domination societies, where large populations are controlled by a small number of individuals to those individuals, own benefit”.

We should aim to see the world as it is. But we have been created a narrative in which everyone has a predetermined role. We are told that dangers and threats come from outside our communities. Humans are naturally seeking safety from groups and communities. We as people want to help one another and live in harmony with the environment. The people in power do not trust this innate instinct to do good. Hierarchical systems of control are based on control, fear and quilt; if you will not do the right thing, you will be isolated and punished. I am not aware of a single case in my personal life or in fact, in the history of the humankind, in which threatening and forcing would have brought about anything good.

Are we living a selfish time?

Perhaps egoism is always prevalent as humans want to secure the continuity of their inheritance. It is important that we accept the selfishness that exists within us. Only then can we recognise where this selfishness is coming from. Healthy and accepting selfishness is independence. An independent human asks: Who am I?

Science, faith and hope walk hand in hand. And the biggest of them all is love.

I think that it is important to aim to understand phenomena despite of their complexity and contradictions. I look at facts when contemplating questions around what and why and thinking about actions and consequences. I believe in science and research, which question commonly held ‘truths’, discuss different possibilities, compare and evaluate. I believe in science and art which are financially independent and multi-disciplinary. I hope that research would be driven by curiosity. I believe in experts who understand their limits and are willing to take responsibility and where necessary, acknowledge their mistakes. I wish this for everyone as there is learning in mistakes.

We are constantly receiving knowledge and information. Knowledge becomes wisdom after it has been assessed through history and as part of individual experience. I think that evaluating knowledge and truth are part of the responsibilities of every individual. We need to strive to understand the reality and our part within it.

I wish that the laws and human rights, which have been developed as result of historical events and involved struggle and commitment, continue to protect me as I strive to make right and wise decisions. Martin Luther King Jr has stated that: ”One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws”.

I continue my attempt to understand the world, wonder and feel joy and gratitude. I am an artist and expert by experience in the human experience. My goal is to act in a just way and make decisions about my life in a wise, justified and unselfish way.

Someone once said that if you wish to understand text, you need to interpret it. This also applies to our relationship with the world. The way in which we interpret our reality is part of the human culture. We need to keep going. I wonder in my thoughts. I wonder in the world which is ever-changing.