It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love.
Christmas Eve was fast approaching three years ago in Toronto, where I found myself joining my husband as he worked there on a holiday show. With ample time to myself, I ended up doing quite a bit of chewing on what it looks like to love well, especially to love my husband well. I had recently been convicted of my failure in this department and not only did I want to commit anew, I wanted to express this to him in a creative way.
My reflections led me to remember that loving my husband well means actively falling forward – choosing to protect and trust and hope and persevere moment by moment in actions and in words, and oftentimes in the withholding of words too. Falling forward is sometimes messy and sometimes clean, but it never withdraws or turns back or attacks.
This dance was my gift to him that year, a moving illustration of my committment, of my answer to what it looks like to love well. I re-created it in the hallway of the offices of Brooklyn Presbyterian Church. It is danced by the lovely Arletta Anderson; Music is by Sarah McLachlan.
I love that you chose a hallway. What an interesting context. It would seem that such close (enclosed/closing in) walls would inhibit the dance, but it feels just the other way around, and this very concrete parameter intensifies the feeling of the piece in every way. It’s like limiting your color palette in painting– that discipline helps break through to other levels of meaning and power. There’s a mournful quality in this piece, and a rawness that I love.
Beautiful, Arron!!!