Autumn's Herald: Saturday Symbol Fairy 9/29/12

Here in New Mexico, autumn is heralded not by a riotous change in the colors of tree leaves but by an abundant outcropping of roadside flowers such as purple aster and sunflowers.

The Spanish name for a sunflower is girasol meaning "turn to the sun," based on the fact the flower's face does exactly that. And so, a sunflower symbolizes the faithful love of God as well as loyalty, adoration and optimism. Because the flower itself looks like a sun, it also represents warmth and happiness.

Of Friends and Lemons: Saturday Symbol Fairy 9/22/12

Today is a day of visitors. First, a few guests will be at my house then after hours and hours of dance and rehearsal, I'll be (stamina-willing) off to see an old friend. Whenever I attend a party, I try to bring, or I'm required to bring, my family's passed-down version of lemon bars. There is truly no better way to say thanks and I love you than the flaky, tangy and sweet deliciousness of lemon custard baked on top of a sugary pastry.

So, therefore, lemon is this weeks symbol! Lemon represents fidelity in love as well as purity, longevity and friendship. A perfect token of hospitality and appreciation!

Saturday Symbol Fairy 9/15/12

This post is short and sweet as I am crazy busy creating choreography for East Mountain Dance's production of the "Nutcracker." This is the first time EMD has done a traditional, as opposed to unique, Christmas show. It is exciting but daunting. And an unbelievable amount of work. One of the pieces I am rehearsing today is the Columbine Doll from the opening party scene. My little sister danced this number, beautifully, ages ago. I love this photo of her.

And so, this week's symbol is the doll. Dolls symbolize youth and innocence. They can also act as a surrogate for an individual, representing a person positively, like in the use of a corn doll for fertility, or negatively in Voodoo and malicious magic, to inflict pain and injury on another.

Saturday Symbol Fairy 9/8/12

This year, I was invited to put a piece in a University of New Mexico Dance Program Alumni Concert (I graduated from UNM with a M.A. in Dance History and a M.F.A. in Choreography). The concert is a big deal and I am truly honored to be included. Given the theme of the show, I've chosen to revamp two of my older numbers. The first is a dance based on synchronized swimming performed to the song "Her Bathing Suit Never Got Wet" by The Andrew Sisters.

For the second number, I am hoping to reconstruct a duet of "sleepwalking" done to the Emily Browning version of "Sweet Dreams" from the "Sucker Punch" soundtrack. There are two problems, however. One, I need to turn the duet into an ensemble number in less than a months time. And two, I don't have a video recording of the first version. It is going to be a challenge.

So, in honor of my first day-long rehearsal, this weeks symbol is dancing. In many cultures, dancing is a symbol of ecstasy. This is seen in the whirling dervishes of Islam, the Dionysian and Bacchic dances of antiquity, and in African masquerade. It is believed that the trance state brought on by these ritual dances allows the participate to communicate or be possessed by divine spirits. Dance can also represent the cyclical nature of the universe. The depiction of Shiva's Wheel of Flames as the Nataraja, or Lord of the Dance, symbolizes the rhythmic movement of the cosmos whereas round dances like English Morris dancing are thought to help the sun on its path through the heavens. Dance is also used as celebration and, as in the Chinese Lion dance, to ward off evil spirits.

Saturday Symbol Fairy 8/25/12

Last Sunday, Nia, my corgi-cattledog and I attended "Woofstock" in Edgewood, NM. It was a celebration of and benefit for local dog rescue organizations. I'd heard there would also be agility demonstrations which is one of the reasons we went but sadly, if there was, we missed them. Nia is a rescue herself. I adopted her in Georgia from a group that had saved her one day from euthanization. Nia is such a fun friend, she makes every day special. I can't imagine if the world and I had been denied her presence because someone gave her up to a kill shelter. Being a cross of two herding breeds, Nia is incredibly obsessive. I can't bring her to any ball-based sporting event or she spends the entire time trying to get the ball and barking if she can't. And she adores coursing! Here is one of her coursing runs at the Society for Creative Anarchronism's Estrella War a few years back:

Night before last, in her obsessive need to find any and all creatures hiding in our woodshed, Nia somehow managed to take a huge chunk out of her toe. Poor thing. She bled everywhere. Then, because she sleeps with me, she kept me up half the night trying to remove the bandage I'd made her. So, in her honor, this week I am sharing the symbolism of dogs.
Dogs symbolize fidelity, vigilance and nobility. People born in the Year of the Dog, according to the Chinese Zodiac, are thought to be honest, affectionate, fair and open-minded. In Christian art, the image of a dog depicted at the feet or in the lap of a wedded woman represents faithfulness in marriage. One of the most well-know dogs is Sirius, Orion the Hunter's constant companion, a principal character in Greek mythology and astronomy. Dogs are also associated with the dead, thought to both accompany the soul to the next world and symbolize departed spirits. Some African cultures believe dogs are able to see into the spirit world. Various hounds show up in Celtic mythology, leading heroes in and out of the Underworld or hunting the souls of the dead across the night sky. Celtic lore often connects hounds to the sea (a symbol of the afterlife). This is seen in King Arthur's hound, Cabal who chased Twrch Trwyth into the ocean, the hounds of the sea god Mannanan, Aine's stone which attracted all the mad dogs of Ireland who then fell into the ocean, and Queen Nehellenia, a goddess worshipped at the point where travelers crossed the North Sea from the Netherlands, who is often portrayed with a dog by her side. Dogs are further affiliated with healing because they lick their wounds. Let's hope that works in Nia's favor, granting her a speedy recovery.

 

Shepherd, Rowena and Rupert. 1000 Symbols. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2002.
Ferguson, George. Signs and Symbols in Christian Art. New York: Oxford, 1959.