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Ruth Allen, PhD (MNCPS Accred)'s avatar

Thank you Lara. I LOVE love love to see this. I love that the first week has prompted a rich dive. Really, it makes the book club feel worth while to know I'm writing towards you in this way :) And I adore the sound of Kerala. I am very drawn to colour in this stage in my life and feel thr acute drabness of N Hemi winters. The trip sounds so inspiring. And dance, yes! I hear you. I have been dancing weekly up here in Derbysbire for 2 years but the centre closed last year due to council bankruptcy and it's now only monthly classes elsewhere so I'm having to dance for myself the rest of the time, which involves remembering to do so. As you say, it so easily gets relegated behind other stuff that could wait. But I think that says everything about our broader cultural relationship with dance. Anyway, i'm wittering! I'm excited for the potential of this opening space between rivers for you xx

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Nirja Joshi's avatar

If you ever want to dance online with me, you'd be so welcome x

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Ruth Allen, PhD (MNCPS Accred)'s avatar

Such generosity, thank you :) x

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Lara Hayward's avatar

Colour is so compelling isn't it.. I'm kind of obsessed but it's hard to draw out exactly why.. perhaps we don't need to and can just get lost joyfully in it... and so sad to hear about your dance class closing due to the centres bankruptcy. Definitely a sad and depressing sign of the times. I wonder if you have read Emma Warren's book 'Dance your way home'. It's a fascinating read through dance culture in the UK through the years and how it has been hugely affected by the closure of community and youth spaces. It sounds like a sad read, but was full of wonderful nostalgia too, particularly for the late 90s/early 00s dance and music culture in my case. Highly recommended! Looking forward to Chapter 2 and being able to go a bit deeper in my reflectiosn/response. Thanks again for your generosity in doing this. 🙂

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Nirja Joshi's avatar

Thank you so much for reading and writing about dance. I totally agree, we need to just get back into our bodies sometimes. But kerala looks incredible and I'm so tempted to go back!!!

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