by Donnie Hayden © 2014, all rights reserved
Lessons you will learn and teach while you dance
Her name is Miyoko Shida [Rigolo]. She is Japanese and presently lives in Paris, France. She is approximately 52 years old. She has taken the last name of her mentor, Rigolo. Her art is called, The Sanddorn Balance.
The Sanddorn balance began over 15 years ago when Swiss theatre producer Mädir Eugster Rigolo developed a balancing act for the stage production SANDDORN. The play is set in knee-deep sand; the only props are the withered ribs of date and coconut palm leaves, which Maedir Eugster collected from the most beautiful beaches in the world. After many years it now enjoys worldwide success on vaudeville, museums, galas, exhibitions, circuses, and Cirque du Soleil among many other venues.
The Sanddorn balance astonishes nearly everyone it touches and has received the highest awards.
In February 2013, Mädir Eugster Rigolo was presented with the Kamiwaza award in Japan. In Japan, Kamiwaza is the title given to a master with superhuman abilities. The award of Kamiwaza meant that the art of Sanddornbalance had truly arrived in the land of Zen: concentration, mindfulness and conscious perception in search of absolute reality convene in the 15-minute-long performance.
This honour solidified the decision Mädir Eugster had made shortly beforehand: For more then 15 years, he was the only person to perform his fragile piece of art. He now teaches his two daughters and consults and trains and inspires many others.
“Now I will pass on this knowledge. I am very happy that I have found people who now share my experiences and will develop them further,” Maedir Eugster explains. “I trust my successors: They will guard this treasure, develop it further and give it a life of its own. The Sanddornbalance bears many secrets, and every single performer can draw one of them out and present it in their own way.”
Mädir Eugster Rigolo
Some sit in disbelief as the art unfolds. Some refuse to suspend that disbelief and mock such with stupid remarks as, I can think of better things to do with my time or with a feather.” Some think it is a mere trick or ‘magic.’ Though it can be explained by the laws of physics, it negates the concentration, the focus, balance, grace, physical strength and the actor’s ability to pull in the audience, absolutely required to MAKE THIS ALL HAPPEN! And if I have left anything else necessary to do this, I sincerely apologise!
What is this thing, this Sanddorn balance, you are about to see for yourselves? For one thing, it is beautiful! It is as much of a dance as any dance. It is being in the NOW. You can see this in the eyes, expressions, and movements of the dance. There are no doubts, no hesitations, no questions. Every moment is purposed and purposeful, and NEW and NOW, though the same dance has been performed countless times. There is a reason and a purpose for every movement, every expression, and every stick. Not only is the dancer drawn into their own dance, the audience is drawn in as well. Her breathing becomes our breathing; her heartbeat, our heartbeat. It is music. It is a story unfolding and we are not only on the same page, we each are its words.Time is suspended! We are not thinking about what’s for dinner or what we will put on tomorrow or do tomorrow. We are in the now!
Watching this will center you; anchor you into the moment of sublime beauty. Briefly, our ego is lost to the wonder of this poetry in motion.
What else can this teach us? Everything and everyone is connected in some way or another. As this drama unfolds, we can see how fragile and yet how vitally important each of these connections really are or we will collapse. This point is illustrated clearly, at its conclusion. But also, not one of us will be quite the same at the end as we were at the beginning. Ahh, yes, every moment of life is unique, to be enjoyed, savored; lived! Thus a great truth is reveled to us or re-revealed within us.
No matter what you may think or believe, life, all of life is, spiritual. Who among us does NOT desire peace and harmony? Zen masters, Buddhist priests, yoga practitioners and many others, spend often, years developing the ‘tuning.’ And yet who among us are also not deeply affected by some measure of peace and harmony, by being drawn into the very ballet of it, by those who have reached some measure of it?
It all starts with a feather and all we have that we bring into the dance, our sticks and the gravity-glue of all our stuff we use to prop ourselves up with. Then we let it all go. It is only the feather that remains! I am certain you will understand this more fully, when you get into the dance!
“All the master dancer Miyoko Shida required from me was the technique for the Sanddorn Balance; the expression and interpretation she brings to it is pure Miyoko Shida. I am proud that Miyoko Shida has also now taken the name Rigolo.”
Mädir Eugster Rigolo
http://www.miyokoshida.com/ – under construction
The Gathering Place 