Passion

Swishing skirts, clacking castanets, vigorous guitar, stomping heels- the flamenco dance is quite a passionate display of emotion and movement. I love to watch the unabashed expressions on the dancers' faces as they are caught up in the fever of the dance. Latin dance appeals to so many people and for good reason. It is powerful, expressive and bold- nothing shy or retiring about it. When it comes to dancing, I am a bit reluctant to 'cut loose' on the dance floor. I am working on that. Part of my therapy includes watching dancers throw their hearts into the dance.

One of my favorite foreign films is "Shall We Dance?" (not to be confused with the Richard Gere/ Jennifer Lopez film). The version I favor came out before the more recent Gere/ Lopez version. It is a Japanese film and is utterly charming. To me, it truly captures the great reluctance some feel on the dance floor, which the later film did not repeat. I highly recommend it as a general education in overcoming shyness. Watch it, if you can!

Speaking of passion, the asymmetrical necklace featured in this post is a project I have been working on for a while. Recently, I included this piece in a post about procrastination. Well, I finally quit procrastinating! The intense magenta, pinks and reddish oranges always thrill my senses. This piece also has a vintage touch- the floral components, reminiscent of those ruffled flamenco skirts, are enameled metal components from the sixties. I wired them up to create individual posies and strung them with freshwater pearls, pink crazylace agate, Czech glass, sterling silver and one of my own lampwork focal beads. Makes me want to clack castanets, stomp my feet and toss my curly, dark mane!

"We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance."- Japanese proverb

"Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels."- Faith Whittlesey