ABSTRACT
The fixed/knowable space of the ‘Wind Dance’ and the other exercises offers the members an opportunity to relocate a sense of their self, derived from a past experience that in each cycle of repetition is transformed; for core members of this group, they have been repeating the exercises for 25 years. To illustrate the point, Luis Alonso explains that she spent time with the Mapuche people in Chile, learning their dances. She recognized a similar consciousness to Kalaripayattu: both the Chilean dance and the Indian practice are connected to the earth, to nature and have a consciousness of fire. She says that ‘without calling the Mapuche dance a meditation, it was like meditation’. In an interview with the authors, Alonso spoke particularly about the training undertaken with the Bridge of Winds and the continued importance this has for him in terms of his professional and personal development.
