Limits are what we create for ourselves in our minds. In
reality, there are no limits to what we can achieve.
 |
| Marc Brew: Unshackled Spirit Picture Courtesy: Marc Brew Company/Internet |
My daughter had a very interesting encounter with a rare artiste in Glasgow
yesterday. She met Marc Brew, 35 – a ballet dancer who, when he was 20, was
injured in a car crash and has been confined to a wheel chair ever since. But
Brew never gave up on Life or his dance. He has been working, ever since, in
the United Kingdom and internationally as a dancer, choreographer, teacher and
speaker. He was a guest performer and collaborator for the London Hand Over
ceremony for the Beijing Olympic Games. Since 2001, Marc has been dedicating
time to his own choreography with the Marc Brew Company.
My daughter had the unique privilege of
training under Brew and performing with him. She sent us a video of her
performance. It was really moving. Marc’s spirit, though he is confined to a
wheel chair, is unshackled. His movements are so free and so full of Life. I am
sharing one of his videos here – a solo performance titled “Remember When” .
Another specially challenged artiste, that Marc
recently worked with, Dame Evelyn Glennie, 47 had this to say about him: “He
may be physically confined to a wheelchair, but he is such an independent
spirit, and has such freedom, and also authority, you can't help but be
influenced and inspired by him. It's all the power of the mind, isn't it? I
have huge admiration for him.” Born and raised in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Glennie
became profoundly deaf at the age of 12, but has gone on to become one of the
world's most successful virtuoso percussionists. She has performed at the 2012
Olympics opening ceremony.
Watching my daughter’s video and doing my
research on Brew, and then Glennie, I am at a loss for words. All I have are
some questions – Are we living our lives fully? To our best and highest potential?
What limits in our mind hold us back from doing what we are capable of doing –
and really want to do? How can we unshackle from those physical limitations,
break free and soar high? Where must we begin? Lots of questions there. Not all
of them may immediately have clear and definitive answers. But, as Glennie
says, if the mind is powerful and holds us back, its within our control to give
the mind a new kind of power so that it sets us free. And the time to do that,
I know, is NOW! Not tomorrow. But today. Now!
I want to leave you with a quote from one of
Brew’s interviews (on European Dance Tours website) I discovered online: “After
my accident, it was, I guess, logically suggested to me that I should look at
new career options and go to University and do something different as I
couldn’t possibly continue my career as a dancer; not after acquiring a spinal
cord injury and being confined to a wheelchair. Possibly, every dancer’s worst
fear is that an injury will end their career. But that’s exactly the
opposite of what I did do. I still had the passion to dance and felt the dancer
was still within me and just because I could no longer stand and dance as I
once did, did not mean I cannot move and express myself through movement. I just
had to look outside the square box of what society and the dance world
considered “normal”. By challenging peoples’ perceptions of dance and
disability I had to personally explore different ways to use my body in finding
new movement potential working in and out of the chair as well as by partnering
with non-disabled dancers. I don’t think I rediscovered dance, I just didn’t
give up.”
If you are as inspired as I am, this Sunday
morning, go re-examine your Life. And break free from all that you think shackles
you and holds you back. Believe me, you will realize, that it was pretty simple
to do that. Simply because, other than your thinking,
nothing really was holding you back, and limiting you, from whatever you wanted
to do and are capable of doing!
No comments:
Post a Comment