The Beauty of Vauxian Dance

Orohc Shenliyu was dressed in a ceremonial Arisha Ikeburer, which was a more elaborate and colorful version then the simple one-colored outfit of the children. Her hair was braided strategically tight and up into a bun, in order to accommodate the amount of movement during training sessions with her students. She was saturated with gracefulness and poise. Even the way she stood, or did mundane tasks, showcased her expertise as a dancer; and she was prone to spontaneously slipping a dance move into random moments. She was the youngest of the current Orohc and life mate to the brilliant village architect Orohc Gehraydl.

The extensive warmup was designed to increase flexibility, strengthen the body and breath, improve technical precision, and wake up body awareness. The warm up alone usually would have them sweating and their hearts pumping, even though the movements were slow and controlled the majority of the time. Afterwards, there would be a short break followed by demonstrations, practicing individual movements and group routines. Music was typically provided in the form of a rhythmic percussion to mark time; on special days they would have instrumentalists present to go along with the measure. Throughout the year they would also practice large group pieces for entertainment, as well as all the ceremonial dances for their culture. Near the end of the session they would usually get to free style, or they would receive assignments.

Vauxian dance required a lot of diligent practice, because it has a high degree of technical skill and difficult techniques, including jumping and leaping, turning and flipping. Flips were probably the most astonishing techniques and included two main classifications. One is "flipping the body", which is a series of turning movements wherein the waist is the axis and the dancer's torso is slightly tilted. The second is aerial or tumbling techniques.

Bearing is another distinct attribute of Vauxian style. It could best be described as an inner spirit. Bearing emphasizes breath, intent, personal aura, and deep emotional expression. In essence, the spirit leads form, so that the form is imbued with spirit. It blends many elements. For example, "three round movements" form the foundation for the direction of movement, while the waist serves as an axis for lifting and sinking of the torso with breath, the protruding and leaning back of the torso on a diagonal axis, the rounding in and rounding out of the chest, the movements of the ribs, and so on. These basic elements endow Vauxian dance with incredible expressivity and vast creative potential. It can nimbly portray movements from daily life, as well as profoundly express the transformation of one's emotional state.

Form is another focus area of Vauxian dance. It refers to the techniques and methods expressed externally, including hundreds of exquisite movements and postures. Even though many of these poses might look very simple, they actually require the perfect coordination of every part of the body. For example, the movement and rotation of the trunk, the direction of the gaze, the placement of the fingers, and so on, all require accuracy and coordination. Attention to detail was key to make it all look natural, organic and effortless.

Today Rruelyn and Zendayul were being taught, with close supervision, the ceremonial betrothal dance. This dance was expected to be learned by all young Vaux in preparation for their matchmaking. Typically you had to be of reproductive age and passed certain maturation tests from the Orohc before one would begin learning the series of ceremonial romantic and erotic dances. Just because they practiced together, didn't mean that they would be matched; however, in their case it was pretty likely because their kagims aligned as complimentary on the marks of kagim wheel.

Gonyaul wasn't paying attention to them though. He was spinning, hanging, rolling and interacting with his favorite dancing apparatus, the Urihs Nirahs. It was a large wheel made of a particular flexible wood that an entire stretched human form could fit within. Gonyaul loved playing make believe with the equipment as if it was a living being; turning it into a partner dance. While they all had to learn each piece of equipment, others being the rings and contact staff for example, Gonyaul would always gravitate towards the "circle" if given the chance.

Qualestrel (11) a young girl sharing the same birth year as Gonyaul was not too far off practicing with a contact staff; her equipment of choice. She was the most tomboyish of all the girls, and definitely the best in martial arts class. She would pause to admire Gonyaul in-between her practice attempts. He always looked to be having the time of his life, even when he messed up. She was more of a perfectionist them him and her frequency of failure was significantly less, but she was also a lot tougher on herself. Gonyaul would always eventually get it right though, after enough practice, it was breathtaking. ~She could watch his enthusiasm all day~ she thought and blushed quickly thereafter and returned to her individual practice.

She was looking forward to later. Gonyaul would be in the group she was in for the evening chores. Doing anything with Gonyaul usually meant it would get interesting.