476  Yvonne Meissner - powerful instruction, no mysteries

Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 00:43:56 -0900
From: Dan Boccia <redfox@ALASKA.NET>
Subject: Yvonne Meissner - powerful instruction, no mysteries

It's now been a solid week since I dropped Yvonne Meissner (from Amsterdam)
off at the airport after her wonderful visit here in Anchorage. While she
was here, she immediately captured our community's attention and respect;
she inspired and challenged us to pay close attention to the small details
that REALLY matter when we dance. I have rarely been so thoroughly and
convincingly impressed with dance instruction from a technical standpoint,
and a week's worth of perspective has only increased my appreciation for
Yvonne's work.

Yvonne challenged and even demanded that we look closely at how we connect
with our partners and how we move. She had the courage to stick firmly to a
program of the simplest, yet most fundamental (and therefore absolutely
necessary) principles of connection and movement. We have never experienced
anyone spending so much time working on developing the embrace and the
connection of the couple, and the principles of movement that are at the
base of truly creative, improvisational dance. Her work has had a profound,
permanent impact on all of us. I could go on and on, but I haven't even
gotten to the best part yet.

The best part (for me) was that she had a very clear physical/anatomical
reason or explanation for everything she did. She was thoroughly
convincing, in a concise, organized, and skilled way. There was no veil of
mystery. Not once did we hear something like, "because that's the way it's
done in XXXXXX place", or "because that's the way XXXXXXX person does it".
Rather, she gave us reasons that had meaning immediately, in our current
context, in our current location, and that will make sense anywhere in the
world where we strive to connect with a partner and enjoy a dance,
regardless of our chosen style of dance. She really understands how your
body moves and has the sharp eye of a trained, skilled professional who can
capture the real root of movement problems and can offer clear, effective
guidance for improvement. We became so much more AWARE of how we move and
what it takes to move as a couple. I left the airport with the undeniable
tingling sensation that I had just experienced something very important,
very real, and very worthwhile.

Dan

PS: Yvonne's website, if you're interested:
https://www.xs4all.nl/~disegno/tango/yvonne/