#105: Energy and Embodiment with Dancer and Educator Shantala Davis

Shantala Davis is a Professional Dancer with over 20 years of experience who approaches dance as a form of activism and medicine. She's an instructor, choreographer, and coach who has traveled the world doing what she loves. She joins Lisa this week to talk about why Social Dance culture is a reflection of the climate of our era and the dance community is perfect to use as a model for creating an authentic connection between ourselves and our partners. Shantala also talks about the importance of having a loving relationship with our own body, taking up space, speaking the truth and being fully expressed in the world to invite others to do the same.

Highlights:

Shantala identifies with Lisa that the feeling of being “too much” with too many emotions was common in her early years until she decided to shift her narrative and rewire the story to be that she was perfect the way she is.
When we create space in our community where it is safe to reveal all aspects of ourselves, we give others permission to be the humans we were created to be.
Shantala found that the more authentic she got in her teachings, the more her students could deeply trust her.
You are the one that has the power to change your reality. Take the first steps, no matter how small or hard they seem.
Brag about yourself. Find yourself in a community were touting your accomplishments is celebrated.
Insecurities still remain regardless of accomplishments of expertise.
The dance world is a microcosm for what’s going on in the bigger world, and there is much mirrored in the traditional roles of lead and follow in dance than in modern-day society.
Shantala shares how the dance community can be a model for what it looks like to foster social justice and consent culture.

Quotes:

“I was tired of apologizing for being human.”

“I don’t want to live in a world where showing your vulnerabilities is taboo.”

“I want to put my energy in people who are in the “yes and” category.

“My body is it’s own tool, it’s its own instrument.”

Mentioned in This Episode:

Shantala Davis Social Media: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

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