Arnel Calvario – Doctor of Occupational Therapy at Long Beach Unified School District Related Services; Board President of Culture Shock LA / Culture Shock International; Founder of Kaba Modern; and Member of KINJAZ, LLC – takes us through artistic ways on how to keep moving when everything around us is at standstill during the pandemic.
He opens by saying that he appreciates technology as an instrument to connect with people but he is also aware that this is not a replacement for in-person connection and exchange of energy. As a dancer, he shares that he continues his art by checking in with other dancers to see how they are doing. But he still continues to move by using his own space to create choreographed dances and he also freestyles.
“Finding music” is his main idea of keeping himself joyful and he does this by creating his own playlists. He is also not afraid to tap into other creative ways, aside from dance, whenever he doesn’t feel like dancing.
“It is important to have your people,” he says, because talking to them can be an effective source of motivation. He adds that there is also an opportunity when people are “stripped down into their vulnerabilities” because this is where they’ll have the opportunity to grow. And if this is used to explore the arts, this can become a powerful tool to heal oneself.
Arnel tells us that there are different forms of dances such as crump, breaking and whacking that were born from struggle. These forms of dance can actually result to a feeling of release. While locking, popping and house would allow people to celebrate. There are different art forms of dance that would let people freely express how they are feeling. “Let it (the feeling) pass through you rather them stay in you,” he advises viewers.
For someone who has been very positive about life, Arnel envisions the new world to be full of conversations about change. He sees that people would no longer take little things for granted such as hugging, being around others and having freedom. He hopes that once the pandemic is over, people would appreciate life more and that they would be more active about making change.
The segment ends with Arnel giving Jannelle and her daughter @lifewithLilly a #dancetutorial