...It has been more years than I can fathom since I taught at the Valley Studio. It was lost somewhere in the 70’s as I recall. So much life was happening back then. I could write about practicing on the big lawn or watching showings or watching students sunbathing, but I think I would like to relate this personal memory.
I had gotten into the habit of staying up late in NYC. In Manhattan it was very easy to turn into a night person. The city seems to come to life at night. So, it turned out I could sleep late and still wake up in time to teach. However, the Valley Studio presented me with a whole new relationship to the idea of circadian rhythms. I would never have been able to articulate this at the time, but the breakfast bell rang at 6 AM and the first morning I was there, I woke up immediately. The light was beautiful and I felt like I had been reborn. I walked up the hill to the dining hall and ate granola, fruit, yogurt and juice. It was the best breakfast I could remember ever having!
So the concept of living in the light started to dawn on me. I found I would fold shortly after sundown that summer. I grew to love the rhythm of the summer.
I did some of my best teaching with Hovey that summer and I will always be grateful to the Studio for transforming me into a morning person. It was truly the beginning of profound changes in my life.
So my memories of the Valley Studio are of a time when summer inhabited me and I it. What a gift!
Judy Finelli
|