Révérence: How do you finish?
I recently took an online ballet class with Adji Cissoko (LINES Ballet), and one of the things she emphasized was how we came out of any movement we were doing. She said, over and over again, “I’m always interested in how you finish.” Sometimes when we dance, we’re more interested in completing the movement than bringing it to its completion with intention, grace, and purpose. I mean, if I’ve already done what the teacher instructed, and balanced in relevé attitude, what’s the big deal if I don’t give a long, paused extension as I pull into a clean fifth position to finish? I did what was asked. Can we just move on?
There is a story in the Bible where Jesus healed 10 lepers by telling them to go show themselves to the temple priests. On their way, they were healed. One of them, realizing he was healed, and went back to Jesus to give thanks. In the story, Jesus says, “Weren’t all 10 of you healed? Where are the other 9?” I’m guessing they were doing what most of us do: notice the blessing, but get too caught up in what they’re doing to stop, turn around, and take some time out of their day to render the gratitude that sort of pause would allow them to truly feel and express. They were so occupied with what came next after doing what they were told, that they didn’t take the time to attend to what was happening now, and follow through to a conclusion with grace, intention, purpose, and gratitude.
It is traditional in a ballet class to conclude with a series of movements called révérence, grand gestures with the arms combined with deep bows, a practice that says “thank you” to the teacher, to the accompanist, to your fellow students, and to the greater art form itself. A moment to stop and offer gratitude. In ballet, no matter how you’ve danced that day, you always finish well by still taking those final moments to both physically and spiritually express gratitude — to reverence, bow down to, and honor a process that is so much larger than yourself.
We’re now in the “holiday season,” where the invitation to révérence — to hit the pause button for a moment and express gratitude — to “finish well” — is all around us. Ironically, this sentiment is couched in a season of frantic shopping, decorating, and preparation. Yet, there is something truly soul-feeding — something that turns the holiday into a true holy day — about taking pause to give thanks. Not just giving thanks in passing, or casually, but stopping what you’re doing and truly honoring it. The things I’m grateful for are not extraordinary or unique: family, friends, health, my job, to name a few. But it’s also less common than I’d like to admit that I truly feel grateful for these things I should never take for granted. I’m often occupied with what comes next, or what else is on my to-do list, rather than staying in the here and now and “finishing well” - taking the time to punctuate each movement and each moment with grace, intention, and purpose.
How do you finish? Your day, your chores, the book you’re reading, the email you’re writing, the workout you’re in the middle of — how do you finish? What can you do to take just that little morsel of extra time to honor it, or mark it with reverence? What would it mean to not just finish it, but finish it well?