Geri
I have always loved to dance. Who doesn't? But as we grow older and busier, we forget some of the things we love, in order to get done the "lists of life," going to school, raising a family and engaging in (hopefully) meaningful working. This last year I found myself engaged on all those activities-work, school and raising a family. I knew I needed to find something for myself - and saw Maggie's ad. "Why not?", I said, I have always loved to dance. I took my first MUVE class over a year ago. Not only did I find that the class gave me the personal space I needed to do something for me, but it renewed my love of dance, music and movement. That love has spilled over to my living room, my car, and my office (with the door closed of course!) My six-year-old daughter and I sometimes take a class together, or just whirl around the room when some great music is on! My husband has also danced at a muve class. MUVE has refreshed my spirit and my body. The atmosphere of the class is friendly, upbeat and non-intimidating. Everyone is there for themselves - for the love of music, movement and dance. It is the best thing I have done in years. Thanks Maggie for the inspiration.

Wallen
For many years I've been a musician and practitioner of yoga and meditation. One morning I woke up and found sitting on my breakfast table a newspaper article about MUVE, a "hybrid of dance, workout and spiritual retreat". Intrigued, I decided to find out more about this meditative dance/ exercise class by giving Maggie Kunkel a call. She warmly invited me to come and experience it for myself, with one caveat: the class consisted principally of women, and because of this it seems most men are intimidated from participating. Not one to recoil from an opportunity to test my fears, I decided right then and there I needed to check this class out.

Well, the rest is history. A whole new dimension to myself opened up from day one and I've been hooked ever since. For some reason my idea of dance has been having to learn a series of structured moves set to various musical rhythms, sort of like learning how to read music and then playing those notes according to the dynamics of the written page. And how different it is to pick up an instrument and just play it! From the heart! No notes, no requirements, no structure.

What I discovered through MUVE was that the body has an innate responsiveness to music unmediated by any preconceived thoughts or conditions. As a matter of fact the body is designed to dance! Every joint, ligament, and tendon wants to move when the mind just relaxes and forgets itself. How can music not have this effect? The key is to just allow yourself to surrender to the moment and let go of any self consciousness or social conditioning. Like Mark Twain said, "Dance like nobody's watching, love like it's never going to hurt."

So to live a balanced life, Yin needs Yang. Sitting still is a very powerful tool to awaken consciousness and insight into the ways of the mind. But this can be complemented by a form of meditation which awakens the freedom of movement and insight into the ways of the body. There is the bliss of stillness. And there is the bliss of movement, especially when that movement is drawn out by music.

As far as the balance between men and women, it kind of puzzles me why more men are not participating in MUVE. I have not been intimidated whatsoever by being surrounded by women moving to music, if anything I find it truly inspiring. I think that as word gets out eventually more men will become involved and see what an opportunity this class is for meditation, exercise, and body awareness. Maggie, thanks for the invitation, and MUVE on!

Leanne
So, my heart to heart about muve is this: I love coming to class because it helps wake me up to the reality of living in and having fun being in a body. I like it that it is so unpressured, that everyone is part of the group while at the same time free to be "different". I can come and muve at my own pace and not feel anything but encouragement to do so. The most inspiring thing for me in the class is watching you, Maggie! Your love of dance and movement is so genuine and contagious! I'm not kidding. I get a grin on my face just basking in your glow and doing my best to follow along. I have a long history of back problems, and this class is one of the first where I don't feel like I need to do any of the things which don't feel right to me. There is no incentive to. It is all about feeling good.

Carol
The class is always inspiring to me and a wonderful way to awake my creative self that may get buried in the administrivia of my day. The combination of stretching, dancing and the meditative finale are perfect. The heart of the class is Maggie herself who manages to infuse the spirit of dance into all our bodies, no matter how balky. A true gift!

Susan
I look forward to Muve each week mostly for the "spirit" of the class. I'm not a good dancer and am not very flexible. However this dance class is so upbeat and energizing that I feel great the moment the music begins. The other people in the class also seem to be enjoying it so much that it is a contagious good mood! Even after an exhausting and frustrating day at work, Maggie turns up the music and the mood infuses the room like a smile. Maggie has great taste in music and finds music from all over the world. I have been exposed to music from Africa, Israel, Germany, Italy as well Elvis! Muve is great.

Alexandra
Muve is a magic act. We are led through music into the rhythmic core of ourselves, to hang out for an hour and a half in our individual expressions of fun and basic dance moves with a group of muvers who are all having just as much fun! I go to class to free my spirit.