Transcription

• Speaker

  This is where,this is a new life, a new way, possibility, a new day, so...

• Ludivine

  From Montreal, de Montréal, introducing people, je vous présente des gens, met on a, rencontré sur un, dancefloor, pour parler de, to talk about, DANZ. Okay, so this is episode 21, and I'll be honest, this is a very special one for me, because we're going to hear someone who came into my life, I think it's almost 30 years ago. So Chantal is on the line with us, and she appeared in my life when I was, I think, 19 years old. I'm really bad at knowing for sure, but I think it was around that time in my life. And Chantal and I were working in the same Starbucks. It was our job back then. And we kind of figured out that we were both raving. And I think that's how we started going out in the EDM scene together, you and I. Like when we spoke about it and we realized that we were both, you know, ravers.

• Chantal

  I love that.

• Ludivine

  Is that how you remember our friendship starting?

• Chantal

  Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. So long ago, we were just little babies. Oh my goodness.

• Ludivine

  Well, all that being said, so I have to add an information here. So we were little babies, of course. And, you know, I think you're like, I don't know, three years or four years older than I am. But I always felt that you were put on my life path, because you're one of my guides in this lifetime. And I've told you this many times, but I still believe it today. And you were so inspiring for me on so many levels. But who you were when you danced and still today, that joy that you have when you dance was very, very eye opening for me. And so, yeah, thank you for that. And thank you for still being that person and that dancer on a floor bringing that beautiful and joyful vibe.

• Chantal

  Oh thank you Lu, I feel the same about you, you bring so much to my life i can't imagine my life without you although we have like ins and outs and comings and goings it's always it's always beautiful and perfect thank you for inviting me

• Ludivine

  Well it's an honor so that's why you're part of this project because this is a project about dancing on EDM, a nd yeah, you're like a fundamental part of the dancer I still am today, a nd just recently, we got to party together at an event beginning of this summer, Chase & Status. And that was pretty crazy. We ended up on the stage.

• Chantal

  Yeah, so cool.

• Ludivine

  So that was amazing.

• Chantal

  How lucky are we? Blessed. That was so fun. So much space.

• Ludivine

  Okay, so you know how this works. Are you ready for the question at this point?

• Chantal

  No, but let's do it.

• Ludivine

  I love how very honest you are.

• Chantal

  Like, big money, big money, let's get a good one.

• Ludivine

  It's gonna be okay, don't worry about it. Okay, so let's read the question and let's see what it inspires you, okay? Or not, right? So, no pressure. Okay, here we go. What does dance allow you to express that words cannot?

• Chantal

  Oh, interesting. I like that one.

• Ludivine

  Good, good. Take your time. Let it sit.

• Chantal

  Okay. Well, I guess the first thing that comes to mind when I think of this is that I always feel, I've always felt really disconnected from my body. But when I dance, that's when I finally become One with myself and I can just, you know, get in the zone and let go and just feel everything and become one with everything. Not every time, but once you get in the zone, of course. And I feel being in that state is not something that's easy to express in words um so like even if I... yeah, go ahead.

• Ludivine

  Would you say that it's that state that we call the flow?

• Chantal

  Yeah the zone the flow like just in alignment with all things and being part of the bigger picture you know, yeah.

• Ludivine

  Yeah. So let me go back to what I said about you, in my life, you're a guide to me and that includes this whole spiritual way of living, like for me you've always been this person above words you're very into being, to behaving a certain way to you know choosing to act you know not like as an actor but as an you know the action itself like be in that flow of life itself and that's I call it the cycle of Love. For me, you're a very connected person to that cycle of Love. Every action is rooted in an intention. And you've always been like that. So coming back to dancing, when you say that, you know, like your connection with your body, dancing helps you go beyond that, right?

• Chantal

  Absolutely. Absolutely. And, and when you bring in the whole idea of Love again it's you know just that connection with the people and making eye contact on the on the dancefloor you know and then you can feel that love transpiring between people and just those connections that I make on the dancefloor it's like it's incredible it's it's so beautiful um I just just this thought that comes to me I remember when I was young you know, we were little and we were dancing and I just remember like you know just being in the moment and starting at the front of the stage and then when I finally opened my eyes I was... I have no idea where it was but somewhere in the middle of the crowd and I just moved and didn't touch a single soul and somehow I got somewhere completely different than where I was and it was magical... I'm like how how did I get from there to here without I don't know you touching, bumping?

• Ludivine

  Yeah it's as if you floated there

• Chantal

  Yeah. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah exactly

• Ludivine

  So it's as if you you you disembodied you know almost it was like almost as if you you were like doing... in F rench we say voyage astral

• Chantal

  Yeah i would say that absolutely yeah it's one of those magic moments that i remember again, that whole body connection and just, I guess, escaping it at the same time, right? And just being connected to everything and just being able to float through. I don't know.

• Ludivine

  Do you think that it's escaping it or going above and beyond, you know, like expanding, like finally getting outside of this, you know, this is my skin limit to the rest of whatever is around me, right?

• Chantal

  Absolutely you're totally... yes i agree with you 100 that's the better way to explain it thank you

• Ludivine

  Hey we're in this together you and I.

• Chantal

  I know I know and that's why you're a teacher for me too i love it thank you

• Ludivine

  Reciprocity baby, reciprocity

• Chantal

  Hmm-hmm!

• Ludivine

  Okay, so dancing makes you float and go and expand above your body, like beyond your body. And so that's what words cannot describe, right?

• Chantal

  Exactly.

• Ludivine

  We are using words right now. We're trying to figure out, you know, how to describe that state, that flow, that zone, as you said. And do you still feel that today? Like you said that at the very beginning when you raved, you had that experience, b ut did you f eel that later on. And do you still feel it today? Because you still rave.

• Chantal

  Oh, absolutely. And I don't think I've had an experience quite like that one, but definitely still lose myself, you know, in the music and the moment. I'm singing like, what's his name now? What's his name?

• Ludivine

  Is that a song?

• Chantal

  It's a song.

• Ludivine

  Oh, now I'm curious. What, like the lyrics, like in the moment?

• Chantal

  Yes, yes. Slim Shady, what's his name? Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry.

• Ludivine

  Oh, Slim Shady is, oh, now I have a blank. That rapper, that rapper, come on. He's so talented too. Oh my gosh.

• Chantal

  Eminem!

• Ludivine

  Eminem. And that's not his real name, but it's okay.

• Chantal

  Yes, yes. That's some of his lyrics. And that's, yeah, it still happens today a nd it's incredible. I just wish. I wish I lived in Montreal with you and being able to go dancing when you talk about having a plethora of activities you can do every weekend. I'm like: I want that too.

• Ludivine

  Yeah, it's crazy. I know. And there's a lot of, you know, people in the Montreal community that actually live outside Montreal. They kind of migrate to Montreal, some of them every weekend, I think that's very intense, some of them once a month, but they intentionally do it because it also fits their lifestyle, right? It's hard. It's hard to combine everything and integrate everything in our rhythms, crazy rhythms. But you guys still manage to do it. Your life partner and you.

• Chantal

  Yes. When he feels like driving.

• Ludivine

  But then he does it for you because he loves you so much.

• Chantal

  This is true.

• Ludivine

  Shout out to you Troy.

• Chantal

  Yeh Troy!

• Ludivine

  Okay, so i just want to come back to something that you said you said that you never lived that same type of powerful floating situation where you kind of moved on the dancefloor quite a bit without even touching anybody you know i think that's a very unique thing but do you think that that experience kind of gave you that motivation to pursue that lifestyle or to like kind of try to live that again?

• Chantal

  I'm sure. I'm sure. Like I've had different experiences on the dancefloor, you know, and beautiful experiences, but something that I recognize as that moment in particular, I can't say, but absolutely. Every time I dance, you know, it is to relive those moments of you know connection and just letting go and just being one with the music

• Ludivine

  Yeah, yeah it's a renewal I I totally agree that's a beautiful word so you know words cannot describe but that word is a good one to try to describe the why we go back to dance.

• Chantal

  Hmm-hmm. It brings me so much joy I... yeah it makes me happy. And like listening to your podcasts make me happy.

• Ludivine

  And you know what? So let's go back to that part of the question. It's going to be like the last little thing we're going to touch upon because we're going to end soon. But in that question, the question says, you know, what does dance allow you to express that words cannot? And I mentioned that joy that I've always felt watching you dancing. Then you're coming back to that joy. And yes, you mentioned the joy that is also, you know, given to you through this podcast project. But I think it's because you're listening to people talking about something that you love, right? That passion. It also brings you that joy. So it's all like interconnected. But would you say that joy is that ultimate emotion or state that you express when you dance?

• Chantal

  Oh, absolutely. Joy and I think... and Love you know love of music love of movement love of people connection yeah love of life, yeah.

• Ludivine

  Oh I so know where I'm gonna go in part two. So usually I don't necessarily know but I I think I'm gonna head a certain you know in a certain direction because this is going to be very interesting um and so you're giving me that that fuel to go there and I hope you you like it and everyone likes it too it's pretty interesting...

• Chantal

  Oh, can't wait!

• Ludivine

  Yeah yeah yeah it's pretty interesting. So I just want to tell you that on a it's called a wheel of emotion and it was built it's a construct and it was created it's a theory that was put out there by someone who's called I think Plutchik or something like that I think he's a sociologue or something. So he established the main emotions on that wheel of emotions, and he kind of also put the dimmed version of these emotions and then the enheightened versions of these emotions. And what's interesting is that on that wheel, the word Love doesn't appear anywhere, but the closest thing to love on that wheel is joy. And so that's where I'm going to go in part two.

• Chantal

  Interesting.

• Ludivine

  Yeah, I loved discovering that. I think it was a year ago where my brain went there and researched it. And, you know, I thought it was interesting. So Chantal, I want to thank you for this beautiful conversation, magical conversation.

• Chantal

  Thank you. Speaking of love. I love you thank you for this opportunity...

• Ludivine

  I love you...

• Chantal

  Love you.

• Ludivine

  Let's fight

• Chantal

  Yes, thank you.

• Ludivine

  Ok, bisous.

• Chantal

  Bisous, bye.

• Speaker #2

  I say of my episode's guest that her joy has always been inspiring for me, even eye-opening. Chantal is the kind of dancer that welcomes others around her on the floor when she grooves, flashing her huge smile generously, vibing happiness, playfulness, with her upbeat way of translating music through her movements. To the question what does dance allows you to express that words cannot, she starts unfolding her thoughts about it intuitively by saying that first and foremost, dancing helps her go beyond the limit of her body to expand into the great one and feel everything by letting go. Closer to the end of our conversation, she adds that every time she dances, it's to come back to that oneness because it brings her joy and it makes her happy. Then I ask her if she thinks that that joy she feels when enjoying yourself on the floor is what dancing allows her to express better than words can. She says yes, absolutely, but mostly Love is what dancing allows her to express that words cannot. Love of music, love of movement, love of people, connection, Love of Life. Hearing her evoke both emotions, joy, and love, Robert Plutchick's wheel of emotion instantly pops in my mind, and I tell her a little bit about that psycho-evolutionary classification approach for general emotional responses theory. I tell her that joy is identified on one of the eight branches of the wheel, but that love isn't. I mistakenly go on saying that love, that emotion, is nowhere to be found on that wheel, but researching it to write this part two of this 21st episode of DANZ, I realized that that's not true. Love is there on the wheel, but no, not on a branch. To better understand what I mean when I say branch, wheel, let me describe that wheel with words to help you conceptualize that color-coded graphical diagram in your brain. To do so, I'll be leaning on information I found on a non-profit organization website, that non-profit organization being named Six Seconds, and whose mission is, quote, to increase the world's emotional intelligence, unquote. Before going to that explanation of Plutchik's wheel of emotion, and even go back to who was Robert Plutchik himself, let me give you this very interesting information about how the founders of that non-profit organization came to choose 6 seconds as its name. On their About Us section page, we can read this, quote, Emotions are neurohormones, chains of amino acids that flow through the brain and body carrying messages. Produced primarily in the hypothalamus, these chemicals affect literally every living cell in our bodies, serving as part of our master regulatory function. Each burst of these chemicals, from the time they're completely broken down and absorbed, lasts 5 to 7 seconds. Thus, if we miss the opportunity of those 6 seconds, we miss the wisdom and energy the feelings offer. Also, if we're feeling something for longer than 6 seconds, we are, at some level, choosing to recreate and refuel those feelings. Unquote. So this joy and love Chantal feels on a floor, that I feel on a floor, that you, dear listeners, most probably feel on a floor, we choose to recreate and refuel those feelings by fully investing that moment, or by going back to EDM events that will most probably generate these bursts of chemicals in our hypothalamus again and again. So, who was Robert Plutchik, the creator of that wheel of emotions that I'm about to describe to you. Wikipedia presents him as an American psychologist, a professor, and author. On the webpage dedicated to him, we can read this, quote, among his major theoretical contributions, Plutchik proposed that emotions are evolutionary adaptions serving essential survival functions and existing across species. He also introduced the idea that emotions form the basis of personality traits and psychiatric diagnosis. His model illustrated how primary emotions interact, influencing behavior and mental health. Unquote. Now coming back to that model and coming back to the Six Seconds website. We can find in the Resources sections drop-down menu the subsection Wheel of Emotions. Selecting it brings us to many helpful information. Starting with this one, Dr. Plutchick proposed that there are eight primary emotions that serve as the foundation for all others. Joy, sadness, acceptance, disgust, fear, anger, surprise and anticipation. And these eight primary emotions are grouped into polar opposites. For example, joy is the opposite of sadness and anticipation is the opposite of surprise. Visually, those eight primary emotions are all placed on a branch of the wheel that to me looks like a flower, the branches being its petals. Colors are associated to each petal. For example, yellow is the color of the joy branch. Three words are placed on each branch or petal. Those primary emotions are written in the middle part of the branches. And then on each branch, another emotion is placed closer to the center of that wheel. And another one is placed at the tip of each branch. On the website page, it is said that emotions intensify as they move from the outside to the center of the wheel. So, on the joy branch, the low-intensity emotion is serenity, and the high-intensity one is ecstasy. And then, between the tip of the petals or branches of the flower or wheel, compound emotions are placed, and these emotions are combinations of the primary emotions. Love is one of those compound emotions, and it's the mix of the joy and trust primary emotions. Staying on the resources subsection Wheel of Emotions website page, and moving to the Explore the Interactive Wheel of Emotions part of it, where we can click on the emotions placed on the model to have a short description of each emotion. It offers this for joy upon clicking on it. That emotion tells us life is going well, and it can help us spark creativity connection and gives us energy. Clicking on trust now, we learn that this emotion tells us this is safe, and it helps us to be open, to connect and build alliance. Finally, when clicking on the word love that is the compound emotion of that joy and trust combination, it tells us I am deeply connected with this person, these people, and it helps us grow and evolve, and even nurture future generations. Of course, there are other models to represent emotions and feelings than the Plutchik wheel, but mainly, what's interesting of this proposition to me is that joy is a fundamental emotion, and that to feel love, That love that Chantal evokes as being what words cannot describe, but that dance can help her express, is birthed by pairing joy and trust. On Piknic model, love is about connection. And that's exactly what Chantal says when enumerating the type of elements that makes her feel that love. Music, movement, people, connection, life. I love you, dear guide on my life path, and may joy and trust make all of us feel bursts of love again and again in an eternal six seconds loop on dancefloor everywhere.