The word, “balance’ can mean many things. This week we peek into the worlds of two individuals who balance objects for a living. Ballerinas know about balance, and we found a fine site with archives of photos of famous ballerinas past and present. Also, we review a website that promotes balance of mind, body and spirit.
The Ballerina Gallery . Many young ladies initially became attracted to classical dance after watching Moira Shearer in “The Red Shoes.” This website is a collection of photos of prima ballerinas, with short biographies of most of them. The photos are extraordinary, and many poses are of a famous dancer in costume, en Pointe. Moira Shearer, Cynthia Gregory, and dozens more dancers have photos archived here.
Rock Balancing . Log on to sculptor Bill Dan’s website and be amazed at his skill at taking stone riprap and creating a “sculpture” from diverse sizes and shapes. The San-Francisco-based artist lets you view his gallery and his method of balancing the rocks (no glue, no fasteners), and you’ll wonder how much patience it takes to even attempt such a feat. View his balanced stones and you can understand why Dan gives talks to school children on creativity and the art of the possible. Links take you to other Pacific Coast rock balancers: Jim Needham, who has created a Gravity Garden that has become a big attraction in the Big Sur area; also Daryl Maddeaux, Ron Divino and Art Ludwigs. Says Jim Needham: “The beauty of rock stacking is working with objects that are entirely different from each other and seeing the beauty in each and discovering how they work with each other.”
Card Balancing . Bryan Berg at age 17 broke the first Guinness World Record for a tower he built of cards reaching to 14-1/2 feet tall. Now 31, Bryan Berg has found himself happily stacking cards for a living, and making appearances around the U.S.—on television, in the press, in corporate seminars, and at Disney World and at the Star Wars Celebration. The graduate (and later, faculty member) of Iowa State (architecture) earned a Masters in Design Studies at Harvard. But it is his grandfather he credits for teaching him at age 8 the basics of stacking cards. Berg has created a replica of Cinderella’s Castle at Disney World; Cloud City for Star Wars’ fans, the New York City Skyline, and his latest grand-scale work, a tower reaching more than 25 feet high. Berg has been the winner of the World’s Tallest House of Cards event thirteen times in a row. On his website, he shows you how he begins his foundation with cards arranged in grid patterns. And you can see samples of some of his large-scale works online. Whoever has said that his future was in the cards must have been talking about Bryan Berg.
Soulful Living . The rock stackers seem to know the soul of any given rock, ballerinas know the soul of dance, and Bryan Berg’s soul knows that cards can be played beyond bridge or poker. The rest of us can access all the inspiration and guidance we may need or want for balance of our minds, bodies and spirits at Soulful Living. Pick from one of at least a dozen categories pertaining to healing, self-improvement, serenity, dream work, grief, shadow work and more and read articles by doctors and psychologists, counselors and ministers, teachers and light workers and life coaches. Chances are you will find a topic that fits your present circumstances, and gentle guidance to help you get in touch with a meaningful new perspective about a current situation.
