Finding Bliss Through Dance With Rhythmic Gymnast Nastasya Generalova
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“There are no wrong answers in the power of movement... It's just for you...”
Nastasya Generalova
For USA National Team rhythmic gymnast and Vuori Collaborator Nastasya Generalova, dance is the ultimate connection of mind and body–a direct channel for the kaleidoscope of human emotion. Although she began dancing at the age of four, Nastasya fondly cites that her love for dancing really started in the womb–ultimately following her bliss all the way to the national stage.
“When I'm dancing, I feel like I’m combining my mind and my spirit together, like I'm reaching out to my inner child,” says Nastasya. “You could be angry, you could be disappointed, you could be elated... but it's a way for you to shake off whatever you're feeling.”
With so many styles and disciplines, dipping a toe into the wide world of dance may seem intimidating to the unacquainted. But for the eight-time USA National Team rhythmic gymnast, dance is all about fluidity–an answer to rules and rigidity, where unbridled expression is the only obligation.
“I'm a very fluid, very calm [dancer], but energetic at the same time, kind of like water,” describes Nastasya. “Water is powerful, water is strong, but at the same time it's super feminine, it's super soft and it's moving constantly, and it occupies a lot of space. So, I think that describes me. I'm water when I dance.”
The term that comes to mind is flow state, a state of total presence where the noise of the mind fades away and our most blissful, creative self has room to shine. This is what dance does for Nastasya, as a form of communication with others, herself, and the world.
“It’s a very beautiful thing. It’s a spiritual thing. It’s a blissful thing.”
