Dancing the Interior Spaces

Dancing the Interior Spaces

Each day our 'dance of life' takes us through the bedroom, the kitchen, the lounge...

Margaret Doubler, in Dance, a creative experience, once wrote that ‘life’s experiencing come from the interaction between man and nature, man and his social world, man and himself. In this interaction human energy is gathered and released... There are rhythmic pulsations that run the emotional gamut from achievement to failure, from hope to despair, each with its own defining characteristics of tension and movement.’

The Bedroom



The bedroom, where we renew and reconnect with ourselves

The dance of life in the bedroom is one of imagination, of letting go, of re-connecting and re-creating. It is the place where we let go of the day in order to sleep, it is the place where we dream, it is where we enter the dance of life with a special other. One writer, Max Harris, points out for the philosopher Martin Buber sexual intimacy is, ‘at the very heart of a process by which we enter the depths and essence of another’s existence.’

The kitchen



The finished kitchen

Rituals are also dances, and many happen in the kitchen



Preparing a meal for a crowd





Or something complicated for a smaller group

In the kitchen we act out many old and repeated rituals. We have a particular way we wash dishes, and the way someone else does it does not always please us! I have a way I lay the table, Takis has a way he likes to cook our favourite dishes (past in boiling water for exactly 12 minutes). Here we share meals with others, and here we check our cookery books and occasionally make adjustments or try something new.


Kitchen: Takis preparing lunch with guests

It is also the place where we regularly take a break, and make ourselves a coffee or tea.

Eleven o’clock is our social coffee time. Most days is it a time when we share a half hour or so with others as we regularly have visitors that arrive at eleven to have a cup of coffee with us. It is our time for the ritual of neighbourly togetherness. We all have stopped work, we are ready to slow down, we gossip and find out what is happening on the island, we breathe in the aroma and taste the bitter fragrance of our preferred brand (Lavazza) and style of making (cappuccino made with an espresso machine) and then with a yassou, we carry on with the day’s activities again.  

Coffee time, 11 o'clock

Making tea is another ritual but this is one that is not shared with others. Neither of us like using tea bags. Takis makes his own mix with three different kinds of loose tea, and it is the drink we have at breakfast. Mine is very weak and milky and his black and strong.

The Lounge



A through area, but also the lounge where we relax each evening



Dance requires times of great activity but a real dance is not all aerobics (Dancing with the Stars!), it has moments of quiet movement and even stillness. It is in the lounge that we tend slow right down, it is where we go at the end of the day to sit and watch TV, or sit and read when there is ‘nothing on TV’, or engage in some other activity that is set up for the evening down time.

 

 

 

The domestic interior is not only a container of time but also a receptacle of past actions and energy which may have become imprinted and may be perceived to be active on the space long after its inhabitants have evaporated.

Annie Hogan in Comfort



Takis' great-grandmother Helini?



Takis' great-granfather Yannis



 

 

 

 

 

 





 

 

 

The lounge though is also often a place we pass through during the daytime. I like the idea expressed by Annie Hogan of the past remaining in the present, and I tend to emphasize this aspect by keeping many old artifacts displayed all over the house but particularly in the lounge – old plates from the days of Takis grandmother, embroideries by his Grandmother and aunt, and others by my mother and aunt, and many old and new family photos. The lounge is where these are displayed, so as I often pass through on my way to other parts of the house I can feel the presence of the past. And in the photos of Takis great-grandparents I feel a look of severe approval!

Walls and Pictures



A tapestry by Takis aunt



A tapestry by my aunt

A a tapestry by me!





And a realy large tapestry by Takis grandmother, Efterpi

Rita Konig is a decorator based in New York. She writes,

Walls are quite simply flat without pictures. I love all sorts of things up on the wall together — although finding what works can be a struggle, especially when you are faced with a whole load of pictures that appear to have nothing in common. But a good collection is never made in one shopping trip. I find that my taste has changed since I started collecting pictures, but what can you do?

She recommends putting the pictures on the floor in the positions you’ll put them on the wall, to see if you like that arrangement and continues,

I am afraid to say there is no fail-safe formula for putting things like this together. You kind of have to use your eye...Take a look at what you have. You will probably find some sort of theme that you can use to put a wall together. Flicking through Elle Decor, I often see walls that have quite random collections of things together and it looks great. That is what I was trying to achieve. Of course, it never looks quite the same, but that is your personality, which is exactly what you are looking for, even if you would rather have someone else’s!

 

A wall of family photos reflected in a mirror

Gosh! Ive just realized this is my 100th blog! I hope that you, my blog readers, have enjoyed the pictures and story of our house in Greece. Blogging has been a great journey of discovery for me,  and I hope to keep going a bit longer. See you next time.  Julia x