Natasha Paremski and Theology of the Body

I had the opportunity to see the Colorado Symphony and Natasha Paremski perform in Denver last weekend.  We had orchestra level seats, meaning we were 5 rows from the stage. At first we thought, wow, this is too close, but it gave us a perspective to really "see" the musicians; their face and body language coming alive to the music.  It was a wonderful experience to listen to the music and even more so to see the expressions coming from the musicians.

When we quote JP2 and the thesis for TOB, "The body, in fact, and only the body, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. It has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it" 

Natasha Paremski. Photo credit: Andrea Joynt

 
Music is a wonderful example on how the body is expressing the soul and the "invisible"
When you watched Natasha perform on the piano you could see the intense emotions coming from her body. My 16 year old son remarked, "Dad, it looks like she is having seizure," as her intensity marked the music. Her body was expressing her soul as one, and not two separate pieces as our culture tends to vision.  Other times during the concert, Natasha does not even look at the keyboard and she appears to  not even be in this world. This vision was not only from the pianist, but from the rest of the orchestra and the conductor himself as you can see the soul at work through the body. If you have never seen a symphony or see Natasha Paremski perform, I highly recommend the experience. It doesn't even have to be classical music but I 'm sure anyone who has been to a rock concert or other artistic venue can see Theology of the Body in work.


10/22/2013...Update note:  Upon further reflection, I found the pendulum swinging widely during this concert as part of me still was dragged down by lust as my eyes did indeed gaze to other parts of her body. However, on the other end of the pendulum was the unique perspective that Theology of the Body offers as her body does indeed express her soul in her movements. All you need to do is click on the picture above and look into the eyes of her soul.