Antonio Sarpe. Homage to Rolando palabras en Inglés y Español

Dear friends of the world of Biodanza,
I want to share with you my feelings and experience of going to Santiago to say farewell to Rolando Toro. In this moment so many people from Biodanza are dedicating themselves to reuniting to say to goodbye to Rolando with meetings, classes, ceremonies, poems, poems and poems. Now it is our challenge to do great things together without his physical presence, but with his atemporal inspiration
“With the courage to flourish in the desert”
I am looking forward to being with you again and to continue the dance of life.
Warm embrace,
Antonio


Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 16 February 2010

I found myself in the city of Rio de Janeiro on a sunny Tuesday of carnival, 40 degrees and in full musical effervescence with millions of people in the streets of the entire city dancing, singing and celebrating the joy of the here and now of our transient existence. New love blooming and old ones reinventing themselves. Youth, elderly and children dressed up in fantasy costumes with hope of enjoying a full existence without guilt, without sin or forgiveness. As the lyrics of the song playing for the masses “It is today the day of joy... speak my mirror, if there is anyone in this avenue happier than I!?”

It was in this ambience of contagious joy that I received the news of the loss of our darling master Rolando Toro. The flux of my joy froze itself in front of this sad news of the loss of a master, a mentor, a great friend. Rolando Toro has been the most important reference in my life. I met him when I was nineteen years old and in him I discovered the inspiration of the poetry that is born from the day-to-day, from applied science to life, from the dance that is born from one’s insides, the enchanted emotion, from the beauty of laughter and human tears. In many years of reencounters I learnt everything that I desire to continue applying in life. I will always continue learning with him, my eternal master, now inside me, inhabiting me.

At the start of the processing the news of his death I curved into the silence of my own emotion and cried intimate tears that washed my face. Images, sensations, years of life, the images of the encounters that I had with him, his words, his mastery and the privilege of being invited by him not only as his student but as a friend.

Bit by bit I understood the most Dionysisiac of masters died on the day of the carnavalesque euphoria, reminiscence of an ancient ritual to the gods of trance and musical enthusiasm, Dionysus. A beautiful “coincidence” that made justice to a man that cultivated the delicate details of the poetry of daily life. The Rolando that I know and that I present to you made his departure in connection with celebration and carnival. I am certain that it is like this that he wants to be remembered and honored. Whenever we will be dancing, enchanted, bringing poetry to reality, in loving ecstasy, we will be paying homage to him.

I am sharing with you my poetic flow in homage to Rolando:

Oh sweet poet of tender hands
Of soft voice and serene face
Planter of a new world
Like in the dance of friendship I will carry you always in my chest
He who has a friend is never alone; you will be with me always
I embody you in my presence; I will go out into the world dancing with you in my gestures
I will look for the inspiration of your full words of poetry and wisdom
I will follow your legacy as it is now mine, like you inhabited the legacies of others
The doors that you have opened will never close again
We already know the path of entrance and exit from the labyrinth
The Minotaur is our brother, our son, our father
Our desires shine in the starlit sky of existence
We are affective identity and sensitive intelligence, we feel the world and it responds
To you, our eternal gratitude and infinite love.

Antonio Sarpe


Santiago Chile. 19 February 2010

I arrived yesterday after a last minute flight full of difficulties due to the carnival holiday. Like so many who interrupted everything they were doing and travelled from somewhere in Europe or Latin-America to arrive on time to pay homage to darling Rolando Toro, I arrived apprehensively, emotional and with a chest full of embraces and tears to exchange with my companions.

So many times we have travelled to dance and celebrate life in our courses and congresses throughout the world and I thought I could not miss the chance to also be present in the hour of tears, sadness and rituals of bonding. I know that many companions would have done anything to also be present, but it was impossible. We knew that they were present in spirit and heart. Almost the entire family of Rolando was there as well as many facilitators that have accompanied him in these more than forty years since the beginning of Biodanza.

Rolando had a serene appearance. He died in the hospital room while a nurse was arranging his bed and the family was outside waiting to enter. He had a cardiac attack and did not respond to the attempts to revive him. I believe that he thought it was his moment to depart. We spent yesterday afternoon giving support to one another and when someone new arrived they crossed the room to see Rolando. The burial ritual at the funeral was beautiful with all the spoken poems, declarations of love and gratitude to he who gave so much to the world.

At the end of the ceremony, Raul Terren (Rolando’s son-in-law) asked me to play two songs so that we could all sing together. We chose the songs that Rolando adored and always used n Biodanza. With the words of a poet who was also a lover of life, Vinicios de Moraes: "Eu sei que vou te mar" (I know I will love you) and "Se todos fossem iguais a voce" (If all were equal to you), it was beautiful and emotional. For me, it had never made so much sense to strum the chords of my guitar with my fingers and emotion. Rolando told me so many times when he saw me playing guitar that I am an Orpheus, in this moment I felt I was playing music for his passing.

Today at the funeral more people arrived from all parts of the worlds, travelling hours and hours and overcoming whatever obstacles that were in order to be able to participate in a little of the closing of the farewell. I felt a profound love for my “brothers” of Biodanza and we like the biological sons felt it was farewell to a father. Each embrace and cry was followed by a gesture of affirmation of brotherhood and hope to continue spreading Roland’s work together. The Toro family expressed their feelings in the hour of the burial and it was a moment of profound generosity to gather the world family of Biodanza.

I believe that Rolando had a ritual as he would have liked. We heard in the final moments the Partitas of Bach, as he desired. The pain of his loss was embezzled with a profound feeling of love and gratitude. He was honored, revered and sacralised as the creator of a grand hymn of love. May his poem continue sounding in us, also brief passengers in eternity.

Antonio Sarpe




En Español

Queridos compañeros de Biodanza del mundo. Quiero compartir con vosotros mi emoción al venir a Santiago y despedirme Rolando Toro . En este momento en que todos en Biodanza se dedican a reunirse para despedirse de él con reuniones, clases, ceremonias y poemas, poemas y poemas.
Ahora es nuestro el desafio de hacer cosas grandes juntos sin su presencia física, pero con su inspiración atemporal.
“Con el coraje de florecer en el desierto”
No veo la hora de estar con uestedes y seguir danzando la vida.
Besos sin tener fin.


Rio de Janeiro, 17 de Febrero de 2010.

Me encontraba el martes de Carnaval, soleado con 40 grados, el
día 16 de febrero de 2010 en la ciudad do Rio de Janeiro.

En plena efervescencia musical carioca, con miles de personas en las calles de toda la ciudad danzando, cantando y celebrando la alegría de aquí-ahora de nuestra efímera existencia. Nuevos amores brotando y bellos amores reinventándose. Jóvenes, viejos y niños fantasiados de la esperanza de
disfrutar de una existencia plena sin culpa, sin pecado ni perdón. Dice la letra de una entonada por la gente "y hoy es día de alegría.... diga espejo mio, si hay en la avenida alguien más feliz que yo?"

Fue en este ambiente de alegría contagiante cuando recibí la noticia del fallecimiento de nuestro querido maestro Rolando Toro .
El flujo de mi alegría se congeló después de esta noticia triste de la pérdida de mi maestro, un mentor, un gran amigo.

Rolando Toro ha sido la referencia de toda mi vida. Yo lo conocí cuando tenía 19 años y en él vislumbré la inspiración de la poesía que nace de lo cotidiano, de la ciencia aplicada a la vida, de la danza que nace de las vísceras, de la emoción encantadora, de la belleza de la risa y de las lágricmas. En largos años de reencuentros aprendí todo lo que deseo seguir aplicando en mi vida. Seguiré siempre aprendiendo con él. Mi eterno maestro.
Ahora dentro de mi, habitándome.
Al comenzar a procesar la noticia de su muerte me curvé en silencio en mi propia emoción y lloré lágrimas íntimas que resbalaban por mi rostro. Imágenes, sensaciones, años de vida. Las imágenes de los encuentros que tuve con él, sus palabras, su maestria. El privilegio de haber convivido con él no sólo como un alumno más sino con alguien con una relación personal, un amigo.

Poco a poco entendí que el más dionisiaco de los maestros se fue en el día de la euforia carnavalesca, reminiscencia del antiguo culto al dios del trance y entusiasmo musical (Dionisio). Bella “coincidencia” que hace justicia a un hombre que cultivó las minucias de la poesía de lo cotidiano. Dionisio le llamó en plena fiesta, en pleno ritual de consagración de la vida indestructible. Rolando fue a su encuentro en sitonía con la celebración del carnaval.
Tengo la certeza de que es así como él quiere ser recordado y homenajeado, siempre que estuvieramos danzando, enamorados, poetizando la realidad, en éxtasis amoroso, estaremos homenajeándole.


Comparto con voces mi flujo poético en homenaje a Rolando:


Oh dulce poeta de manos cálidas

De voz suave y semblante sereno

Sembrador del nuevo mundo

Como una danza de amistad te llevaré siempre en mi pecho

Quién tiene un amigo nunca está solo, tu estarás siempre conmigo
Incorporo en mi tu presencia,
estaré por el mundo danzando contigo en mis gestos,
con tus caricias en mi mano tu seguirás tocando a tus alumnos.
Buscaré la inspiración de tus palabras plenas de poesía y sabiduría al
pronunciar el verbo.

Haré de ti mi legado, con mis otros hermanos de Biodanza.
Las puertas que tu abriste nunca más se cerrarán

Ya sabemos el camino de entrada y salida del laberinto.

El Minotauro es nuestro hermano, nuestro hijo, nuestro padre.

Nuestros deseos brillan en el cielo de la estrellada existencia
Tu llama de vida estará siempre con nosotros

A ti nuestra gratitud eterna y nuestro infinito amor.

Antonio Sarpe