Probably the first thing that comes to mind when I think of a shadow that is independent from a person is Shadow in Peter Pan with Mary Martin from the 60s. I don’t even know if I saw that movie more than once, but this prompt from Tanya Geisler immediately brought it to mind.
In reality, I don’t think this prompt is talking about a shadow that isn’t attached to someone I think it is much more likely that it is instead talking about the fact that your shadow is attached to you and because of that you can’t run from it. You can hide by completely illuminating everything around you so that there is no place for even the smallest shadow or by finding a place that is so dark there is no light to create a shadow, but you can’t really run from it, because anywhere you go as soon as the light is there, so is the shadow.
In that light I think this prompt can be seen as absolutely adorable. It’s probably adorable regardless since it’s a shadow and we are talking about dancing with the shadow, but I think it becomes even cuter if you try to dance with it. The prompt doesn’t say in absence of any other partner you can dance with it. In fact, even if you have a partner, you can still dance side by side with your shadow and your partner’s shadow.
Perhaps it is meant to be a scary prompt since shadows often represent scary things, but after seeing the potential cuteness of it, I have a hard time even considering how that might work. The only thing that comes to mind is overcoming your fear by asking your shadow to dance. A true shadow cannot refuse for it is a part of you, a copy might by a mixture of light and dark and when you dance, so does your shadow.
In the picture I included there is a little girl getting ready to dance and right next to her, all posed and ready to start is her shadow. You can’t see her face as she is looking at her shadow. Is she watching it to see how well it follows her? Or does she already know it’s a shadow and shadows do what shadows do best, mimic and follow?
When you first saw this prompt did anything instantly come to mind like the Peter Pan musical did with me? If something did, what was it?
