ECSTATIC DANCE is an alcohol & drug free space to be who you are and dance yourself free. It is a free form movement space, guided by the music, your own body-mind-heart-spirit’s wisdom and those of your fellow dancers. For some, this is a spiritual practice. For others it is exercise or non-verbal socialization. For many, it is also medicine.

The container of Ecstatic Dance is created to facilitate deep dives into authentic and inspired expression. The following guidelines are the foundation to that container. They develop and nurture the awareness of personal expression, awareness of fellow dancers and the awareness of the felt presence of the collective.

Guidelines:

1. Be clean​. Please arrive fresh with clean body and clothes and avoid strong scented products.
2. Be clear-minded. We dance free of alcohol and other intoxicating substances.
3. Leave your shoes and phones off the dance floor. (Note: If you need shoes for foot health, we welcome soft-soled shoes that have not been worn outside.)
4. Dress to sweat. Bring layers.
5. Be Present. No verbal conversations, cell phone use, or video/photography on the dance floor.
6. Be Consensual. You can dance alone, or with as many partners as (you) like to join. Be aware of others’ personal boundaries—Ecstatic Dance is very contact-friendly, but we all have different levels of comfort when it comes to being approached and touched. Only give attention or contact to whom enthusiastically welcomes it. (Get consent by eye contact, gesture, body language).
7. Be Vocal. Vocal expression such singing, shouting and vocalizing is welcome as long as it is not a continuous disruption to the dance space.
8. Dance and move however it feels good. Be curious, open and accepting. There’s no right or wrong way to move. Give yourself permission to explore & express. Trust in the journey and move through everything that arises. You are invited to let go of judgements and expectations, and allow yourself to feel your emotions, sensations, body, heart, mind and spirit.

Dance includes:

• An opening circle
• A warm-up activity (mindfulness-in-movement meditation to awaken our bodies and group movement to enhance group energies)
• 2 hours Ecstatic Dance
• Wind-down (relaxation & integration)
• A closing circle

Every dance is unique, you are invited to let go of expectations.

My Music

My particular approach to Ecstatic Dance opens with gentle music, having enough time to land in the body and in the dance space. Music builds up gradually in tempo & intensity towards peaks of ecstasy, and eventually glides into meditative calmness. Sometimes we go back and forth several times between crescendos and decrescendos. During the journey I offer a wide variety of genres, tempos, rhythms, energies and atmospheres. If there’s a song that doesn’t seem danceable at first, I invite you to be curious and try to discover it in your body. Or use it as an opportunity to work with the resistance that arises. Or maybe hold witness for how others are feeling the music. Or take a break to visit the altar or get some water. And know that the music keeps changing, something different is coming soon…