A discourse on the meaning and practice of ecstatic dance.The
body has its own wisdom and knowledge of how to move and express
itself. From a very early age we begin to experiment with moving around,
crawling, then walking, then running and jumping. We become explorers
of the world around us and all its wonders. We search out the joys of
the world using our bodies, seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and
touching everything in sight. The body becomes the vehicle of our
exuberance, our curiosity, our expressions of delight in our discovery
of this playground called life.
Also from an early age we are taught how to act, how to move or not
move, how to behave. "Please quit jumping around", "Don't touch that",
"Stand over here and be still", "can't you please calm down?". Our
enthusiasms are restrained, our zest for high activity is tempered, we
become over time "domesticated", "refined". Over time we accept these
trainings and internalize these restrictions to our movement. We now
know how to "behave".
Now, socially acceptable behavior has its place in getting along with
others. But if it happens at the cost of losing out on the joys of
expressing oneself, then this is something worth addressing. The wisdom
of the body is still there waiting to be tapped. But that wisdom is
overshadowed by the concepts and ideas we accept as adults. Ideas such
as "I can't dance", "I am too uncoordinated", "I will look silly", "I
have to look cool", "I am too (fat, skinny, old, young, whatever, etc)".
These are just the internalized adult versions of earlier scoldings to
"be still".
Ecstatic dance is about letting go of these now self-imposed
restrictions. It is a setting aside of the intellect and all it's
concepts of how not to move. It is an opening to new ways to express
oneself in movement, to explore the world again, to have that passion
once more, that love of life that you once had as a child. This dance
is not a structured dance that follows a certain form. It is not taught
really, but rather invited. It is an invitation to explore different
rhythms, patterns and movements. It is an invitation to listen to your
own body, which now becomes the teacher. It is an invitation to tap into
that internal wisdom of how to express yourself through the body. It
is about finding your own dance from within.
There are certain factors that create a safe environment for this inner
dancer to emerge. First off, this is not a social dance. It is held in
an alcohol and drug free environment. Drugs and alcohol are for a
different type of consciousness. This is dance consciousness.
Secondly, it is not a place for people to come and observe others dance
and make them feel self-conscious. Everyone participates in the dance.
We all become co-creators of the energy on the dance floor. Thirdly,
the dance floor is to be respected as sacred space. It is a place for
moving meditation that can take many forms. It can be deep,
introspective inner work or high energy, extroverted dancing alone or
with others. Ecstatic Dance is perhaps the oldest spiritual practice on
the planet. Fourthly, it is requested that there be no conversation
in the dance. You wouldn't chit-chat in a yoga or meditation class. The
same goes for this dance. Talking is a distraction to those in deep
inner work. Talking brings in the intellect, which we want to leave
outside the dance. This dance is the abandonment of the intellect,
forming a direct body-spirit connection experience. Hooting, hollering,
animal sounds, energetic noises all OK.
It is an invitation to push the envelope, to listen to the body, to tap
into the body's own intelligence that already knows how to do outrageous
dancing. To break free of personal boundaries. To co-create fantastic
energetics on the floor with other dancers. To play again with the wild
abandon of a child. To revel in spirit and the joy of life while moving
to the sounds of world grooves.
