(Picture Supply: Dierdre Schoo for the New York Occasions)
Naked ft traverse a easy picket ground as rhythmic beats pulse by means of the Church of the Glowing Unicorn in Columbus, Ohio. Right here, motion turns into prayer, a sacred act of presence and intention. Dancers movement with respect for the shared area and one another, remodeling freeform movement right into a meditation on connection and group. That is Ecstatic Dance—a contemporary ritual the place self-expression intertwines with collective discovery.
Modern Ecstatic Dance, a worldwide twenty-first-century phenomenon, constitutes essentially the most widespread iteration of the acutely aware dance motion. Aware dance denotes dance practices that prioritize mindfulness, self-expression, and holistic therapeutic over technical mastery, commercialization, and aesthetic attract. In Ecstatic Dance, contributors interact in self-improvised motion over a two-hour interval, guided by the music of a reside DJ who curates a dynamic mixture of digital and world music. Thriving on six continents and in most main cities, there are over 700 registered Ecstatic Dance communities worldwide (along with a number of non-registered retailers).
Whereas this dance kind is non-prescriptive—theologically and choreographically—many dancers discover the apply deeply religious. On this approach, up to date Ecstatic Dance could generate experiential ecstasy (from the Greek time period ἔκστασις/ex-stasis, actually standing outdoors oneself) or heightened states of consciousness, mirroring the spiritual experiences of historical maenads, Sufis, Hasidic Jews, Lakota solar dancers, and others.
Many contributors initially come to Ecstatic Dance merely for the music, weekend recreation, or to fulfill folks. In different phrases, they don’t attend the dance periods for overtly religious causes. Nonetheless, as many testify, what transpires on the dance ground permits practitioners to domesticate a private expertise of sacredness inside a artistic, embodied, and communal setting—impartial of conventional spiritual buildings. By way of dancing, folks report feeling touched by the divine.
Roots of Ecstatic Dance
In 2001, Max Fathom, a dancer and poet from Austin, Texas, began the up to date Ecstatic Dance motion. After relocating to Hawaii to work on the nonprofit Kalani-Honua Retreat Heart, he quickly led a group dance group. Fathom applied group pointers, together with no medicine or alcohol, designed to make sure contributors’ security and foster genuine experiences. In contrast to standard non-public dance studios, Kalani didn’t cost tuition. As an alternative, folks provided voluntary “love donations.” Quickly, Ecstatic Dance got here to draw over 200 attendees per session.
Fathom’s inclination towards improvised dancing recollects his time in Texas, when he practiced Physique Choir, one other acutely aware dance motion impressed by Gabrielle Roth (1941–2012). As a former skilled dancer, legendary fixture on the Esalen Institute (Massive Sur, California), and self-proclaimed “city shaman” who devised the 5Rhythms® freeform approach, Roth could also be thought-about the proto-founder of up to date Ecstatic Dance.
Like Roth and different acutely aware dance luminaries, Fathom gravitates towards bodily spontaneity: “[Freeform] dance helps you be within the current second. . . The ego is all the time in your heels, however there are moments the place you may transcend it by means of spontaneity.” This freeform dynamism exemplifies faith scholar Robert Grimes’ idea of “improvising ritual,” the place spiritual rites can go “off script” in ways in which intensify their sacred efficiency.
Differing from his predecessors, Fathom simulated a sacred aura in express methods. As an illustration, he created an altar, sometimes made from fruit, shells, and different choices. Earlier than every session, he or one other participant delivered religious invocations within the type of spoken prayers or poetry.
One other signature factor of Ecstatic Dance is the music. Impressed by the annual Burning Man competition, Fathom integrated digital music into his periods. (Against this, 5Rhythms® sometimes used reside music and drumming). For Fathom, the repetitive high quality of digital music “mirrors tribal music,” thus facilitating a ritual framework. However removed from remaining mounted and predictable, this music, just like the dance that accompanies it, experiments with improvised parts.
Though Fathom by no means trademarked his apply, it turned ubiquitous. “The church now not meets the wants of individuals,” he says, reflecting on the motion’s recognition and demand. “That’s the reason Ecstatic Dance is so wildly fashionable. There’s a want for fellowship, security, and a sacred surroundings . . . and Ecstatic Dance does this so nicely.”
Ecstatic Dance as a Sacred Apply
In an more and more secular period, Ecstatic Dance stands as a brand new temple, providing an area for contributors to transcend mundane existence. Evidently, most Ecstatic Dance practitioners don’t embrace or endorse organized spiritual traditions. As an alternative, many determine as “religious however not spiritual” (SBNR), which contains between 22% of Individuals (based on the Pew Analysis Heart) to roughly 33% of Individuals (based on a 2023 Gallup ballot).
Whereas Fathom doesn’t have an issue with the time period “faith,” he suspects many individuals just like the apply due to its absence of dogma—a signature factor of Ecstatic Dance:
“The fellowship of Ecstatic Dance has loads of worth and which means to folks. And you are able to do this with out saying you imagine in a sure approach, like a faith or dogma,” Fathom says. “However you may have a spiritual expertise with Ecstatic Dance. . . And this may be expressed by means of an precise gesture or by means of dancing.”
A pal of Fathom who dances within the San Francisco Bay Space asserts that Ecstatic Dance capabilities like a church:
“Ecstatic Dance fulfills the [community-building] position that church used to fill. . . There may be nonetheless a human want to collect. And there aren’t many locations that characteristic intergenerational gatherings. I feel that’s the reason Ecstatic Dance succeeds. . . I’m having a co-creation expertise with different folks, and I feel that is what is exclusive about dance. And this is usually a religious expertise.”
Though this dancer doesn’t have a conventional spiritual background, she needs one thing past mundane existence. Sharing intimate and artistic encounters with fellow dancers creates a way of belonging and transcendence, no matter whether or not or not dancers intentionally had spiritual causes for becoming a member of an Ecstatic Dance group. On this approach, Ecstatic Dance embodies the unique which means of the Latin time period sacer (sacred)—that which is about other than the remaining.
(Picture Supply: Ecstatic Dance LA)
For some Ecstatic Dancers, what transpires on the dance ground prompts them to meditate upon the mysteries of the universe. “I’ve gratitude and awe, and an consciousness of the miracle of existence. When I’m dancing, I take into consideration existence and the way did this get began? This brings me towards the awe one would have in a spiritual expertise,” says Santa Cruz-based dancer Mark Schneider.
The sacralizing results of Ecstatic Dance usually mimic ritual and shamanic therapeutic. For Turtle (né Steven White), a facilitator of Ecstatic Dance at Inside Rhythm (Cambria, California), “[Ecstatic] Dance is my salvation.” Turtle continues: “I’d say what we do is a bodily purification . . . They [i.e., the dancers] emerge feeling higher with a lot readability. We have now a glimpse of what it means to be robust and healed within the medicinal energy [of dance].”
Sure Ecstatic Dance venues amplify these sacralizing and therapeutic results. Whereas some areas are extra impartial or secular (together with warehouses, group facilities, and dance studios), others have a spiritual previous. Traditionally sacred areas akin to church buildings, chapels, or temples imbue up to date Ecstatic Dance with a wealthy sense of resonance.
Furthermore, the structure itself could play an integral position on this motion ritual. Faith scholar Sarah Pike argues that repurposed historic or hallowed buildings without delay retain echoes of the previous and invite new methods of symbolizing the sacred. Kinesthetically navigating these areas, dancers’ imprint new sacred narratives, merging the ancestral aura of the venue with the novelty of the up to date second. Reworking bizarre areas into residing sanctuaries, Ecstatic Dancers reimagine and reshape city environments, creating rituals that honor historical past and acknowledge speedy religious wants.
The Position of the Dance Facilitator
On the coronary heart of Ecstatic Dance is the facilitator, a quiet architect of the sacred area who ensures it stays intentional and purpose-driven. Distinction this with a typical nightclub: excessive heels and designer sneakers step on sticky flooring as drinks are handed from bar at hand, and the regular thump of repetitive beats underscores shouted conversations. The main focus usually drifts towards appearances, socializing, and flirtation.
In Ecstatic Dance, the ambiance is fully totally different. Footwear are left on the door, and the ground turns into a shared area. Naked ft floor contributors in an inward journey with music that invitations totally different sorts of motion. As an alternative of alcohol, the scent of incense could linger within the air, and contributors costume for consolation reasonably than to impress. The facilitator ensures this intentional surroundings by means of sensory particulars—lighting, symbolic decor, and the absence of mirrors—all designed to foster presence and self-expression.
CiCi Singleton, founding father of Alchemy of Dance (Houston, Texas) and an skilled Ecstatic Dance DJ and facilitator, explains: “The position of the facilitator is to set an brisk intention and keep it. It’s about making a container the place folks really feel seen and their experiences are revered. With out that, the area dangers turning into only a celebration reasonably than a spot for genuine connection.” Singleton’s perspective reveals the facilitator’s position in cultivating an area the place motion transcends efficiency, turning into a significant apply of connection and self-awareness.
The rules of Ecstatic Dance—dancing barefoot, abstaining from substances, refraining from speaking through the dance, and embracing a comfort-focused costume code—are broadly embraced to foster mindfulness and mutual respect. In contrast to the predictable rhythms of a nightclub, the music of Ecstatic Dance adjustments rhythm, tempo, and sometimes makes use of various musical genres, thereby inviting play, introspection, pleasure, and a communal journey.
Rabbi Shefa Gold, co-director of the Heart for Devotional Vitality and Ecstatic Apply describes facilitators as architects who infuse the surroundings with transformative objective and devotion. By guiding the power of the area, facilitators take dancers on a journey towards private development and communal interplay, weaving particular person expressions right into a shared, embodied apply. Samuel Tettner, a Venezuelan anthropologist who acquired facilitator coaching in Barcelona, emphasizes the DJ’s position in aura-tizing the speedy surroundings: “The DJ can create a sequence of atmospheric ‘strategies of motion’ that compose the perceived ‘movement’ of the dance, felt by the collective ‘felt-body’ of the dance ground.”
The influence of this intentional area is obvious within the experiences of its contributors. Laura Bishop, Govt Director of The 418 Venture (a group middle in Santa Cruz, California), displays, “I really feel accepted in an Ecstatic Dance container… I really feel seen right here.”
Merging the non-public and communal elevates Ecstatic Dance to a transformative apply. Moses Yao, a Hawaii-based dancer, psychologist, and theologian, describes the expertise of unity throughout the dance: “It’s cosmic. We’re entities shifting collectively.” DJ Daniel Mollner, who leads the Skyview dance group within the Santa Cruz Mountains, takes this idea additional: “After I dance, I open up my prayer state… I’m being danced.” By way of shared movement, the dance serves as a medium for religious connection, blurring the strains between self and different.
Challenges of Consent
The vulnerability that animates Ecstatic Dance heightens its experiential richness however requires a fragile stability between freedom and duty. Whereas these exchanges foster self-discovery, they could danger compromising belief and threatening private boundaries. These challenges mirror broader problems with energy dynamics in areas that should be protected, the place establishments, secular or sacred, have typically failed to guard the susceptible.
This delicate interaction between vulnerability and duty highlights the essential position of consent inside Ecstatic Dance. Consent could also be particularly compromised in contact improvisation, an elective subset of the Ecstatic Dance motion wherein dancers come into bodily contact with one another. Originating within the Nineteen Seventies with choreographer Steve Paxton (1939–2024) and different luminaries of the Judson Dance Theater and Grand Union postmodern dance collectives, contact improvisation is rooted within the ideas of egalitarianism and mutual respect. Dance research students Cynthia Novack and Ann Cooper Albright have written how the shape’s emphasis on bodily contact and shared weight fosters a way of interdependence, difficult standard gender relations, aesthetics, and individualism. When enacted ethically inside Ecstatic Dance, contact improvisation could foster unity, belonging, and group. Nonetheless, violations of consent undermine this apply, thereby corrupting connectivity and unleashing hurt.
To deal with such challenges, Ecstatic Dance communities have developed modern approaches that replicate their dedication to collective care. The decentralized, community-driven nature of the apply fosters self-regulation and accountability, with facilitators serving as guardians of the area reasonably than figures of authority. In circumstances the place boundaries have been crossed, communities usually flip to constructive instruments stemming from restorative justice, together with speaking circles and non-violent communication.
Throughout a dance in a Texas-based group, a participant voiced concern about one other dancer repeatedly looking for their consideration regardless of being turned away and moved from a number of spots on the dance ground. With out interrupting the movement of the music, the facilitator approached the person and gently invited them to step outdoors the area to debate the matter within the lobby. There, the facilitator created a impartial and compassionate surroundings to listen to their aspect, explaining that whereas the dance is nonverbal, clear indicators—akin to turning away or shifting away—talk whether or not an interplay is welcomed. The facilitator reminded the dancer that the area is shared and consensual, emphasizing that moments of rejection may be a chance to “dance with rejection,” utilizing motion to course of feelings and proceed the journey respectfully.
Crucially, this intervention had lasting results. In subsequent gatherings, the facilitator noticed that the person’s conduct had shifted considerably. They now not sought repeated interactions when indicators of disinterest got, aligning their actions with the group’s ideas of mindfulness and consent. This transformation exemplifies how restorative dialogue can encourage real development and make sure the dance ground stays a sanctuary for all contributors.
Such moments illustrate how the restorative ethos of Ecstatic Dance transforms potential battle into development. Quite than counting on punitive measures, facilitators encourage reflection and dialogue, embodying ideas much like these outlined in activist Adrienne Maree Brown’s e book, We Will Not Cancel Us. By prioritizing connection and accountability, these communities strengthen the sacred area, making certain that security, expression, and therapeutic stay central to the apply.
Inside these areas, belief is just not assumed—it’s constructed second by second by means of dance, dialogue, and communal acts of care.
A Mannequin for Spirituality As we speak
With step one—naked ft assembly the ground, the rhythmic pulse of the music reverberating by means of the area—contributors discover themselves in a brand new realm that’s distinct from their different skilled and private lives.
Ecstatic Dance without delay provides a chance for crafting particular person expression and reimagining the sacred, unbound by conventional buildings. By way of the beat, breath, sweat, and stillness, “shifting alone collectively” turns into a residing prayer and a dynamic act of collective worship. For practitioners, this rising religiosity—just like the dance itself—is fluid, adaptable, and rooted within the intentionality of the current second.
Kathryn Dickason is a Public Relations Specialist at Simmons College (Boston) and an NYU alumna. She has printed broadly on faith, dance, and medieval research, together with a e book entitled Ringleaders of Redemption: How Medieval Dance Grew to become Sacred (Oxford College Press, 2021).
Rashida Alisha Hagakore is an Ecstatic Dance facilitator and DJ who has curated transformative dance experiences in Texas, Ohio, California, and Damanhur (Northern Italy). With a background in enterprise administration, she bridges her ardour for breath, physique, and motion with a dedication to cultivating intentional areas for connection and transformation.
(Picture Supply: Dierdre Schoo for the New York Occasions)
Naked ft traverse a easy picket ground as rhythmic beats pulse by means of the Church of the Glowing Unicorn in Columbus, Ohio. Right here, motion turns into prayer, a sacred act of presence and intention. Dancers movement with respect for the shared area and one another, remodeling freeform movement right into a meditation on connection and group. That is Ecstatic Dance—a contemporary ritual the place self-expression intertwines with collective discovery.
Modern Ecstatic Dance, a worldwide twenty-first-century phenomenon, constitutes essentially the most widespread iteration of the acutely aware dance motion. Aware dance denotes dance practices that prioritize mindfulness, self-expression, and holistic therapeutic over technical mastery, commercialization, and aesthetic attract. In Ecstatic Dance, contributors interact in self-improvised motion over a two-hour interval, guided by the music of a reside DJ who curates a dynamic mixture of digital and world music. Thriving on six continents and in most main cities, there are over 700 registered Ecstatic Dance communities worldwide (along with a number of non-registered retailers).
Whereas this dance kind is non-prescriptive—theologically and choreographically—many dancers discover the apply deeply religious. On this approach, up to date Ecstatic Dance could generate experiential ecstasy (from the Greek time period ἔκστασις/ex-stasis, actually standing outdoors oneself) or heightened states of consciousness, mirroring the spiritual experiences of historical maenads, Sufis, Hasidic Jews, Lakota solar dancers, and others.
Many contributors initially come to Ecstatic Dance merely for the music, weekend recreation, or to fulfill folks. In different phrases, they don’t attend the dance periods for overtly religious causes. Nonetheless, as many testify, what transpires on the dance ground permits practitioners to domesticate a private expertise of sacredness inside a artistic, embodied, and communal setting—impartial of conventional spiritual buildings. By way of dancing, folks report feeling touched by the divine.
Roots of Ecstatic Dance
In 2001, Max Fathom, a dancer and poet from Austin, Texas, began the up to date Ecstatic Dance motion. After relocating to Hawaii to work on the nonprofit Kalani-Honua Retreat Heart, he quickly led a group dance group. Fathom applied group pointers, together with no medicine or alcohol, designed to make sure contributors’ security and foster genuine experiences. In contrast to standard non-public dance studios, Kalani didn’t cost tuition. As an alternative, folks provided voluntary “love donations.” Quickly, Ecstatic Dance got here to draw over 200 attendees per session.
Fathom’s inclination towards improvised dancing recollects his time in Texas, when he practiced Physique Choir, one other acutely aware dance motion impressed by Gabrielle Roth (1941–2012). As a former skilled dancer, legendary fixture on the Esalen Institute (Massive Sur, California), and self-proclaimed “city shaman” who devised the 5Rhythms® freeform approach, Roth could also be thought-about the proto-founder of up to date Ecstatic Dance.
Like Roth and different acutely aware dance luminaries, Fathom gravitates towards bodily spontaneity: “[Freeform] dance helps you be within the current second. . . The ego is all the time in your heels, however there are moments the place you may transcend it by means of spontaneity.” This freeform dynamism exemplifies faith scholar Robert Grimes’ idea of “improvising ritual,” the place spiritual rites can go “off script” in ways in which intensify their sacred efficiency.
Differing from his predecessors, Fathom simulated a sacred aura in express methods. As an illustration, he created an altar, sometimes made from fruit, shells, and different choices. Earlier than every session, he or one other participant delivered religious invocations within the type of spoken prayers or poetry.
One other signature factor of Ecstatic Dance is the music. Impressed by the annual Burning Man competition, Fathom integrated digital music into his periods. (Against this, 5Rhythms® sometimes used reside music and drumming). For Fathom, the repetitive high quality of digital music “mirrors tribal music,” thus facilitating a ritual framework. However removed from remaining mounted and predictable, this music, just like the dance that accompanies it, experiments with improvised parts.
Though Fathom by no means trademarked his apply, it turned ubiquitous. “The church now not meets the wants of individuals,” he says, reflecting on the motion’s recognition and demand. “That’s the reason Ecstatic Dance is so wildly fashionable. There’s a want for fellowship, security, and a sacred surroundings . . . and Ecstatic Dance does this so nicely.”
Ecstatic Dance as a Sacred Apply
In an more and more secular period, Ecstatic Dance stands as a brand new temple, providing an area for contributors to transcend mundane existence. Evidently, most Ecstatic Dance practitioners don’t embrace or endorse organized spiritual traditions. As an alternative, many determine as “religious however not spiritual” (SBNR), which contains between 22% of Individuals (based on the Pew Analysis Heart) to roughly 33% of Individuals (based on a 2023 Gallup ballot).
Whereas Fathom doesn’t have an issue with the time period “faith,” he suspects many individuals just like the apply due to its absence of dogma—a signature factor of Ecstatic Dance:
“The fellowship of Ecstatic Dance has loads of worth and which means to folks. And you are able to do this with out saying you imagine in a sure approach, like a faith or dogma,” Fathom says. “However you may have a spiritual expertise with Ecstatic Dance. . . And this may be expressed by means of an precise gesture or by means of dancing.”
A pal of Fathom who dances within the San Francisco Bay Space asserts that Ecstatic Dance capabilities like a church:
“Ecstatic Dance fulfills the [community-building] position that church used to fill. . . There may be nonetheless a human want to collect. And there aren’t many locations that characteristic intergenerational gatherings. I feel that’s the reason Ecstatic Dance succeeds. . . I’m having a co-creation expertise with different folks, and I feel that is what is exclusive about dance. And this is usually a religious expertise.”
Though this dancer doesn’t have a conventional spiritual background, she needs one thing past mundane existence. Sharing intimate and artistic encounters with fellow dancers creates a way of belonging and transcendence, no matter whether or not or not dancers intentionally had spiritual causes for becoming a member of an Ecstatic Dance group. On this approach, Ecstatic Dance embodies the unique which means of the Latin time period sacer (sacred)—that which is about other than the remaining.
(Picture Supply: Ecstatic Dance LA)
For some Ecstatic Dancers, what transpires on the dance ground prompts them to meditate upon the mysteries of the universe. “I’ve gratitude and awe, and an consciousness of the miracle of existence. When I’m dancing, I take into consideration existence and the way did this get began? This brings me towards the awe one would have in a spiritual expertise,” says Santa Cruz-based dancer Mark Schneider.
The sacralizing results of Ecstatic Dance usually mimic ritual and shamanic therapeutic. For Turtle (né Steven White), a facilitator of Ecstatic Dance at Inside Rhythm (Cambria, California), “[Ecstatic] Dance is my salvation.” Turtle continues: “I’d say what we do is a bodily purification . . . They [i.e., the dancers] emerge feeling higher with a lot readability. We have now a glimpse of what it means to be robust and healed within the medicinal energy [of dance].”
Sure Ecstatic Dance venues amplify these sacralizing and therapeutic results. Whereas some areas are extra impartial or secular (together with warehouses, group facilities, and dance studios), others have a spiritual previous. Traditionally sacred areas akin to church buildings, chapels, or temples imbue up to date Ecstatic Dance with a wealthy sense of resonance.
Furthermore, the structure itself could play an integral position on this motion ritual. Faith scholar Sarah Pike argues that repurposed historic or hallowed buildings without delay retain echoes of the previous and invite new methods of symbolizing the sacred. Kinesthetically navigating these areas, dancers’ imprint new sacred narratives, merging the ancestral aura of the venue with the novelty of the up to date second. Reworking bizarre areas into residing sanctuaries, Ecstatic Dancers reimagine and reshape city environments, creating rituals that honor historical past and acknowledge speedy religious wants.
The Position of the Dance Facilitator
On the coronary heart of Ecstatic Dance is the facilitator, a quiet architect of the sacred area who ensures it stays intentional and purpose-driven. Distinction this with a typical nightclub: excessive heels and designer sneakers step on sticky flooring as drinks are handed from bar at hand, and the regular thump of repetitive beats underscores shouted conversations. The main focus usually drifts towards appearances, socializing, and flirtation.
In Ecstatic Dance, the ambiance is fully totally different. Footwear are left on the door, and the ground turns into a shared area. Naked ft floor contributors in an inward journey with music that invitations totally different sorts of motion. As an alternative of alcohol, the scent of incense could linger within the air, and contributors costume for consolation reasonably than to impress. The facilitator ensures this intentional surroundings by means of sensory particulars—lighting, symbolic decor, and the absence of mirrors—all designed to foster presence and self-expression.
CiCi Singleton, founding father of Alchemy of Dance (Houston, Texas) and an skilled Ecstatic Dance DJ and facilitator, explains: “The position of the facilitator is to set an brisk intention and keep it. It’s about making a container the place folks really feel seen and their experiences are revered. With out that, the area dangers turning into only a celebration reasonably than a spot for genuine connection.” Singleton’s perspective reveals the facilitator’s position in cultivating an area the place motion transcends efficiency, turning into a significant apply of connection and self-awareness.
The rules of Ecstatic Dance—dancing barefoot, abstaining from substances, refraining from speaking through the dance, and embracing a comfort-focused costume code—are broadly embraced to foster mindfulness and mutual respect. In contrast to the predictable rhythms of a nightclub, the music of Ecstatic Dance adjustments rhythm, tempo, and sometimes makes use of various musical genres, thereby inviting play, introspection, pleasure, and a communal journey.
Rabbi Shefa Gold, co-director of the Heart for Devotional Vitality and Ecstatic Apply describes facilitators as architects who infuse the surroundings with transformative objective and devotion. By guiding the power of the area, facilitators take dancers on a journey towards private development and communal interplay, weaving particular person expressions right into a shared, embodied apply. Samuel Tettner, a Venezuelan anthropologist who acquired facilitator coaching in Barcelona, emphasizes the DJ’s position in aura-tizing the speedy surroundings: “The DJ can create a sequence of atmospheric ‘strategies of motion’ that compose the perceived ‘movement’ of the dance, felt by the collective ‘felt-body’ of the dance ground.”
The influence of this intentional area is obvious within the experiences of its contributors. Laura Bishop, Govt Director of The 418 Venture (a group middle in Santa Cruz, California), displays, “I really feel accepted in an Ecstatic Dance container… I really feel seen right here.”
Merging the non-public and communal elevates Ecstatic Dance to a transformative apply. Moses Yao, a Hawaii-based dancer, psychologist, and theologian, describes the expertise of unity throughout the dance: “It’s cosmic. We’re entities shifting collectively.” DJ Daniel Mollner, who leads the Skyview dance group within the Santa Cruz Mountains, takes this idea additional: “After I dance, I open up my prayer state… I’m being danced.” By way of shared movement, the dance serves as a medium for religious connection, blurring the strains between self and different.
Challenges of Consent
The vulnerability that animates Ecstatic Dance heightens its experiential richness however requires a fragile stability between freedom and duty. Whereas these exchanges foster self-discovery, they could danger compromising belief and threatening private boundaries. These challenges mirror broader problems with energy dynamics in areas that should be protected, the place establishments, secular or sacred, have typically failed to guard the susceptible.
This delicate interaction between vulnerability and duty highlights the essential position of consent inside Ecstatic Dance. Consent could also be particularly compromised in contact improvisation, an elective subset of the Ecstatic Dance motion wherein dancers come into bodily contact with one another. Originating within the Nineteen Seventies with choreographer Steve Paxton (1939–2024) and different luminaries of the Judson Dance Theater and Grand Union postmodern dance collectives, contact improvisation is rooted within the ideas of egalitarianism and mutual respect. Dance research students Cynthia Novack and Ann Cooper Albright have written how the shape’s emphasis on bodily contact and shared weight fosters a way of interdependence, difficult standard gender relations, aesthetics, and individualism. When enacted ethically inside Ecstatic Dance, contact improvisation could foster unity, belonging, and group. Nonetheless, violations of consent undermine this apply, thereby corrupting connectivity and unleashing hurt.
To deal with such challenges, Ecstatic Dance communities have developed modern approaches that replicate their dedication to collective care. The decentralized, community-driven nature of the apply fosters self-regulation and accountability, with facilitators serving as guardians of the area reasonably than figures of authority. In circumstances the place boundaries have been crossed, communities usually flip to constructive instruments stemming from restorative justice, together with speaking circles and non-violent communication.
Throughout a dance in a Texas-based group, a participant voiced concern about one other dancer repeatedly looking for their consideration regardless of being turned away and moved from a number of spots on the dance ground. With out interrupting the movement of the music, the facilitator approached the person and gently invited them to step outdoors the area to debate the matter within the lobby. There, the facilitator created a impartial and compassionate surroundings to listen to their aspect, explaining that whereas the dance is nonverbal, clear indicators—akin to turning away or shifting away—talk whether or not an interplay is welcomed. The facilitator reminded the dancer that the area is shared and consensual, emphasizing that moments of rejection may be a chance to “dance with rejection,” utilizing motion to course of feelings and proceed the journey respectfully.
Crucially, this intervention had lasting results. In subsequent gatherings, the facilitator noticed that the person’s conduct had shifted considerably. They now not sought repeated interactions when indicators of disinterest got, aligning their actions with the group’s ideas of mindfulness and consent. This transformation exemplifies how restorative dialogue can encourage real development and make sure the dance ground stays a sanctuary for all contributors.
Such moments illustrate how the restorative ethos of Ecstatic Dance transforms potential battle into development. Quite than counting on punitive measures, facilitators encourage reflection and dialogue, embodying ideas much like these outlined in activist Adrienne Maree Brown’s e book, We Will Not Cancel Us. By prioritizing connection and accountability, these communities strengthen the sacred area, making certain that security, expression, and therapeutic stay central to the apply.
Inside these areas, belief is just not assumed—it’s constructed second by second by means of dance, dialogue, and communal acts of care.
A Mannequin for Spirituality As we speak
With step one—naked ft assembly the ground, the rhythmic pulse of the music reverberating by means of the area—contributors discover themselves in a brand new realm that’s distinct from their different skilled and private lives.
Ecstatic Dance without delay provides a chance for crafting particular person expression and reimagining the sacred, unbound by conventional buildings. By way of the beat, breath, sweat, and stillness, “shifting alone collectively” turns into a residing prayer and a dynamic act of collective worship. For practitioners, this rising religiosity—just like the dance itself—is fluid, adaptable, and rooted within the intentionality of the current second.
Kathryn Dickason is a Public Relations Specialist at Simmons College (Boston) and an NYU alumna. She has printed broadly on faith, dance, and medieval research, together with a e book entitled Ringleaders of Redemption: How Medieval Dance Grew to become Sacred (Oxford College Press, 2021).
Rashida Alisha Hagakore is an Ecstatic Dance facilitator and DJ who has curated transformative dance experiences in Texas, Ohio, California, and Damanhur (Northern Italy). With a background in enterprise administration, she bridges her ardour for breath, physique, and motion with a dedication to cultivating intentional areas for connection and transformation.
