[Adta] Spiritual Dancing

[Lisa Fladager]

Hi Everyone,
 
On the topic of DMT and spirituality / healing - I too am happy to see
spirituality being addressed here in this forum. After all, we all know
the roots of dance, healing and spirituality are deeply intertwined, and
that it is only in fairly recent western scientific thought that they
were separated. Thankfully, this is now beginning to shift again, as
scientific advances are confirming what has been intuitively known all
along. (Hooray - Conjunctio!  I see this as the marriage of masculine
and feminine, of matter and spirit, of rational and ir-rational.
 
In any case, because this topic has arisen again, I'd like to highlight
the incredibly powerful work being done with the Dances of Universal
Peace (DUP), and encourage any DMTs out there to take the opportunity to
experience them directly with an accomplished dance teacher / leader.
The originator of these dances, Samuel Lewis, studied deeply with dance
pioneer Ruth St. Denis, and the focus of their work was "spiritual dance
and walk". I have used these dances in mental health settings, and have
led them both in modified versions as body prayers in churches and as
full-on circle dances involving entire congregations. (We just circle up
and dance around the outside of the pews!) Afterwards, many people come
up to me and express deep gratitude for bringing dance and movement back
into the churches. I've also incorporated the DUP into community
festivals and rituals celebrating the cycles of the seasons (as
reflected in the Celtic wheel of the year), sometimes with a hundred
people. For example, for May Day (the celtic holiday celebrating the
union of masculine and feminine), an entire circle of 75 people out on
the land will dance to open the directions, then do men's and women's
dances, then have a May pole ritual - including ribbon dances, and
dances celebrating the sacred marriage of masculine and feminine - and
finally dances to support the rite of jumping over the Beltane fire! My
DMT and Laban training have certainly informed my dance leading in these
varied settings, and my DUP training has greatly enhanced my work as a
DMT - an incredible reciprocal relationship! (BTW, if you're interested,
I posted previously about this on the listserve in Vol. 15 issue 30, and
also included a video clip.  The link again to the DUP website is:
http://www.dancesofuniversalpeace.org/  And to the video clip is:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6833697962068556486
<http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6833697962068556486&hl=en>
&hl=en.)
 
Also, I highly encourage the closely related work of Neil Douglas-Klotz.
He is deeply studied in somatic psychology and has been the linguistic
scholar responsible for spear-heading the resurrection of the Aramaic
language of Jesus (the vernacular language of that place and time, which
most scholars believe was the language Jesus actually spoke). Dr.
Douglas-Klotz has developed cycles of a danced Lord's Prayer,
Beatitudes, Old Testament sacred phrases, and Dances attuning to ancient
middle eastern goddesses. All of these dances are meant to be
experienced by a group of people dancing together and are sung and
danced simultaneously by participants in the traditional language.  He's
also developed a plethora of other body practices interweaving ancient
middle eastern spirituality with movement and breath practices. He's
published widely and his website is: http://www.abwoon.com/ .
 
The Sufis have a long tradition of movement and dance as being an
integral part of prayer and direct experience of the spiritual realm.
Probably the most widely known example of this is the whirling
dervishes. Interestingly enough, I myself "discovered" whirling, or
turning, in authentic movement long before I'd ever heard of whirling
dervishes (after all, the movement is there in the collective field,
known or "unknown" to us on a conscious level; why not discover it
directly in authentic movement?). In session after session of authentic
movement, I'd whirl and whirl until I'd fall down, then, in the
stillness, I'd feel like I went through a doorway into other realms.
Later, in my Sufi studies, I learned that the word dervish meant
doorway! Hmmmm...
 
I am currently experimenting with the interplay of the form of the
Dances of Universal Peace and the formlessness of authentic movement.
For example, I'll do a particular dance and then let myself be moved
spontaneously by the energy that the dance creates. The results have
been very rich. I am about to begin a seven week series working with
this theme here on Whidbey Island in WA. We also host regularly
scheduled DUP retreats here on Whidbey, sponsoring dance teachers from
all over the world for entire weekends of dancing. We'll begin a two
year training here in 2008 for those who are interested in learning to
lead and teach the DUP. (As with any living tradition, the real
attunement to these dances is through direct transmission from a
teacher, therefore it is important to experience them numerous times
with a live person before beginning to share them with others.)
 
And finally, in a similar genre, you might want to check out the Sacred
Dance Guild website. They have a conference coming up in July in
Berkeley, CA:
<http://www.sacreddanceguild.org/wiki/sacred_dance_guild/?FID=5192525&CF
TOKEN=60970797&jsessionid=c2302994861171043867656>
http://www.sacreddanceguild.org/wiki/sacred_dance_guild/?FID=5192525&CFT
OKEN=60970797&jsessionid=c2302994861171043867656
 
To end, a fitting poem from the beloved Sufi poet, Jelaludin Rumi;
 
Dance, when you're broden open,
Dance, if you've torn the bandage off
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you're perfectly free.
        (translation by Coleman Barks)
 
Hope this is helpful. Happy dancing!
 
Lisa Fladager, MCAT, LMHC, NCC, DTR, CMA
PO Box 861
Langley, WA 98260
(360) 221-2677 Practice
 <mailto:mysticdancer at whidbey.com> mysticdancer at whidbey.com 
 

"This music and dancing is to increase Joy, 

not awe toward another person, 

but Bliss in our own Self.  

This is finding God within, 

through experience."

   ~Samuel L. Lewis, founder, Dances of Universal Peace

 

 
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