Ecstatic dance has three rules and they are the whole practice: no talking on the floor, no substances, no photographs. Inside those rules people move however they like for an hour or two, to music that usually builds from slow to wild and back to still. There is no way to do it wrong and no one watching.
On the land it happens at sunrise, in a meadow, with the music low enough for the birds. It is the most direct way most people have of getting out of their heads and into their bodies, which is where much of the land’s work gets done. It is also completely safe for children, who are usually better at it than the adults.
The name puts some people off. It is not about ecstasy in the dramatic sense. It is about moving without being looked at, which for most adults is rare enough to feel like a kind of freedom.
Related words
- Drum circlePeople seated in a ring with drums and percussion, playing together without a score or a leader, finding a shared rhythm as they go.
- GroundingComing back into the body and onto the ground, through feet, water, work, food, or simply standing still outside.
- Medicine musicSongs, often simple and repetitive, made to be sung together in ceremony and at the fire, for their effect on the people singing rather than for performance.
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