Fun and comfort are fantastic but not necessarily the goal of conscious dancing. The example of the dancer with the sore back shows us that consciousness does not necessarily lead to breakthroughs, answer or ecstasy. I have to admit that I wish that the name “Ecstatic Dance” hadn’t caught on to become the sensation that it is today. Why? I find the name misleading. For many the word “Ecstatic” means something akin to feeling or expressing overwhelming happiness or joyful excitement or that it involves an experience of mystic self-transcendence. I found a definition of the word ecstatic which explains it as “a state of being overpowered by emotion, as by joy, grief, or passion” This is getting closer as it allows less comfortable emotions into the equation. However the truth is that there are times we come to dance full of grief yet unable to access it, we come numb. Sometimes we show up at dance when we don’t want to, when we are not feeling inspired. Perhaps there are times we do feel overwhelming happiness when we arrive and something happens, we bump into an ex lover or get injured,  the resulting feeling is far from transcendent. Does this mean we are doing it wrong? I would argue that this is actually doing it right! Conscious dance is a place where we can ride a full spectrum of emotion. A place where all of us is welcome, whether it be in a state of wild abandon, numbness or somewhere in between. I have often heard teachers of Open Floor murmur the words “come as you are” during warm up sessions. This simple statement explains it perfectly. Conscious dance is a place you may come just as you are.

A note in defence of Ecstatic Dance. Most of the ED events I have attended (which is quite a few given I am an Ecstatic DJ) are absolutely conscious dances. A place  where the full spectrum of emotion is welcome and held by the facilitator, the DJ and the community as a whole. I encourage all to stop being pedantic in this regard. I have too often heard Ecstatic Dance dismissed in conscious dance circles based solely on the name, or worse on rumours. I encourage us to let go of territorialism and ego around what is or isn’t conscious dance and instead just build and attend the best friggin’ dances we possibly can.

Bernice Rabbis founder of Dance The Medicine. www.Dancethemedicine.com

Curiosity is crucial to learning, not only does it prepare the brain to learn but it makes subsequent learning more rewarding.

Research found that once a person’s curiosity has been piqued that they became better at learning and remembering. Even when the information is totally unrelated to the topic that piqued their interest in the first place. What does this have to do with dancing? Basically if you engage your curiosity during the dance you become a superhero! Just by engaging curiosity you become primed to get better at all the other things you are engaging in; your dance moves, your ability to sense others in the room, your ability to predict the phrasing of the music, and so on. No matter what you are doing it becomes easier to learn and you become more adept at it so long as you are curious about something… anything. How amazing is that?

Dr. Matthias Gruber, an expert on the intersection between motivation and memory, explains that “curiosity puts the brain in a state that allows it to learn and retain any kind of information, like a vortex that sucks in what you are motivated to learn, and also everything around it.” There is not only increased activity in the region of the brain involved in the creation of memories, but also in the brain circuitry related to reward and pleasure.

You might be wondering what to get curious about on the dance floor. The answers are literally limitless. It is one of the main responsibilities of the facilitator or ceremony leader, to deliver potential points of curiosity. In a class I recently taught with the theme of partnering in the times of social distancing, I had them get curious about their partnership with the floor. Noticing its temperature, where it made contact with their body, if it felt similar or different to other other points of contact. This was a starting point for the chain reaction of curiosity, an inquiry into the dance experience. One student told me later that she had an epiphany about how she acts in the partnership she has with her daughter. We began with the metaphor of “partnership” to deal with a real life obstacle, social distancing. We spent the class dancing in a curious way and BOOM the next thing you know relationships are being healed.

So what if you miss the opening facilitation, or there wasn’t any to begin with, what do you use to trigger your curiosity? Some examples:

• Curiosity about your own body
  • I usually turn on the same foot in the same direction, what if I try the other foot, what do I notice?
• Curiosity about the space between dancers
  • I like to dance in front of the speakers a lot, I notice others do too and sometimes I feel territorial as if it is my spot. What is that about?
• Curiosity about other dancers
  • That way of bending at the knees to this beat is fascinating. I’m going to try it on, make that move my own.
• Curiosity about group field
  • I see lots of eyes looking furtive. I notice it makes me anxious. What changes in the field if I too begin to use my eyes furtively as well?

Curiosity, in this context, can sometimes be confused with the active intelligence which happens primarily in the thinking mind. I want to be very clear that the description above is of a type of curiosity which happens as an interplay between mind, body, spirit. A sort of curiosity where an answer or explanation is not the desired end result. It is the journey with curiosity itself that makes it golden

Bernice Rabbis founder of Dance The Medicine. www.Dancethemedicine.com

Exercise is a fully legitimate reason to go to a conscious dance. To be physically health conscious is still conscious! While physical exercise has never been my personal motivator I adore the fact that my practice brings health on levels other than what I intended. There are some who may come to dance simply because it is the only place they can find refuge from a troubled home situation. Coming to the dance for 2 hours of respite is a choice towards health. I know many who use dance as a somatic based psycho-spiritual exploration in which they take what arises in the dance as a metaphor to unravel their own existence. They are using dance towards the betterment of their mental health. And of course there are many who come to dance just to be wordlessly in their body communing with whatever greater power they consider holy . Whatever the level, be it physical, spiritual, emotional or intellectual, conscious dance has the capacity to move us towards health.

Bernice Rabbis founder of Dance The Medicine. www.Dancethemedicine.com