The LongDance |
| A LongDance session takes many forms. Sometimes it is one long
dance; sometimes a few twenty or thirty minute dances; sometimes a number
of shorter dances. Usually it is comprised of longer dances.
The basic ingredient, however, is the mode of facilitation, which is an
inner (or transpersonal (trans-psycological )) function. In essence,
the host (or facilitator) needs to be aware of her own capacity to feel
the energy of her mind - not the thoughts or the abstract mind, but the
substance from which these arise - the energy of her emotional body (that
area in the lower heart-stomach area where the 'butterflies' occur) as
well as the energy (and tightness and looseness, etc.) of the physical
body. Everyone has this capacity. It is quite literally a tactile
or sensual feeling. Many are not aware of this capacity, of this
sixth sense. It is a matter of becoming still and entering something
sometimes called 'the Collected State'.
Once a person is aware of this, it is then a matter of allowing ones self to feel these energies in the people who are present in the circle that evening. Once this is being felt in an aware way, one then facilitates the dance according to these qualities and what movements or sounds or images need to be introduced in order to deepen the capacity of the circle to 1)enter the direct knowledge place I call The Collected State, 2) become aware themselves of this place, 3)pass, as an entire circle through the veils (mostly psychological frameworks) that contain us within old patterns and into a full presence in the moment and in the space. This is what I refer to as 'The Union of Sacred Time and Sacred Space. There are many ways to say this. None of the ways we say this really describes what we are talking about. Our language and our basic societal frameworks have no models for this level of awareness. A lot of this comes from the mode of initiation, healing and teaching that took place in a number of the Neolithic cultures. I suggest reading Coleman Barks' translations of Rumi for a better understanding. Also see the movie "Meetings with Remarkable Men" ... an old movie available for rental in better video rentals stores. Facilitating the LongDance is as easy as riding a bike, but the knack of maintaining the balance needs to be cultivated. Some could get the knack quickly; others may never get the knack. One has to be willing to be a fool in order to do this, because you are listening to voices within to which we are not at all accustomed to listening. It is a little like a state of intoxication ... intoxicated on the fragrance of the Sacred Hearts of the people in the circle. Feet on the Earth, Heart in Heaven, the saying goes. Maintaining this Ïstate of balanced intoxicationÓ does take some practice, pure inner intent (you canÌt be trying to do it to look good or to run a workshop - you canÌt be looking for customers), and some experience This is one of the reasons why I have chosen to call the LongDance (EarthDance) something slightly different than the normal Circle Dance and also why I have chosen to ask the circle dance teachers at large to not call what they do "LongDance" unless they have received permission from me to do so. Of course there are tricks that one may use as "training wheels". During an evening of dance, one can choose and be conscious of an inner theme of the evening. The use of silence and the breathing meditative techniques between the dances (as well as a part of the dance) can be of assistance. In larger or more confused energy circles, it is wise for the facilitator to stand between two people who are themselves soft and centered and who have some idea of what is going on. Again, a better sense of the matter could be gained by reading some of Coleman Barks' translations of Rumi. May of Rumi's poems were created while he was facilitating a circle of Sacred Movement. The poems describe the indescribable state which the dancers were cultivating and were created from that space which is that state. Once one has tasted it, it is not so much difficult to do as it is impossible
not to do.
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