Unstructured dance brings unexpected joy
‘Free dance’ gaining
in popularity
By Cheryl Rossi, November 16, 2012, Vancouver Courier.
Daniella Weber was going through a tough time last
winter. She was sitting at work, sitting in classes, experiencing back pain and
headaches when she felt the impulse to move.
The 37-year-old University of B.C. employee had
previously taken structured dance classes and she decided to sign up for a
variety of free-dance sessions. It changed her life.
“I’m somebody, like a lot of us, who tends to be in
their head a lot and worry about things,” she said. “It’s really changed
everything. I realize just to follow what feels good and what brings me joy and
dancing is definitely it.”
She reports feeling more connected to herself and
the broader community.
Weber isn’t alone in a newfound passion for what
some call “ecstatic dance.”
That’s why Jelena Marda, founder of Dance Divine,
which celebrates its third anniversary Nov. 18, added a second free-dance
session this fall and will host a monthly Friday event and offer business
opportunities starting in January.
Marda, a psychotherapist and counsellor, discovered
the joy of free dance when she tried 5Rhythms classes about six years ago. She
recently completed her therapy training and was attracted to practices that
emphasize body-based awareness. “Because a lot of information lives in the
body, the subconscious, the intuitive, the feeling, the emotional, all of those
things,” she said.
Marda had long wanted to DJ but couldn’t imagine
mixing classical, dance and hip hop music in clubs, and she had been searching
for a moving meditation practice that would quiet her mind. “That was my
‘hallelujah moment,’” the 44-year-old said of her experience at 5Rhythms.
Now up to 40 people aged 20 to 70 gather Sunday
mornings in an airy studio at the Scotiabank Dance Centre to dance free from
instruction. The two-hour session starts with slow music where participants in
comfy clothes stretch, breath and “arrive,” and then gain momentum as the tempo
of the music builds to a more frenetic pace then slows again. The session ends
with an optional closing circle where dancers can share their observations.
“It’s a little bit like the eye-gazing after the
lovemaking, if you like,” Marda said with a laugh. “It’s a little bit of
cognitive integration of what just happened… and then we often go for a big
brunch afterward.”
When she began her sessions, Marda says five to 10
per cent of the participants were men. That proportion has multiplied to 30 to
50 per cent.
“Practices such as yoga, which has taken off in the
last 15 years like nobody’s business, those kind of practices have taught us a
lot about cultivating awareness,” she said.
“There’s a really genuine call for
people to experience a more heart-based reality… It’s more loving, it’s more
friendly, it is more in moment, it’s more connected, there a lot of really
beautiful things about it.”
Dance Divine will give away three five-class passes
Sunday to celebrate its anniversary. For more information about ecstatic dance
events in Vancouver, see dancemovesvancouver.com.
Twitter: @Cheryl_Rossi
© Copyright (c) Vancouver Courier
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Facebook Group:Dance Divine - Ecstatic Free-Style Vancouver
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