“Opportunity dances with those already on the dance floor.”
_H. Jackson Brown Jr.
On Saturday I shared our Ecstatic Dance Journey with a group of men. On this rare occasion we outnumbered the women two-to-one which created a very different energy. As we danced around the fire, I couldn’t help reflecting on the amazing dance journeys I was witnessing. It’s not often that men will allow their vulnerability to dissolve, connecting them to the power of dance. In many cultures, men dancing is natural, even encouraged. However there is a narrow section of our society that puts many hurdles in front of men on their path to dance.
It is therefore all the more remarkable when the men come out to dance like this.
It got me thinking how society brainwashes us into thinking and acting in a particular way. We don’t realise this, which is why it is called “brainwashing.” Oblivious to the societal conditioning we go about our daily lives as usual, thinking and feeling that our behaviour is normal, and even more disturbing, that it is exactly what we want. But is it? How often is it that we delight when new experiences are offered to us? Yet, how often do we seek, and even try out what is out of our normal setting?
That is why making the effort to come and dance is so important. For many, it is strange. For many, society dictates how and when we dance. For many, sadly, it lies way beyond what is acceptable. Yet, once we make that decision and step into the dance, we connect with a myriad of possibilities. We experience ourselves differently as we feel our bodies sway to the rhythms. We experience others differently as we connect with them in the dance. And, we experience life differently – literally from another angle, or should I say many many angles!
To dance is to keep pressing the RE_SET button until one day we have reset ourselves all the way back to innocence, joy and fun.
_Christos Daskalakos
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