Dance Alters Perceptions

“If the doors of perception were cleansed,

everything would appear…as it is, infinite.”

_William Blake

I am dancing in the studio and I glance up to see multiple horizontal slithers of leaves dancing one against the other. I realise that I am noticing something different. The venetian blinds are creating an optical illusion. And I am reminded how the brain fills in the blanks. So many times I have looked out and seen trees - today I look out and see a symphony of movement. Dance heightens the senses and gives us a new perspective on life.

One moment I am immersed in a dance, lost in the music and my own movements but when my gaze is drawn upward towards the windows I am mesmerised. Horizontal slivers of leaves are moving backward and forward alive with a dance of their own. It’s different, I realise that something has shifted in my perception. The venetian blinds have created an illusion and it dawns upon me – the mind weaves stories where there are gaps. So many times have I looked out and seen trees as my brain filled in the blanks to present to me something that I know or assume is there. This time I see dancing art.

I am reminded of the profound wisdom dance imparts. It heightens our senses, allowing up to perceive the world not merely through the lens of habit but to awaken a spirit to a newfound perspective of life. Dance is not just a physical expression but a gateway to a heightened existence where the ordinary transforms into the extraordinary. Trees are no longer just trees but a delightful canvas that reflects the late afternoon sun into my dance, leaving me with wonder and awe at the beauty around me.

_Christos Daskalakos

WHY DANCE?

“To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak.”

_Indian Proverb

Deep down, within the very core of our being, lies a yearning that transcends words and boundaries – a yearning to be set free. It's a rhythm that pulses through our souls, an innate desire to soar above the clouds to dive into the deepest oceans and to come up knowing that we are connected and plugged into life with a thousand volts.

It is a desire to move to the music of life with grace and purpose. No matter our age or circumstance, this yearning remains an undeniable part of who we are. When we embrace it, we unlock a world of possibilities and a profound connection to the beauty of existence.

We will not find this life waiting on the sofa, the laptop, or behind wishful thinking. But we can find it in the dance. We can find it when we allow the music of our souls to move our bodies into those ecstatic moments dancing when music, heart and soul merge into the most exquisite expression of ourselves.

So, let us shed our inhibitions, step onto the stage of our own lives, and dance with the unbridled passion that resides within us all. For in the dance of our hearts, we find the truest expression of ourselves and the limitless potential to create a symphony of joy and inspiration that resonates across the cosmos.

_Christos Daskalakos

dancescapes

You are much more than intellect and reason.
You are more than a thinking body.
You are this human with senses of touch, sight, hearing, taste and smell.
You are instinct and intuition.
You are feeling and love.
You are spirit imbued with the force of LIFE.
Awareness – perception, and through your dance, you are
A DREAMER

We dance into our own personal dreamscapes. In some shamanic traditions, dance is used to explore one’s inner world, including personal dreams and visions. When we dance with intention and focus, we too can delve into the dancescapes to access wisdom and insights hidden within the movements, feelings and experience that make up our dance.

Dance is non-linear. We cannot simply ask a question and expect an answer. That is the way of the rational mind. The pathway that dance offers us is to ask the question, and to dancing beyond the limitations of the habitual mind and patterns of behaviour so that we touch the unexpected with surprise and delight for in that moment there is magic.

Our answers come through feeling. A sensation that is a deep embodied knowing. When it happens the vibrations of excitement indicate to us that deep down we can trust. After the dance, as we settled down those feeling vibrations turn into insight as they surface to breathe life in our conscious minds. This sounds like magic – because it is!

_Christos Daskalakos

dance UNIVERSALIS

“Dance is the rhythm of transformation where every movement is a testament 

to our amazing ability to create beauty in our lives.”

_xos

Who owns dance?

YOU DO!

Dance is your canvas and music is your paint. There is no right or wrong way to be in Biodanza – only your presence and willingness to move. It's also not about being the best at it, instead, it's about allowing your movement to express the truest version of you.

Dance belongs to everyone. It is a universal gift to humanity and is awakened when we feel the rhythm in our bodies and the pulsation of life in our hearts. The dance space becomes our world and every step we take reflects the symphony of life. Each dance is a unique story waiting to be told – an expression of our most innermost emotions, but more importantly a celebration of our existence.

The Biodanza group is a special space. It is a laboratory of life where we come to dance and feel this tapestry of life. Biodanza is not symbolic or simulated – each dance is a real experience felt deeply in the moment. From this, we embody the language and tools that we can export from this laboratory out into the worlds we live in. Armoured with love, through the dance, we learn, re-learn, and re-pattern body, mind and soul, opening up new possibilities and experiences of life.

_Christos Daskalakos

For Whom the Dance Tolls

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, 

life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”

_Langston Hughes

Twenty one years ago, VisVita was just a dream – an empty house filled a gigantic invitation.

On the 7th September 2005, we had our first Biodanza class at VisVita. Since then we have witnessed, laughter, tears, madness, sanity, chaos, peace – and much more! Every single moment facet of the kaleidoscope we call life. After facilitating a thousand classes in the studio and around 500 Aqua sessions in the pool, I pause and ask the question …”why?”

The answer is simple – “why not?”

As dancers, we create the dream. With every heart-felt movement, we paint our stories on the canvas that is this world. Our dances transcend the boundaries of the mundane and we enter the magical world where anything is possible. To dance is to embark on a journey where our souls take flight on the wings of imagination. And then, our dance brings us right back home to the inner sanctuary where we discover the enchanting symphony of life itself. The dream was always there.

I look forward to dancing with everyone this week, on such a special occasion.

Please join me after the class for some refreshments, simply to celebrate our journeys together.

_Christos Daskalakos

CREA-DANCE

“Surrender to the flow of life and watch the magic unfold.”

_Unknown

Creare in Latin means to create, to make.

What are we creating when we dance?

It goes without saying that dance has been part of the human experience from time immemorial. This is a somewhat strange practice as it does not appear to have any evolutionary goals. At the same time, it’s not something we invented later on in our human odyssey. So why dance?

Interaction in the world through movement is how we establish a sense of self and form the reality that we inhabit. Dance however is movement that stems from an impulse to express and sustain life and our existence. Rituals and ceremonies that have arisen from this impulse express many dimensions of life, ourselves, the cultures and societies we live in, and even our cosmic relationship. Beyond all this, there lies a deeper intentionality that is basic, positive, and life-engendering.

In the greater scheme of things, this “life” can be seen as an overflowing energy of the universe. In our own concrete reality – it is our embodiment – that complex set of experiences that affirm our own flow within the cosmic whole. Often we seek meaning outside of ourselves and yet there are those magical moments in the dance when music, emotion, and movement synchronise in those deep experiences that allow us to touch the edges of mystery, wonder, and awe. There we connect with and create meaning for ourselves. In a truly embodied experience, we find meaning simply in our being.

This is what dance can create for us. An experience through our vital bodies that is both a dance and a celebration of life through an integrated mind, body, and soul. To experience this is to see ourselves as an indivisible physical and spiritual whole. In the dance, the body is the spirit, and the spirit is the body. With this profound way of being it is possible to dance into a state of transcendence and create a life with meaning. Our dance becomes the way in which we can then navigate into a resilient life of well-being.

_Christos Daskalakos

gui~DANCE

“To the universe belongs the dancer.

Whoever does not dance does not know what happens.”

_-Apocrypha, Acts of John 95:16-17

More often than not when we need to solve a problem, resolve an emotion or compose a creation we turn to our minds. We don’t turn to our bodies because we have lost the art of listening to them. In the mad dash to get the next report out, to sort out the shopping, or take care of some hassle, there is no time left over to quieten down the mind and let our attention drop into the body for some guidance.

What does it mean to have our bodies give guidance? Just notice that the word “guidance” has dance within it. One of the ways in which we can listen and connect to our bodies is through dance. A static body is quite, nice to rest to. But creativity, exploration, and opening up new possibilities take place with movement. To be dancing into guidance, moving into guidance, it is never a static thing.

A guide is someone who shows the way and our senses, feelings and connection to the body have been given to us as a guide to show us the way. In its simplest messages, the body feels pain as a way to alert us to problems or things to avoid. The problem is that we think that our primary aim in life is to avoid pain. When we do this, we avoid all feelings and so lose out on the infinite intelligence transmitted from inside our being. Dance is multisensory. It also integrates the physical and emotional aspects of ourselves allowing us to travel into the realms of spirit and wonder. When we allow the dance to emerge spontaneously anything is possible. Unlike a strictly choreographed life, our dance opens up the world to us. In these moments of freedom, our body, dance, and passion create this world. Such is the power of dance

_Christos Daskalakos