DANCE - Poetry in Motion

“The universe is a cosmic dance of energy and matter,

engaged in ceaseless creating, destruction and evolution.

We are all part of that dance.”

_Paul Harrison

As we gracefully move beyond the barriers of words, dance becomes the sacred space where emotions, long confined to the chambers of the heart, find liberation. In the moving body exists a cathartic alchemy, a mystical metamorphosis of the spirit. Each step is a thunderous whisper to the soul releasing long held stories that serve no more. The dance invites us to shed the burdens of a weary heart and unravel the fears that stand in the way of a life full of meaning. In unravelling these tightly held threads, the joy of dance also brings to light our deepest yearnings and desires. Through the dance we journey breathlessly into bliss connecting to those passions that make life colourful.

Dance is the tactile poetry of the body which invites us to express, transmute, and release the diverse textures of our emotions. Through the dance, we do not deny but savour the beauty that is the tapestry of life. Through the dance we invite new meaning into the silent spaces between heartbeats. Those secret spaces are where we commune with the cosmos and realise that our dance is the dance of life, is a ritual that brings us into harmony with the universe’s awe-inspiring melody.

_Christos Daskalakos

Everyone is a Dancer

“I do not live inside my body, my body lives inside me.”

Movement is born when we emerge into this world. The subtle act of breathing is the continuous yet subtle expansion and contraction as life pulses through our body. It is easy to take this for granted as it goes unnoticed in the hustle and bustle of life. However, the sad thing is that most of what happens in our bodies goes unnoticed as we disconnect and give precedence to our mental thinking selves. Society values the intellect and demonises the sensual experience of the body.

To be sensual is to be alive to the signals emerging out of the wisdom of the body. Are we always aware of that quickening of the heart to signal danger before we are even conscious of it; or that quickening of the heart to signal rapture at encountering some magic? Pain signals an awareness of problems to be solved – pleasant sensations signal pleasures to be enjoyed.

The dancer moves with their whole body. Music evokes emotion and feeling which is translated into expressive movements. As we let go into the fluidity and grace of movement we learn to release from mechanisms of emotional disconnection, defensive armouring, or the trauma of dissociation. The beauty and wonder of conscious dance provides a safe space for the beautiful journey back to the centre of our being. A journey that brings us back home to our body so that the sensitivity and connections we experience while dancing are carried over like music we sometimes hum in our head. The awakening of sensation and information gleaned from the body accompanies our minds to create a more conscious life bringing us into presence, expanding our horizons, and deepening our awareness.

To be dancing is to be continuously creating an enriched life. There is only one person who can stop you from ever doing this – you.

_Christos Daskalakos

dance YOU!

“Dance is your pulse, your heartbeat, your breathing. 

 It’s the rhythm of your life.”

_Jacques d’Amboise

For many, dance is a profound journey of self-discovery. I have the privilege of witnessing the veils of illusion melt away and eyes lighting up with joy at that moment when someone breaks through personal barriers, gains insight into their emotions and thought patterns, and emerges with a deep sense of knowing and authenticity. This profound opportunity for self-discovery and transformation is possible when the dance encourages people to express themselves freely through movement, without constraints.

The transformative power of conscious dance lies in its ability to inspire individuals to connect with their true selves. The act of dance in many societies is a courageous act that goes against religious, cultural, and society’s restrictions. Tragically, there are many spaces around the world where dance is forbidden. Tragically there are many spaces where dance is allowed yet the opportunities are squandered.

The very physical, emotional, and psychological barriers that keep people from dancing are the ones that offer the most freedom. As much as dance can bring us face-to-face with vulnerability and resistance, it also opens up opportunities for freedom and joy. When we learn to move through discomfort, we tap into hidden reservoirs of strength, resilience, and creativity that open up a magical endless horizon that allows us to celebrate our own individual uniqueness.

_Christos Daskalakos

dance! WE ARE ONE

he more you dance, the more you discover about yourself.”

_Rudolf Nureyev

Dance is a holistic embodied experience that goes beyond physical movement. It has a transformative power that opens up and expands our awareness, physically, emotionally, and existentially. Through dance we become more attuned to our bodies and can easily pick up the subtle fluctuations that connect us to an ever-dynamic and changing experience of life, connecting us deeper, wider, and higher, to this mystery of our existence.

Through dance, we learn to move with intention and simultaneously find the capacity to move with fluidity making each moment an act of creation. No longer are we bound as emotional prisoners, victims of circumstance as dance provides an expressive outlet to feel, process and enjoy that part of life that is based in the heart. And, where appropriate dance can be a cathartic release helping us to let go of stress, anxiety, or any other pent-up emotions locked in our bodies.

Existential awareness means that we know the deepness and richness of all aspects of connection that make us one with the world – a cosmic whole. Dancing with another creates empathy and synchronicity and often becomes a mirror for our own understanding. The transcendent aspects of dance become a form of meditation or prayer in motion – allowing us to connect to a deeper sense of self and even magically, something greater than ourselves. Dance is an action. Dance, and truly understand what it means when all spiritual teachers tell us, “WE ARE ONE”.

_Christos Daskalakos

Lost and Found in the DANCE

“It’s the soul that dances, the body only follows.”

_Anon

Losing oneself in the dance transcends the conscious mind, allowing instincts to take the lead. These dances exist outside the constraints of time, where our internal clock slips away unnoticed. Being subsumed in the movements, highly attuned with emotions, paradoxically means losing oneself in the dance, yet in reality, it's a profound moment of self-discovery.

To lose oneself is to simultaneously authentically find oneself through dance—an essential process of shedding the societal mask and inner dialogue that draw a circle around our identity.

Dance serves as a transformative medium; enabling individuals to explore facets of themselves they hadn't previously known. Spontaneous, liberated external movements can alter the internal landscape, breaking the confines that encircle our being. Dancing toward freedom involves undergoing the ancient shamanic ritual of deconstruction and self-loss, ultimately emerging renewed, replenished, and undeniably reborn.

_Christos Daskalakos

Dance - A Celebration of Humanity

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul.”

_Martha Graham

In essence, dance is a celebration of the freedom inherent in human nature. It is a constant reminder of our capacity to express, create, and connect through a sensual living body. Our relationship with the world holds the capacity to both inspire and create beauty in ourselves and in others. Because dance has been part of human culture from times so ancient, we sometimes forget the powerful way it allows us to express emotions, thoughts, and creativity.

Part of that power is that dance transcends language and allows individuals to experience themselves and others at a very profound level. Language can sometimes be both divisive and restrictive. The natural syntony of dance creates a deep knowing that connects and expands our experience. We know through our dancing body long before we even find the words.

We can speak about peace amongst us, we can be poetic about love, but without any action, everything is but hollow words. Dance is an action. Not only does it allow us to understand our own physicality and emotions but when we dance together it transcends the barriers that keep us in our separation. Dance is the frontier of love. It frees us from our mental constraints and allows us to know each other in our humanity. Dance IS a celebration of our humanity.

_Christos Daskalakos

DANCE = reverse engineering

“The way to find yourself is in the fires of your enthusiasm.”

_Earl Nightingale

Dance offers us a unique way of gaining knowledge, one that defies the conventional methods of knowledge transmission. This is unlike traditional wisdom that flows in a linear fashion from those who know to those who don’t know either through text or oral teaching. Reverse engineering is a concept that usually relates to deconstructing mechanical marvels to find out how they were made. This is an apt description of how we gain knowledge through dance.

At its core, dance is a profound act of revelation. It is not merely a sequence of movements but a dynamic ritual of self-interrogation, a communion with the world within. As we reverse engineer our own gestures and expressions, we delve into the depths of our being, uncovering layers of emotions, memories, and aspirations. In this intimate dialogue with the self, we find knowledge not bound by the constraints of words or logic but written in the elegant strokes of movement.

Dance becomes a mirror, reflecting not only our physical form but the essence of our being. It is a testament to the idea that wisdom, in its purest form, is not taught but discovered, and in the intricate tapestry of dance, we find the threads that lead us back to the very core of our existence, unveiling the secrets that bind us not only to ourselves but also to the cosmic dance of life.

_Christos Daskalakos