DANCE TO EXPRESS. NOT TO IMPRESS.
” It is a rare phenomenon in our current society for there to be a space where people of all races, ages, and socio-economic classes are openly welcome to come tighter to shape experience. Ecstatic Dance cuts through the aspects of ourselves that divide us and instead gets us together in the way that unifies – through something that almost all of us love to do – to DANCE?” – OMAR Community
Ecstatic Dance has ecstatically exploded into a conscious dance movement all over the planet and is also one of the key events to join in Frisco, Texas. Through dance, we believe everyone can discover, unleash, and enhance their individual potential to live a fulfilling and meaningful life. By engaging our senses and listening to our bodies, we connect to others and shape a consciousness that extends beyond our own. We are welcoming you to one of the most loved and liberating experiences, Ecstatic Soul Dance Movement, in Frisco, Texas.
Join us and enjoy a safe space to dance without talking, drinking, and the nightclub vibe. This is about getting great exercise, freeing your mind and body, and connecting with yourself and others in vibrant health.
Ecstatic Soul Dance empowers people of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds to freely express themselves; the liberating atmosphere creates a melting pot of acceptance and the fearlessness with which others move gives newbies permission and courage to dance without inhibition.
We join together in the simple and courageous act of free-form dance. We co-create movement, music, and community.
“When movement becomes ecstatic, then this is a dance. When the movement is so total there is no ego, then it is a dance.” – Rajneesh
Ecstatic Soul Dance is not your typical ‘dance’. You are not being led by an instructor, partnering up, or under the influence in any way to relax and loosen up. Instead, your shoes, phones, and egos are left at the door as you enter the dance space. We will create the circle and set an intention, before we start, to dedicate our dance to a specific outcome, wish, or desire, so that the energy that is set free through the dancing, jumping, and moving is channeled in a specific direction. Then the music begins, and you enter into a meditative, free movement vortex, spiraling into full expression and liberation. The dance then becomes a sacred container in which anything is allowed that can be released, integrated, or felt. It´s a prayer to ask for guidance from the intuition within. It´s an intimate experience with the Self, but also with others in the room. It´s a way of meditation without needing to know a system or a method, freeing the mind, and letting the body´s inner wisdom takes over. Your soul is your guru.
The guidelines for Ecstatic Dance, therefore, are simple, yet profoundly different from a regular party:
Furthermore, these dances are all-inclusive to gender, age, and culture. Anyone who feels the desire to express him or herself through movement is welcome here! Through the no-talking rule, it´s also a safe space especially for women who simply want to dance without the hassle of fending men who are trying to pick them up. It´s a creative space of body expression and inner journeying. And we don’t know of a better place to experience this than in Frisco, Texas and especially with the community of Ecstatic Soul Dance Movement!
Ecstatic Soul Dance invites people from all ages, backgrounds, and experience to drop their inhibitions, open up and let loose. The dance floor becomes total freedom of expression. Many people don’t dance outside of a nightclub or without the courage of alcohol, so the ecstatic dance can be a little nerve-racking at the beginning for first-timers. Music starts slow and gets louder and faster, the energy in the room rises and whirls as people begin to move with loud stomping, primal movements, allowing the music and healing energy to enter their bodies. By consciously moving, ecstatic soul dance allows people to move through and release the fires that burn within them to emerge cleansed and uplifted through the power of music and dance.
It is a surprisingly strenuous workout, you will jump, twirl, shake, and sweat… buckets, all too lively world rhythm beats. Ecstatic by name and ecstatic by nature, feel-good endorphins kick in with the music, so be prepared for smiles, crazy movements, shrieks, and hugs from a community of conscious dancers to rise up in this ecstasy into an almost trance-like, meditative state. Usually, after this high point, music gently slows down into a peaceful sound meditation.
“In Hinduism, Shiva the Cosmic Dancer is perhaps the most perfect personification of the dynamic universe. Through his dance, Shiva sustains the manifold phenomena in the world, unifying all things by immersing them in his rhythm and making them participate in the dance – a magnificent image of the dynamic unity of the Universe.” – Fritjof Capra, “The Tao of Physics”
The trick is to let the body drop into its intuitive knowing of the right movement at the right time, to release energetic blockages, increase body awareness, deepen the breath, de-stress, get out of the head and into the cells and soften the muscles in a way that is needed right now. Simple medicine from yourself for yourself.
Each dance is free of any kind of stimuli apart from the music and space created together with the co-dancers! Because once the music sets in and increases from softer, flowing and melodic tunes to more vibrant, eclectic and tribal tracks, the innate capacity of healing energy awakes by itself. Many first-timers in these dances find themselves dancing like never before, not even stopping towards the end when the DJ already brought the wave down to invite the crowd to relax in Shavasana yoga pose or sit in meditation together. Some dancers are so entranced by the music and the vibe that their dance only stops when the lights get turned on again and everyone is invited to join the final sharing round, sitting together holding hands or giving hugs to the person next to you, sharing a few words of wisdom of whatever emerged in the dance for everyone. It´s a different kind of high –a high vibration. And a different kind of connection with the people in the circle, a heartfelt connection.
“Life is a spiritual dance and that our unseen partner has steps to teach us if we will allow ourselves to be led. The next time you are restless, remind yourself it is the Universe asking ‘Shall we dance?’.” – Julia Cameton
Communal dance rituals have been practiced since time immemorial. Ecstatic dance is a fairly new phenomenon in the world of yoga and consciousness and continues to grow in popularity in Frisco, Texas and the world. It is an incredibly liberating and community-building experience where the focus is on the people, moving together, and releasing to unite all dancers together in a tribe-like bond. People separate themselves from the mind and focus completely on the music and movements, rather than analyzing how they look or wondering if others are judging them.
‘Psychotherapeutic’ dance therapy is actually a growing prescription from Western doctors to patients. Doctors are recognizing the enormous benefits of dance and free-form expression and its effects on raising serotonin levels which can increase self-esteem and body image and can build cardiovascular strength and endurance, whilst reducing depression and anxiety.
What sets Ecstatic Soul Dance apart from a regular party in a club or a dance lesson with a teacher is that it is not only a work-out, but also a work-in for the body, mind, and spirit. It is a mindful space created for the Yogis searching to expand their movement in a free and non-dogmatic way, the contact improvisation lovers, spiritual musicians and dancers, energy healers, therapists, meditators, and long-time travelers, all looking for a conscious community to connect and dance with to simply let loose, shake it out or even release long-standing trauma from the body. Dance is an intentional space in which anything that is felt is invited to either be integrated and healed or dropped and let go off.
Our Ashram is inspired by the pilgrimage powers and is located in the Himalaya Mountains (Jia Village, District Palampur, Himachal Pradesh). We welcome you heartily!