Sacred dance
The sacred dance or meditative dance , English sacred dance describes circle dances and gestures to calm music. It differs from the more narrowly defined church dance, as it is not limited to the ecclesiastical-liturgical area.
origin
Ritual, religious or spiritual dances , which one could generally call sacred , have a long history. The Sacred and Meditative Dance in the narrow sense goes back to the ballet master and choreographer Bernard Wosien (1908-1986). During a stay in the spiritual community of the Findhorn Foundation in the mid-1970s, Bernhard Wosien encountered silent prayer and made the decision to translate this experience into dance . His "meditation of the dance" was supposed to be a step into silence and moving entry into meditation with the aim of healing, by which he meant "a personal effort in the sense of development".
content
For this purpose, Wosien u. a. Circle dances from a few, but clear and symbolic sequences of steps and gestures, which are danced to calm classical music, e.g. B. the “ pilgrim step ” - two or three steps forward, one backward - u. a. danced to Bach's “Air” from the orchestral suite No. 3. As a connoisseur of the folk dances of Israel, Greece, etc. Bernhard Wosien also incorporated suitable elements from these into his meditation of the dance. Much of the content of sacred dance corresponds to the ideas of the Christian West , but there are also references to other world religions , the religiosity of indigenous peoples and esotericism . In some dances the symbolism of numbers plays a big role (see also numerology ). A recurring meditative theme is "the middle", u. a. dancing spirals and walking in a labyrinth . Further topics are moving "human issues" such as birth, death, grief, joy, gratitude, growth, light and darkness.
claim
As simple as steps and gestures are often, it is important to be present with body and mind in the moment and to endure yourself. This is not always an easy task and confronts the learner not only with his strengths, but possibly also with his weaknesses, fears and deficits. However, the power of music, the harmony of the movements, the clear structures of the dance instructions and the embedding in the dance community have a beneficial psychological effect on most people and can therefore be a healing factor. One example is the classic exercise in hatha yoga : Natarajasana , the dancer.
distribution
Bernhard Wosien developed the meditative dance a. a. together with his student Friedel Kloke-Eibl, who continued his work after his death, as well as his daughter Maria-Gabriele Wosien and Nanni Kloke. Training institutes in the Netherlands, the “Stichting Sacred Dance” and the “DEMIAN - Instituut in Bewegungsing” were established in the 1980s.
In 1990 Friedel Kloke-Eibl founded the training institute "Meditation of Dance - Sacred Dance" in Germany. There were also training groups in Ireland, Switzerland and Brazil. In the mid-1990s, the "Fachverband Meditation des Tanzes - Sacred Dance eV" was founded to consolidate and deepen the meditation of dance and to interest the public in it. The association's newsletter, “Balance”, appears twice a year. Seminars on Meditavem dance are also offered in some monasteries, e.g. B. in the monastery Nütschau .
literature
- E. Louis Backman: Religious Dances in the Christian Church and in Popular Medicine . Allen and Unwin, London 1952.
- Bernhard Wosien: The way of the dancer . (Edited by Maria-Gabriele Wosien). 3rd expanded edition. Metanoia Verlag, Bergdietikon 2008. ISBN 978-3-907038-60-4 .
- Maria-Gabriele Wosien: (orig .: Sacred Dance. Encounter with the Gods . Thames and Hudson, London 1974) Dance in the face of the gods . Translated from the English by Maria-Gabriele Wosien, Kösel Verlag, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-466-34128-0 .
- Maria-Gabriele Wosien: Sacral Dance. The round dance in the annual cycle . 4th edition (with MC) 1994, Kösel Verlag, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-466-34194-9 .
- Maria-Gabriele Wosien: Dance as Prayer. Celebrate God's name at the dance . Veritas Verlag, Linz 1988 (with MC), 3rd edition 1995 (with 2 CDs), ISBN 3-7058-0857-5 .
- Maria-Gabriele Wosien: The Sufis and prayer in motion . Metanoia Verlag, Bergdietikon 1998, 2nd edition 2006, ISBN 3-907038-59-2 .
- Maria-Gabriele Wosien: Archetypes of Change - Archetypal Structures in Dance. Metanoia Verlag, Bergdietikon 2006, ISBN 3-907038-98-3 .
- Maria-Gabriele Wosien: Traces of fire. Latvian dance rituals and symbols . Metanoia Verlag, Bergdietikon 2009 (with CD and DVD), ISBN 978-3-907038-42-0 .
- Maria-Gabriele Wosien: The Hymn of Christ - Song of the Soul. A danced mystery play. Metanoia-Verlag, Bergdietikon 2009 (booklet, DVD and CD), ISBN 978-3-905827-99-6 .
- Gereon Vogler et al. a .: dance and spirituality . Matthias Grünewald Verlag, Mainz 1995, ISBN 3-7867-1819-9 .
- June Watts: Circle Dancing. Celebrating the Sacred in Dance. Sutton Mallet, Green Magic Publishing 2006, ISBN 0-9547-2308-2 .
- Lynn Frances, Richard Bryant-Jefferies: The Sevenfold Circle; Self Awareness in Dance. Forres, Findhorn Press 1998, ISBN 1-89917-137-1 .
- Laura Shannon (ed.): Celebrating 40 years of Sacred Dance in the Findhorn community. Sarsen Press, Winchester, UK 2016, ISBN 978-0-9934358-5-0 .