Circle Dancing online!
Places to Dance online!
Kevin Meyer, videos and often weekly dance circle on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SacredCircle
Linda Rankin, www.lindarankin.com
Brant Bambery, https://brantbambery.com/the-centrepiece/
Kevin Meyer, videos and often weekly dance circle on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SacredCircle
Linda Rankin, www.lindarankin.com
Brant Bambery, https://brantbambery.com/the-centrepiece/
Need more joy in your life? Try circle dancing online!
There is no need to get in the car or leave the house. You can join from the convenience of your home, whether tiny or large, just clear some floor space. For an hour or two, listen and move to music, focused, grounded, and relaxed as well as hang out with your dance friends.
On Friday mornings, I dance via Zoom with Linda Rankin, a dance facilitator out of eastern Canada. (www.lindarankin.com). Consider joining The Centrepiece dance sessions from the UK, organized by Brant Bambery (https://brantbambery.com/the-centrepiece/). For in-the-moment or previously recorded sessions, there’s dancing with Kevin Meyer, a circle dance facilitator out of Knoxville, TN. (Kevin on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SacredCircle). And there are lots more online ongoing dance circles, groups, and teachers to choose from!
Important to remember: be sure to convert whatever the event start time is, as announced, into your own local time! True, there are occasional technical gremlins and hiccups to be overcome, but it’s pretty amazing to find yourself dancing with people from around the world: from Australia; London, UK; Brazil; Canada; Italy; Spain; San Leandro and Grass Valley, California; Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Canada; and Chile, among other places. All of us dancing together online.
Dancing online may not work for everyone or for every type of folk dancing, but there are a surprisingly large number of dance groups and dance styles now available online to choose from! I particularly enjoy circle dancing, also called sacred circle dancing, which happily still engages me in-the-moment even online. Circle dancing is a style of simple folk dancing that came out of the Findhorn Community in the UK in the 1970’s. It is based on older traditions common to many cultures for marking special occasions, rituals, strengthening community and encouraging togetherness. In circle dance, no partners are needed. Each dance is taught before being danced. Steps and movements can be adapted to make them more accessible to people with physical limitations.
In person, typically, we would be dancing holding hands, which provides a lovely feeling of connection and unspoken cues that guide each other as to the direction and movements in the dance. However, even dancing in my little home office, not holding hands or being in the same physical space, I still feel connected by shared goodwill, intention and community with my fellow dancers, our communities and the larger world.
And I can improvise to my heart’s content! Instead of always moving to the right starting on the right foot, how about going to the left starting on the left foot? Dancing in a small space, maybe I’ll skip that turn, or make up my own variations. As long as the movement flows with the music, all is good! And yet, I’m still dancing with friends, enjoying dancing some familiar favorite dances and learning new ones, as well as making new dance acquaintances.
Here's to trying something new and different. Let me know what you think!
Sources:
Wikipedia, Aug-09-2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_dance
Links:
Kevin Meyer, videos and often weekly dance circle on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SacredCircle
Linda Rankin, www.lindarankin.com
Brant Bambery, https://brantbambery.com/the-centrepiece/
There is no need to get in the car or leave the house. You can join from the convenience of your home, whether tiny or large, just clear some floor space. For an hour or two, listen and move to music, focused, grounded, and relaxed as well as hang out with your dance friends.
On Friday mornings, I dance via Zoom with Linda Rankin, a dance facilitator out of eastern Canada. (www.lindarankin.com). Consider joining The Centrepiece dance sessions from the UK, organized by Brant Bambery (https://brantbambery.com/the-centrepiece/). For in-the-moment or previously recorded sessions, there’s dancing with Kevin Meyer, a circle dance facilitator out of Knoxville, TN. (Kevin on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SacredCircle). And there are lots more online ongoing dance circles, groups, and teachers to choose from!
Important to remember: be sure to convert whatever the event start time is, as announced, into your own local time! True, there are occasional technical gremlins and hiccups to be overcome, but it’s pretty amazing to find yourself dancing with people from around the world: from Australia; London, UK; Brazil; Canada; Italy; Spain; San Leandro and Grass Valley, California; Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Canada; and Chile, among other places. All of us dancing together online.
Dancing online may not work for everyone or for every type of folk dancing, but there are a surprisingly large number of dance groups and dance styles now available online to choose from! I particularly enjoy circle dancing, also called sacred circle dancing, which happily still engages me in-the-moment even online. Circle dancing is a style of simple folk dancing that came out of the Findhorn Community in the UK in the 1970’s. It is based on older traditions common to many cultures for marking special occasions, rituals, strengthening community and encouraging togetherness. In circle dance, no partners are needed. Each dance is taught before being danced. Steps and movements can be adapted to make them more accessible to people with physical limitations.
In person, typically, we would be dancing holding hands, which provides a lovely feeling of connection and unspoken cues that guide each other as to the direction and movements in the dance. However, even dancing in my little home office, not holding hands or being in the same physical space, I still feel connected by shared goodwill, intention and community with my fellow dancers, our communities and the larger world.
And I can improvise to my heart’s content! Instead of always moving to the right starting on the right foot, how about going to the left starting on the left foot? Dancing in a small space, maybe I’ll skip that turn, or make up my own variations. As long as the movement flows with the music, all is good! And yet, I’m still dancing with friends, enjoying dancing some familiar favorite dances and learning new ones, as well as making new dance acquaintances.
Here's to trying something new and different. Let me know what you think!
Sources:
Wikipedia, Aug-09-2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_dance
Links:
Kevin Meyer, videos and often weekly dance circle on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SacredCircle
Linda Rankin, www.lindarankin.com
Brant Bambery, https://brantbambery.com/the-centrepiece/
