Featured Teachers 2026
Maureen Atkins, aka "Mo" joined the Bay Area Circle Dancers in 1993 and has been teaching Sacred Circle Dance since 1995. She has been a regular BACD teacher since 2000. In 2008 she started a group in San Leandro and in 2022 she started another group in Ben Lomond. In the past she has organized and led weekend dance retreats, participated in special occasions like church services, weddings, grief groups and has co-facilitated at the Far Horizons Dance Camp/Retreats. In 2022 and 2023 she led workshops on reclaiming personal power through Circle Dance based on her thesis. In June 2023 she was invited to a trauma release workshop hosted by Stefan Freedman where she presented her ideas about reclaiming personal power. “I teach a variety of things…everything from meditative dances to lively ones. I believe that it is important to make newcomers feel welcomed. One thing that drew me to Sacred Circle Dance was the idea that we celebrate all things that make us human. I love being able to put together dances for an evening and at the same time will change what I will teach based on what is going on in the moment.” Over the years she has choreographed a number of dances and is always on the look out for interesting music to dance to. Maureen lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Ben Lomond. She is a licensed marriage and family therapist and has a masters degree in counseling psychology with a specialization in somatic psychology. She works as a therapist for a local agency in Santa Cruz.
heather Thompson I fell in love with dance as a child when my sister and I used to choreograph dances to some of our dad's music from the 30's, 40's and 50's. One piece, Fiddle Faddle, I remember we had a great ending to that one. As the years passed my parents started going to the church of christ and that ended my desire to become a jazz dancer. Many years later a friend and mentor suggested we go to this dance event in Nashville called Sacred Circle Dance with Awareness. I was so excited and nervous all at the same time. Entering the dance studio I was terrified even though I had left behind all the church upbringing at 21. I think I was around 29 or 30 when I attended the first dance. There they were, The Bears, gathering us in a circle and teaching these fabulous dances and OH when they turned on the music I was so hooked. The last dance Adoramus te Domine took my breath, mind and heart away. I think I heard the music in my head and felt those wonderful circle dance feelings all night long. I did not miss a Friday night dance for 9 months.
I think I would have to say my dance style is based on that first night of circle dance in the fall of 86 where I felt ever changed. When the Bears moved back to California in 1988, I took over the tape boxes and help hold the circle in Nashville with 4 or 5 others. Somewhere along the line I would become moved by a piece of music and a dance would develop. My favorite ever circle dance and music is Mari Mariko. Bulgarian and Macedonian dances always pull on me deeply. I think we started coming to the West Coast Dance camp in 1995 and a few years later I started sharing a dance or two, with the first of these being Kitka or Tiko Nad Richkoyu. It is by Kitka but I could not say the name of the dance well and thus called it Kitka. It was a gift to the Bears for bringing the treasure of circle dance to Nashville. Since then there have been many, many others. The Bears introduced us to Tuvan music and I found a few dances to that very interesting music. My love of house music and rave take my dances to some wonderful wild dances.
Lastly, in 2015 we lost an adult child in a car accident. We had been living in the bay area of California for 2.5 years. Broken inside we moved back home, to Tennessee, to be near our daughter and her family. Through this grief I found a few dances but I shut down when we moved to Tennessee and stopped listening to music.
My work career was a graphic designer and my home business was making skirts and pants for dancers in silk with shibori as well as cotton patchwork.
David and I met in 1990 and married in 1993. The journey is long and so very worth the time and energy we put into our relationship. We live in Rock Island, Tennessee on 1.3 acres of restored habitat which I have nourished with trees and flowers for the bees and butterflies. Birds too. I miss California, dancing, friends and the diversity of people and foods every day. I am 69 at this writing but will be 70 in December.
I think I would have to say my dance style is based on that first night of circle dance in the fall of 86 where I felt ever changed. When the Bears moved back to California in 1988, I took over the tape boxes and help hold the circle in Nashville with 4 or 5 others. Somewhere along the line I would become moved by a piece of music and a dance would develop. My favorite ever circle dance and music is Mari Mariko. Bulgarian and Macedonian dances always pull on me deeply. I think we started coming to the West Coast Dance camp in 1995 and a few years later I started sharing a dance or two, with the first of these being Kitka or Tiko Nad Richkoyu. It is by Kitka but I could not say the name of the dance well and thus called it Kitka. It was a gift to the Bears for bringing the treasure of circle dance to Nashville. Since then there have been many, many others. The Bears introduced us to Tuvan music and I found a few dances to that very interesting music. My love of house music and rave take my dances to some wonderful wild dances.
Lastly, in 2015 we lost an adult child in a car accident. We had been living in the bay area of California for 2.5 years. Broken inside we moved back home, to Tennessee, to be near our daughter and her family. Through this grief I found a few dances but I shut down when we moved to Tennessee and stopped listening to music.
My work career was a graphic designer and my home business was making skirts and pants for dancers in silk with shibori as well as cotton patchwork.
David and I met in 1990 and married in 1993. The journey is long and so very worth the time and energy we put into our relationship. We live in Rock Island, Tennessee on 1.3 acres of restored habitat which I have nourished with trees and flowers for the bees and butterflies. Birds too. I miss California, dancing, friends and the diversity of people and foods every day. I am 69 at this writing but will be 70 in December.
David Buchanan. I started attending Sacred Circle dance in August 1990 by invitation from Heather Thompson-Cook. I fell in love with Heather and the dance and in time I became one of the teachers along side of her in Nashville,TN. Through the years we have enjoyed sharing our hearts and movement through Circle Dance in Tennessee, California, and even in Scotland. We have been inspired to add some of our own choreography to the dance community as well. John Bear introduced me to Tuvan throat singing which inspired me to put steps to Aa-shuu Dekei-oo, and Chirra Khoor (the yellow trotter) by a group called Huun Huur Tu. Other dances were to follow as well. I feel like the movement and music of Circle Dance reaches into my mind and body and touches the depths of my heart and spirit regardless of if I am a participant in the dance or a teacher. I will always be grateful to John and Marina Bear for bringing Sacred Circle Dance to Nashville, and to Heather for inviting me to that first of many years of dancing.
Barbara Herring. In 1995, as a solitary eco-spiritual practitioner, I wondered about finding a community of like-minded souls. Spirit-led, I noticed an ad for a Women’s Spirituality conference in a nearby city. On impulse, I attended and there I found Sacred Circle Dance. As I joined a circle of about 100 dancers and took the hands on either side of me, I felt in my body “I’m home.” This was a turning point in my life, a spiritual practice without words. I joined a local circle in Toronto and when our teacher, Barbara Stokes, moved to the USA, I stepped in to ensure the dance would continue. I led the Toronto circle until 2010 when I moved to a nearby city, Peterborough. Throughout that time, I facilitated Sacred Circle Dance groups in Canada and the USA and was midwife to the birth of about six other groups in my area.
In Toronto, I developed a unique model of community co-leadership, where all dancers are welcome to share in teaching and leading. In this model, one dancer, designed the “weaver” of the session, suggests a theme and invites the other facilitators to offer dances related to the theme. The weaver then chooses from among the offerings and weaves these dances into a coherent whole. My home circle in Peterborough continues to follow this model, where most dancers are able to lead dances, and about ten dancers each take their turn weaving sessions throughout the year.
I have been co-leader of dance camps in Ontario and USA. I was featured in a documentary segment of the Canadian television program "Body, Mind and Spirit" and, in 2021, was a featured teacher in Italy (by Zoom).
I have fostered the dance community in Ontario, organizing facilitator training events and visits of Sacred Circle Dance teachers from other parts of the world. In 2022, I was invited to write an article on Sacred Circle Dance for "Folk Dancer Online", a publication of the Ontario Folk Dance Association.
From time to time, I have been inspired to choreograph dances, the best known of which is “Holy Mother,” a dance that was included in the World Sacred Circle Dance Day in 2025. Many of these choreographies (I am the Land, Loved by a Star, The Longest Night, Crescent Moon, Feasting on the Sun) are inspired by my eco-spiritual connection to the earth.
As I have nurtured the Ontario Sacred Circle Dance community, I also nurture each dancer in the circle. Dancers have said:
In Toronto, I developed a unique model of community co-leadership, where all dancers are welcome to share in teaching and leading. In this model, one dancer, designed the “weaver” of the session, suggests a theme and invites the other facilitators to offer dances related to the theme. The weaver then chooses from among the offerings and weaves these dances into a coherent whole. My home circle in Peterborough continues to follow this model, where most dancers are able to lead dances, and about ten dancers each take their turn weaving sessions throughout the year.
I have been co-leader of dance camps in Ontario and USA. I was featured in a documentary segment of the Canadian television program "Body, Mind and Spirit" and, in 2021, was a featured teacher in Italy (by Zoom).
I have fostered the dance community in Ontario, organizing facilitator training events and visits of Sacred Circle Dance teachers from other parts of the world. In 2022, I was invited to write an article on Sacred Circle Dance for "Folk Dancer Online", a publication of the Ontario Folk Dance Association.
From time to time, I have been inspired to choreograph dances, the best known of which is “Holy Mother,” a dance that was included in the World Sacred Circle Dance Day in 2025. Many of these choreographies (I am the Land, Loved by a Star, The Longest Night, Crescent Moon, Feasting on the Sun) are inspired by my eco-spiritual connection to the earth.
As I have nurtured the Ontario Sacred Circle Dance community, I also nurture each dancer in the circle. Dancers have said:
- “Barbara brings a sense of calm, joy and reverence to the dance - and to the world around her.”
- “Her dance sessions run the full breadth from the deeply contemplative to the traditional to the playful, her heart encompassing the diversity of the dance community.”
- "Barbara is a wonderfully kind and precise teacher.”
- “She weaves a magic tapestry of movement and imagery to connect us with each other and with the circles of earth and the universe.”
Our Founders: Marina & John Bear. They will not attend in person but will be with us in Spirit. We will present a delightful Bears Dance session celebrating John’s favorites and Marina’s amazing, enduring choreography.
Marina and John Bear first circle danced in Glastonbury, England in 1984. and established the first circle dance group in California in 1985.
Marina and John Bear first circle danced in Glastonbury, England in 1984. and established the first circle dance group in California in 1985.
