I’d Rather Be Dancing Sacred Circle Dances

According to Roots to Wings:

Sacred Circle Dance is a worldwide movement originating from the work of Professor Bernhard Wosien, a German ballet instructor and Master Teacher at Munich University. He believed that our earliest and most profound impulse to replicate the creative powers that we sensed within ourselves and our world was through movement. These early “dances” enabled us to identify with the eternal round of creative force in the cosmos while acknowledging the rhythms and cycles of nature and daily life in community. He traveled extensively throughout Europe seeking to retrieve and preserve these early dance forms, specifically in the small, often oppressed villages that continued to hold the dances as sacred. He referred to his work as “Heilige Tanze” or the highest or holy form of dance.

Sacred Circle Dance offers an integrative approach to healing, relaxation and to some, a deeply moving spiritual experience. It differs from folk dance through the sacred intention that is held for each dance. In circles, lines and spirals we join hands to learn simple village dances to traditional, folk, classical and world music. Through our dancing, energy is activated. We consciously intend this energy to heal ourselves, one another, our planet earth and the people, places and situations throughout the world in need of healing grace. Each dance offers its individual blessing and we open to receive it. It is believed the impulse to dance is encoded in our DNA. When we dance in Sacred Circles the encoded message is activated, we remember. Sacred/Circle Dance is used as a healing modality to diverse populations throughout the world in many health and holistic settings.

In studying the information online about sacred circle dances, I’m finding that they are practiced among many traditions, including Asian Indian spirituality, Wicca, churches, and Jewish temples. The dances often promote meditation. Some of the dances are also done by international folk dance enthusiasts, but somewhat differently, because they’ve been adapted for sacred circles. Often an arrangement of plants, flowers, and/or candles is placed in the center of the floor to dance around.

Here are some dances practiced by sacred circle dance groups.

This Welcome Song borrows from Native American tradition:

Omonoia is a Greek song that references a square in Athens where refugees gather; it’s about the plight of Syrian refugees in Greece. The dance was choreographed by Leslie Laslett.

The song Tanulo Eno was written by Ugandan songwriter Samite Mulando. The choreography is by Stefan Freedman in the USA/British sacred circle tradition.

The music for Isolation is a Russian hymn. It was choreographed by Leslie Laslett in response to the quarantine protocol during the Covid19 pandemic. The arms-out posture refers to personal distancing.