#10: The toxic spirituality cringe (and ED with live music coming up)
Hello dancer,
I have some cool news: on the 19th of June I will be collaborating with Vince for an Ecstatic dance with live music. Vince is an amazing musician, master of the misery stick aka clarinet and bass clarinet. He also has an impressive collection of exotic flutes. We have been practicing in the studio, and I'm looking forward to (and am also a little bit nervous for) this experiment. I have played with live musicians before, but never as intensely as this. So if you're up for something different, join us Friday the 19th of June at Bar Beton in Utrecht!
To the content:
Cringing at toxic spirituality
I often cringe at how capitalism has entered the space of healing and spirituality. Oh my goodness the amount of bullshit in the space is just so huge. And it is not just bullshit. It is the very likable and alluring kind of bullshit. Of course, I want every honest massage professional, coach, tantra teacher, ecstatic dance dj etc to be able to get properly rewarded for what they do. And if there is more interest in a more holistic life, then that should only be great right? But it seems to come with a trade-off..
Anyone who has had a spiritual experience can start their own weird healing practice, and get away with it too. Just look at all the extremely successful bullshitters in the spiritual space. They cook up a story, play into your deepest fears and desires and monetize on them. The story these people promote promises to alleviate your fears and desires, and bring you to a world where your problems don’t exist anymore. A place where you are always free to do what you please, and never again have to feel those nasty feelings of friction that occur when you are actually living together with others on a planet (or in a house even). It is the neoliberal utopian dream, packaged as enlightenment. But their enlightenment is always just out of reach. Just do this course, this workshop, this thing you have to pay for, and then you will be there.
Now, some of these people probably mean well, and they probably have some good stuff to say too! But when money and power get involved, it is just so hard to stay on track. The algorithms promoting lusty content over sane and calming things is also not helping. People like this promote fitness, looking young and healthy as a marker of spiritual growth. But while taking care of yourself is very healthy, looking young or having an ideal body is not the same as being a sane person. This ableist vibe is also very present in the world of Ecstatic Dance: young and beautiful=attractive=spiritually grown humans.
And I have to say, the stories these people are hard to resist. Every time I encounter this vibe I also feel attracted to it - what if they are right? Their expressions of abundance, health and wealth are contagious! And, who knows, maybe it is just a projection of mine, maybe these are really beings from another planet coming to help us humans. But I've been confused more than that it led me onto the path to becoming a more sociable, free and calm human being.
Also, their spirituality usually only works when certain external factors are already in place: stable family system, baseline material wealth and health. The law of attraction only works when you are already doing quite well for yourself. And Yourself, that is what the story is about: becoming a better, richer, healthier individuel. No need to look at the broader community of life, no humility or compassion for others. Just you (and them making a good bit of money off of you).
I know from experience that it is possible to do spirituality without all the toxic behavior. There are many spiritual teachers who so not sell you food supplement as a side hustly. These people often have a bigger and more intelligent perspective of the world. Just find Bernie Glassman, Sharon Salzberg, Joanna Macy, Joan Halifax, to name a few. There are so many beautiful and honest spiritual leaders out there who are not selling themselves out!
The teacher that I keep coming back to is the late Thich Nhat Hanh, whose monastery in the South of France is a safe haven for people who have had it with the system that we live in, and are looking for a genuine answer to the crises of our times. You can quite easily go to Plum Village and see what it's like to have a modern community of monks doing their thing. They also have a beautiful podcast with the current abbott and a lay ex-journalist. And recently they've launched a new platform called Living Gems where talks of the Zen master are uploaded (they have a really cool search engine too).
No paywall, no viral reels, just pure Dharma teachings. I recommend!
I would love it if -at least in our minds- we can keep clarity about where spiritual practice ends and where wellness, fitness and health practices start. And I know in Ecstatic Dance the lines between these are often blurry as well. Superficial spirituality abounds. And we are all making mistakes, crossing some boundary sometimes here and there, which is fine.
But let's stay real and at least try to keep it safe for people to really explore the depths of themselves and their movement. Luckily there are lots of organisers and dancers who are really trying to be sincere, so salute to you all!
How do you feel about all this? Let me know by replying!
Track of the month
Batuque brasileiro, Na roda de pandeiro, Bate meu coração, No ritmo da canção
What an ultimate Ecstatic Dance track! I have been playing this for years and years, and these months again have found myself digging it up from my collection. This song by Brazilian singer Dom La Nena is about hearts beating on the rhythm of Brazilian Batucada.
Batucada is a kind of samba, the Brazilian percussion style that you can hear at the carnival. Dom La Nena brings a beautiful tribute to the music, and the remix by Jeremy Sole makes it fit for the dancefloor, it's kind of pumping but also very sensual. So so good. The music style originated -as so many music does- with African slaves in the country, and mixed in Brazil with Portuguese influences.
Upcoming Events
June
9 ED Amsterdam Loods 12
19 ED Utrecht live with Vince
27 ED Zutphen
July
3 ED Utrecht
7 Ecstatic Dance Festival, Kasteel de Berckt, Baarlo
August
22 Outdoor Ecstatic Dance @ Vlierhof
Download this set
Here's this months' set in Arnhem. It all felt quite intimate, and when I launched the drum 'n bass in the first peak I almost felt like I was imposing on everyone's slowness, although someone afterward told me that she was really longing for that first peak.
Enjoy here!
