#11: Shapeshifting rainbows at Ecstatic Dance Festival (+ download my set!)
Dear dancer,
I just returned from Ecstatic Dance Festival Holland, where I opened the festival on Tuesday night with a -for me at least- unforgettable set that you can download at the bottom of this news letter. For those who haven't been to Ecstatic Dance Festival Holland: the dancing takes places with a few hundred people at a luscious castle, the food is organic and mostly vegan, there is a big sauna area, there are musicians, interesting workshops and ceremonies, and half of the Dutch dancing community is present.
Even though I couldn't attend the entire week, I got to dance three dances myself, which is more than the entire year so far. I love dancing, I love it so much that I have considered quitting as a dj to just be a dancer always. In the end, however, sharing the music feels like the main path for me.
But still, dancing, yes...
to the content!
Shapeshifting rainbow - Festival report
All sorts of awkardnesses plague me when it comes to my body, but not when I am dancing. On a dancefloor, I feel free. My muscles and bones seem to just know what to do naturally. Pains don't feel that bad anymore, I don't feel tiredness. And if I do, I know how to rest in the middle of the dancefloor (Pro tip: do a 2-minute Utanasana or forward bend).
And when I am really into it, my body feels as if it becomes some sort of a shapeshifting rainbow, vibrating with colors that seep out of me into my surroundings. I can connect with everyone and dance to any music at any pace. In that place, there is not much of 'me' left, except the part that is just thoroughly enjoying itself (that's in the photo above).
On the dancefloor my favorite spot is usually in the middle, a bit to the front, near the booth, where the action is and where the sound is good (like in the photo above). One of my favorite moments at the festival was jumping into a mosh pit together with a 60+-year old woman, who looked at me like 'ah, why not', counted down from three and just went for it.
I can dance to the beats, or to the melodies, even though I have a strong preference for rhythmically interesting music - just the four to the floor uhn-tss uhn-tss doesn't really do it for me. Tip for DJs: listen carefully to tracks and try to sense if the music invites multiple kinds of movements. Some music is very one-dimensional, an extreme example being the good ol' Hardstyle/Hardcore, which usually only pushes the dancer in one direction (fun fact: when I was in my late teens I used to attend Defqon1 every year).
The flatlander beukie-beukie music doesn't cut it for Ecstatic Dance though. I feel you really want most tracks to give the dancer multiple pathways, even in the peaks. Some tracks -even the extremely rough ones- have a slow and a fast layer, a rhythmic and a melodic layer, or all of these in multiples. Some invite both catharsis by shaking and really still movement at the same time. The guru speaks: listen to your tracks carefully, my DJ apprentices, listen, select well, and you will find dancers wildly ecstatic and organisers begging you to come back to their dancefloors.
Speaking of DJs: one of my favorite parts of this festival was hanging out with my colleagues, some of which I have known for years but never met. We always travel to the same places but don't cross paths that much, so sharing experiences is a bliss. We gossip a bit about organisers (always with respect - I love you all of course) and nerd out over music, knobs and faders. It is so easy to connect! Also, the spontaneous musical gatherings give me much joy: suddenly you are part of a singing circle and trying remember the chords of Hey Yama Yo while people gather around.
Anyway, I am thankful that I get to be part of this space, I feel so at home there. It seems that here everyone is invited to step into their power and share their creativity, through dance, music or other things. It doesn't have to be all perfect, it does not always need to look good. We just get out of our limited mindsets and start acting from a much wilder and dynamic place inside ourselves.
Ecstatic Dance Festival - besides being one big wellness bliss bath - for me is a celebration of this wild mind, of the artistic possibilities that every one carries inside of them as long as we allow ourselves to explore them. I see you, I bow to you, I thank you, and say goodbye.
Upcoming Events
No dances for me until August. September is packed though so please come find me!
August
22 Ecstatic Dance Outdoor Zangcirkel, Vlierhof
28 Ecstatic Dance Utrecht, Bar Beton
September
2 Ecstatic Dance Twente
5 Ecstatic Dance Zutphen
6 Ecstatic Dance Amsterdam, The Other Side (Sunday Morning)
11 Ecstatic Dance Nijmegen
17 Ecstatic Dance Den Haag
19 Ecstatic Dance Wageningen
25 Ecstatic Dance Utrecht
Download this set
So, there were a few technical mistakes on my part during the festival set - pressing the wrong button and pausing the meditative track, forgetting to press a button so the drop messed up (the first one to email me both mistakes gets to dance for free next time ;). But I like the general flow in this set, especially the middle part which ends with a track by Pongo which I recommend so hard.
Enjoy here!
