#4: "Smudging the space" - how I got into Ecstatic Dance
Dear Dancer,
One of the reasons that I started this news letter is that I am longing for alternative mediums for connecting with dancers. I use Instagram and Facebook, but I don't feel comfortable there anymore. I’m pretty deep in technology and tech news, and I have learned that of all the big tech companies, Meta might be one of the most morally bankrupt. They feed on your attention and data, have by now dropped most content moderation rules, and -maybe worst of all- their algorithms reward outrage and hatred, which is at least partly the cause of our highly polarized world.
Besides that, I have always had a hard time staying true to myself while posting on these platforms. I feel like I just never really got good at it (give me tips!). So I'd rather stay away. This is not easy, as practically the whole Ecstatic Dance scene is on there. I would love to help build an alternative platform on which we can hang out and share only the good things. Who knows, I might have the time, resources and patience someday (and reach out to me if you want to work together on this).
In the meantime, the support I get from your responses to this news letter is bringing me great joy (“I actually read it!”, someone told me as a compliment). Already more than 100 of you have subscribed, thank you!
On to the content:
- Not coming(but it will be great): Ecstatic Dance Utrecht
- How and why I got into Ecstatic Dance
- Track of the month (another top 5 actually)
- Upcoming events
- Free download: my set from ED Den Haag
Not coming (but it will be great): Ecstatic Dance Lab Utrecht
I was going to play in Utrecht upcoming Sunday, but due to some challenging private matters I can not come. At the time of writing, DJ Socrates is supposed to fill in for me, and I want to encourage you to go see him! Together with musician Vince they will drop an experimental work of art, and the new space is bright and great, I recommend!
How and why I got into Ecstatic Dance
I'd like to share a bit about how I rolled into the world of Ecstatic Dance. I discovered it at a time in my life when I was frantically practicing meditation, first mindfulness and later Vipassana taught by Birmese meditation teacher SN Goenka. At the same time, I was going to concerts, clubs and parties. I loved dancing and I loved the music, but often felt out of place and unsafe to be myself. I longed for ways to be able to merge my love for dance with the new perspective on life that was evolving from my meditation practice: to stop dissociating, and instead to become still and be with my feelings, letting them come up and fade away as I stayed present in my body (it is ongoing practice, ask my family).
When I went to Ecstatic Dance for the first time in Amsterdam, in Club Lite (in 2014/15?), and I saw that you could just meditate next to the dance floor, I immediately knew that this was going to be my thing. Here everyone was, in silence, dancing how they felt, present with each other. This was a place where I could just stand still for five minutes in the middle of the dancefloor just to see if I could, and people would just let me. No weird looks, no “are you ok?” - I was allowed to try and be still. At the same time, I could dance insanely wild, and let out all madness and suppressed earthly mess that lives inside of me.
Meanwhile, I had been a dj practically all my life. In my first year in high school, I had a dj agenda with pictures of all the Tiësto's and Ferry Corstens in it. Around that time I also got my first vinyl players. Throughout my teens and as a student I played at some parties, but I never really found my footing. When I came to Ecstatic Dance, things just clicked. My love for dancing and music, my meditation practice, my experience as a dj - I knew this was going to be it.
What I also liked about Ecstatic Dance is that everyone who came had some spiritual thing that they had discovered - yoga, ayahuasca, tantra, buddhism, cacao ceremonies, family systems, five rhythms, shamanism, human design- stuff that they could safely bring to expression in the Ecstatic Dance community. It was a total mess by the way - the most embodied and inspiring human beings were mingling with the most unhinged spiritual cloudheads you could find. And on the one hand, there was so much safety for men and women to bring their wildest sexual selves into expressions. But on the other hand there was alot of toxicity and just plain predator behavior going on.
This was true for Club Lite, and also for Odessa Amsterdam, which was just opening around the time when I had my epiphany that Ecstatic dance was going to be my thing. I had the chance to play at the opening party of the ship, and from then on, I was part of the ships' interior. I worked there as a manager, I danced multiple times per week, and of course got the chance to practice being an Ecstatic Dance dj. I even lived on the ship for a few months. The experiences there taught me so much about what to do (and what not to do) to make Ecstatic Dance truly something more than just a sober dance party.
All the spiritual things that people were doing often did not resonate with me that much - the meditation practice that I already had was enough, I guess. I did take part in everything - I got the human design readout, drank the cacao and I smudged the space. It was fun and there were joyful things to be found. But in the end I was there for the music, the dance and the meditation. This might be the essence of ecstatic dance for me: a space where you are free to move and explore as you wish, with wonderful music and other human beings, all making an effort to be present with each other. This is the intention that I hope to bring every time I come to a dance, as a dj, dancer or facilitator.
Track of the month (+ another top 5)
De Mar y Rio - El Barque (El Búho remix)
Selecta Kwaby alias Eve
If you have been to ecstatic dance more than a few times, you will have probably danced to music by El Búho. This British producer is a very prolific creator of warm downtempo electronics -folktronica he calls it himself. I’m guessing almost every ED dj plays some of his tracks. It is perfect: South American vocals, cumbria rhythms, but produced for the dancefloor. And he has released so much, there is something for everyone. In my top 20 of most played tracks, he appears twice (once in fifth place). In my top 50, are 5 of this tracks. He is one of the artists that I most play (besides Uproot Andy, who I might feature another time here).
What makes El Buho stand out is his productivity (11 albums in the past 8 years), but also the relative quality of the tracks that he makes. His music is layered: warm and heart-opening, but with a sense of melancholy that makes you want to go inward. And always with a rhythm section that is not boring and keeps you swaying. I encourage you to dive deep into El Búho’s work! You will be busy for a while but it will give you lots of beautiful music.
The above remix is one of his latest. I played it in Utrecht this month, and the vocal surprised everyone (also because I played it way too loud 😅) , and the rhythm had dancers move their bodies in new and interesting ways.
Extra: here is a top 5 of my all-time favorite El Buho tracks
Top 5
1. Tecolotin - this track came out around the time when I started doing Ecstatic Dance. I still play it sometimes during the walking. It is perfect for the beginning of a journey, when you come out of a meditative buildup and want the dancers to make their first engaged steps. If there was a top ten of best tracks for Ecstatic Dance, this would surely be in it.
2. Białowieża - The vocals by Sutari on this track pierce through your body and heart, and when I play this many dancers get it immediately and just dissolve into bliss. The track was named after one of the last truly ancient forests in Europe. This is a very sensual track with some warrior energy, and it is one of my all-time favorites as well.
3. Plu Con Pla - No Mas Velorio (El Búho Remix) - When I listen to the original of this track I just can’t imagine what inspired El Búho to make a remix such as this one. The original is a poppy protest song, but El Buho manages to make it into this strange epic dubby marching track. I love to play this around the end of a set, when dancers are open to dancing to all kinds of strange rhythms, as a start of a wild 150BPM peak. The drop at 3:45 is just so so good.
4. Warsaw Village Band - What have you been doing Kasia (El Búho remix) - El Búho is very good at spotting good tracks for remixes. This Polish folk song is transformed into a warm electronic slowly rolling hip swayer. It makes everyone on the dancefloor smile and often invokes some togetherness.
5. Go Dugong - Vidita (El Búho remix) - again with the marching sounds. This track has also been with me for a long time, and I used to consistently play it as a first peak moment. I would add a lot of reverb and delay to halfway in the track, signaling the dancers that the slow part was coming to an end, and that we would now be entering into rougher territories. The vocals by Miriam Garcia are playful and sensual.
Upcoming Events
Not much to do in October. I've had to turn some things down because of a pittige home situation. But I invite you to come find me anyway!
October
2 Ecstatic Dance Amsterdam (The Jungle)5 Ecstatic Dance Lab Utrecht with live musician (DJ Socrates is filling in for me!)
18 Ecstatic Dance Arnhem
November
7 PLAY! Ecstatic Dance Zwolle
15 Ecstatic Dance Zutphen
21 Ecstatic Dance Utrecht
22 Ecstatic Dance Rotterdam
28-30 PLAY! Freedive festival
My set from Ecstatic Dance Den Haag
Ecstatic Dance Den Haag is always good. Their locations at de Scheveningse Pier and de Zeeheldentheater are nice, and the dance community is strong with a full house everytime I come and visit. Enjoy last months' set here.
That's it! Thank you for reading all the way to the end. I switched to a new application for the news letter, so I'm not sure where the comment section has gone. But if you find it, please let me know whether you enjoyed!
