Ecstatic dance is a practice that started in the 2000s in Hawaii and has spread all over the world. It’s not a dance workshop! It is a community gathering, where everyone is free to move and dance as he wants with the music of an Ecstatic artist for only guide. The invited artists are different at each gathering; they are artists who carry and vibrate this movement in their daily lives around the world and for years. Each gathering is unique, each artist brings his musical guidance, we call it the musical wave. The musical genres, the rhythms, the styles are varied: the dancers must be surprised by the passage from one rhythm to another, the more the styles are varied the more the dancer will have the opportunity and opportunities to explore his movements, his way of moving. This unfolds the field of possibilities. In Ecstatic the goal for the dancers is not to love or not to like this or that music, it is to learn to move on any musical style and to see what the music does to him, leads to movements. The music and community experience offered by an ecstatic gathering allows each participant to take an experience that allows him to let go, overcome the fear of the gaze of the other, dive into deep bodily feelings. The experience is often experienced as transcendent because it promotes the transition from the ordinary state of consciousness to an amplified state of consciousness where the mind takes less space to give way to a greater sensitivity, greater sensoriality and a wider field of perception.

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The different Ecstatic communities in France are interconnected.

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An ecstatic gathering involves several speakers: for the warm up (choreographer, dancers, psycho-body practitioners), for the DJ set (Ecstatic community artist), for sound healing (musician, musicologist-therapist, sono-therapist) and for facilitation and organisation (ceremony leader and facilitator).

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Basic principles of Ecstatic worldwide:

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No words on the dance space, communication becomes non-verbal: we express ourselves through gazes, smiles, movements, facial and body expressions. Exit the mind, make room for sensoriality. The dance space becomes a sensory space.

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No shoes, you dance barefoot to be aware of your supports on the ground (welcome the sensations at the level of the supports). The idea here is to reconnect to something more natural, more original, more ancestral.

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No substances that can alter consciousness: When you dance and move long enough, the body will secrete all the hormones it requires (dopamine, oxytocin…) and the Ecstatic Dance will bring an amplified and/or modified state of consciousness. One’s presence is refined, as well as the perceptions and sensations throughout the set.

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Free movement and without instructions: In the dance space, everyone circulates and moves as they see fit. If a desire to be still, to leave the experience of movement or to eat comes, spaces are provided for. No obligation to stay on the dancefloor. Everyone moves as it is good for him, listening to his sensations, his emotions. The music and energy of the group are the guides of individual experiences.

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Space of non-judgment and benevolence: everyone can express all parts of himself, his uniqueness, his diversity. Sounds can come out and everyone moves in their own way.

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No distractions: leave your phone off to be immersed in the collective experience and not impact the experience of each participant.

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Ecstatic gatherings are ritualized and are always proposed with the following framework:

Welcome in music proposed by the dj , in La Rochelle the welcome in music offers varied music . The reception in music sets a sound atmosphere in the dance area. The music acceuil lasts 15 to 20 minutes.

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Opening circle (5-10 minutes). Participants and all speakers are invited to form a circle. The circle symbolizes the idea of gathering together around a space that will co-create. In this circle the fundamental principles of ecstatic dance are explained.

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WARM UP (15/20 minutes): It is a body warm-up with playful games to promote a supportive group dynamic, make people meet through movements; start inviting people to be aware of their movements. Warm up are usually proposed by choreographers, dancers or psycho-corporal therapists who will facilitate the entry into the experience of dance. 

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The dance time on the DJ SET of an ecstatic dance artist can be from 1h30 to 2h. We dance without instructions. 

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SOUND HEALING (15 minutes): is offered by a musician or a sound therapist or a musico therapist. Sound healing includes a time of silence. It involves sound meditation or musical relaxation.   It is a moment of calm, of return to oneself, a time to land smoothly and integrate the lived experience. 

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The closing circle (5 minutes): the ceremony leader invites participants to reform the circle. It is a ritualized time that marks the end of the gathering.

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THE ECSTATIC GATHERING IS A CO-CREATION, a unique moment that is created together, musical guidance is not the only one to carry the experience. The spirit is community everyone participates, each is responsible for the safety of his comfort and that of other participants.