What is Sacred Circle Dance?
Sacred Circle Dance, or Circle Dance, is a style of dance done in a circle or semicircle to musical accompaniment. Circle dancing is probably the oldest known dance formation and was part of community life from when people first started to dance.
Dancing in a circle is an ancient tradition common to many cultures for marking special occasions, rituals, strengthening community and encouraging togetherness. The dance can also be enjoyed as an uplifting group experience or as part of a meditation. Circle dances are choreographed to many different styles of music and rhythms. It is a type of dance where anyone can join in without the need of a partner. Generally, the participants follow a leader around the dance floor while holding the hand of the dancers beside them. The dance can be gentle or energetic. Modern circle dance mixes traditional folk dances, mainly from European or Near Eastern sources, with recently choreographed ones to a variety of music both ancient and modern. There is also a growing repertoire of new circle dances to classical music and contemporary songs. |
Who We Are |
We are a collective of experienced Sacred Circle Dance instructors and enthusiasts based around High River, Calgary and Southern Alberta, Canada.
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Circle Dance History |
Sacred/Circle Dance includes many of the same dances enjoyed by the folk dancers, but our emphasis is a bit different. The whole Sacred/Circle Dance movement really began with an extraordinary Bavarian Dance Master named Bernhard Wosien. A prominent dancer and choreographer with the Berlin Ballet for 50 years, Professor Wosien had a great love for the traditional folklore and dances of Europe, and studied for many years with a master of the ritual, symbolic and esoteric aspects of these dances. In 1976, seeking a repository for his vast knowledge of traditional dance, Professor Wosien, together with his daughter, Gabriele, came to the Findhorn Foundation, an international spiritual community in Scotland. A Sacred Dance group was formed among community members to learn what Professor Wosien called the "Heilige Tanz", or Sacred Dance. As dancers went out from Findhorn, the Sacred Dance went with them, and within a few years there were groups all over the UK and Western Europe, enthusiastically carrying on Bernhard WosienÌs work. Since the term "Sacred Dance" was easily confused with liturgical and other religious forms of dance, many groups changed it to Circle Dance, but it may be found under either name. In time it took root in North America as well, and in 1990 the first week-long Circle Dance Camp in New England drew participants from all over the US, as well as Canada, the Bahamas and England.
Ref: http://www.neskaya.com/sacredcircle.html#history, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_dance |