Universal Dancer

Sacred Dance

“I’ve had the pleasure to Dance with Leslie in New York and in Cairo. The first time I took Leslie’s class, I knew that Sacred Dance was the direction I had been searching for. I was ready for this dance - live experience to unfold in me. In Cairo, Leslie witnessed my surrendering to the flow of life. I continue to practice this in my every day life and enjoy and honor my divine feminine power.

Leslie’s book, The Alchemy of Dance: Sacred Dance as a Path to the Universal Dancer is always delightful for me to reread for inspiration and I look forward to dancing with her.” Alexandra Sanchez, New York, NY, USA

Sacred Dance is as ancient as creation it’s self. We can trace the origins of this Dance back to the High Priestesses in temples, although its original origins date back to the beginning of time. As with most esoteric knowledge, being shrouded in a playful or entertaining way has preserved the knowledge. What remains of this type of dance can be seen today in modern day Middle Eastern, Tribal or Belly Dancing. What differs is that Sacred Dance is danced for expression rather than performance.

The Dance was originally the Dance of the Womb rather than belly. The womb being a sacred space the Dance then held a more spiritual significance. As this link to the Divine aspect of the feminine dissolved the dance became more about the actual body part, the belly, that the sacred centre, the womb.

Dance is a very natural part of our lives. Children dance spontaneously. Hearing music they are almost compelled to move and dance. The human body is a standing wave. Hearing or feeling other waves around us causes us to resonate with them.

As we know time doesn't exist (it is created by man) but rhythm (earth time) does. Music is created by tapping into the different rhythms of the earth. Musicians, especially drummers, are tapping into this same pulse. Different instruments resonate with the different rhythms emitted from the earth. Basically what we are doing, when we dance, is connecting to the earth’s rhythm. The same pulse the musicians are playing on their instruments is passing through our bodies. The piece of music creates the form in which to express these rhythms, like the guide on a journey. The rhythm is channeled from the earth but we use the music to bring the different rhythms together and synchronize ourselves with others.

Different instruments pick up different pulses. These pulses resonate with different parts of our body. Drums in the hips, lighter instruments in the upper body, electric guitar up the spine! Basically we can play a piece of music through our bodies, using different parts of our bodies to represent the different instruments.

All dance is like this to a certain extent. What makes Sacred Dance different is our intention. We are intending to make this connection with the Divine and directly to the Earth. From a healing perspective this makes all the difference in the world. We can channel healing energy and discharging unhealthy energy through the Earth. Through the Dance the intention is conscious, which intensifies the experience even more.

The Dance not only works on the physical level but on the energetic or spiritual level as well. The benefits are numerous; it is playful, fun, and creative as well as healing. Participants have commented on the physical benefits such as relief from back pain; as well as emotional release.

This all sounds very complicated, but in fact it is not. The movements are very basic to our nature anyone can learn them. You need not be a dancer or have any dance experience. By connecting to the Earth's rhythm the movements flow naturally. Sacred Dance is taught in an interactive workshop for women, teaching them how to reconnect with the Earth's rhythm. In the workshop various methods such as visualization, kinetics and transmission are used to achieve this connection.

Because we are focusing on the sacral chakra, our center of pleasure and joy, healing takes place in a joyful creative way. We are dancing for expression rather than performance. By reconnecting us to our bodies, the Dance also aids in developing our perfect body type, not only due to the physical activity but also because of the balancing nature of the Dance.

Once the basic movements are learned and integrated we can move to a place of complete connection. This involves connecting in both directions, to the Earth and the cosmos/universe, a practice common in Martial Arts. In this state we reach the point of 'no-mind'. We become one with the music, the Earth's rhythm and everything around us. We create in the moment, completely in the 'present'. Like a moving meditation synchronized to music moving from within and without. It is at this point where we can recognize the Sacredness of the Dance and feel the complete connection, the fusion point of the Universal Dancer. It is at this point that the Dance becomes a spiritual practice.

Sacred Dance: Dance of the Womb