First written by Jane Hooper & Kolin Lymworth in November 1991, slightly revised & updated by KL November 2005
In the beginning was the Great Silence, which turned out to be just a pause between wave/movements of The Great Dance. Sometime later, about 1970 or so, a dancer/ceremonialist named Elizabeth Cogburn, being inspired by seeing the native people drumming all night along the Rio Grande, and taking inspiration from their vision-dancing tradition and from her own journey, began articulating a form of ceremony for present-day humans in our culture. It began as The Sun Dance, an annual 2 week camp culminating in a 3 day, 3 night vision dance under the New Mexico sun. Later she traveled, seeding this Long Dance vision in the form of dusk-to-dawn dances. Today, the Long Dance has rooted as a seasonal ceremonial cycle in Earth Medicine Circles around North America.
The emphases and forms vary according to the unique community alchemies, the qualities the people bring, and the needs of the time and the group. Elizabeth continues to refine and articulate her vision in a number of ways, and she and her husband Bob continued to teach this at their home dance ground in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico.
Jane and Kolin are writing this to share some of the elements of the dance, to give you a sense of the range of what’s available on the experiential palette, for creating a Long Dance. If you visited Elizabeth or any long dance circle, you would discover many other nuances, practices, or emphases. Our particular ‘lineage’ comes from Elizabeth via Ross & Deborah Koff-Chapin, who started the Whidbey Island ceremonial circle after doing many years of Sun Dances with Elizabeth. Jane danced with the Whidbey circle for eight years, and Kolin for four years (1988-1992). Kolin danced with Elizabeth twice near Vancouver in 1986, and traveled with her on a ceremonial trek in Nepal in ’86. Jane co-founded, with Judy Kelly, the Nisqually Dance Circle, which gathered in the Seattle-Tacoma area from 1989 to 1992. Since autumn 1990, Jane & Kolin (& now Lizanne) have hosted Full Moon drummings in their home in Vancouver, and in autumn 1991 the Nisqually circle was merged into what is now known as the Salmonberry Circle—some of us are from the Vancouver area, some from the Washington area, some from Montana. This Circle gathers twice a year (summer and winter) at Salmonberry Meadow on Whidbey Island for Long Dances.
SO, WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF THE LONG DANCE?
Crafting community art/prayer/celebration to mark the seasonal cycles; where we humans join our hearts, arts, and skills in honouring the Earth and the Beauty of Life, in punctuating or marking the thresholds in personal and community life… is surely a work of living, pulsing art whose integrity depends upon all the participants, seen and unseen. It is the creation of a container in which our inner work is welcomed, where the whole spectrum of human emotion and vision can be evoked, danced, drummed, prayed, mimed, sun, cried: embodied in innumerable ways.
Often Long Dances are scheduled in the Solstices or Equinoxes, or on the cross-quarter days half way in between these. The Old Ways often had festivals or ceremonies marking these natural “corners” of the solar year. Full or New Moons are also sometimes chosen. Whether the ritual cycle is for an evening, a day, or a weekend varies with the traditions and changing choices of the circle.
First, someone or possibly a planning council puts out “The Call,” which is an invitation seeding time, place, intention and particular themes or colourings for that Dance. For each person who receives the Call, the Long Dance begins when one commits to it. What does that mean? It mean that part of the process may include anything that gets in the way of coming, and finding the clarity to remember one’s original commitment. It means that the inner wheels have begun to work towards one’s own intentions for the Dance. At that moment, seeds of intention are planted and the dance begins. One knows inside, “I’m coming—and nothing’s gonna sidetrack me.” The Long Dance is an opportunity for each person to engage life in his or her own personal ways: to experiment with new or feared modes of being, to cultivate qualities desired, to let go of qualities ready to go. It can be a time of great learning, as well as a “feast of art and celebration.” So take the time to consider what personal intentions are taking shape as the Dance approaches. The more conscious one’s intentions, the more power and “juice” they will have, and the more “Presence” one will bring to the Dance.
SO WHAT HAPPENS ON THE DAY OF THE DANCE?
Having intentionally reserved this special time, one will have gone through a time of personal preparation which may have lasted for weeks. Perhaps one took the evening before to center oneself and gather the ritual objects, tools, toys, drums and instruments, clothing, altar items, as well as any practical setup materials that one may have agreed to bring. Maybe one took a little time each day in “the mirror of nature” as a way of preparing… The landscape of preparation is unique for each person.
When everyone arrives for the Dance, we each bring all of our selves which will include of course all that we’ve specifically prepared for the Dance, as well as any of our own anxieties, hesitations, etc. Part of “arriving” is a kind of ritual letting go of any baggage that may keep us from being fully present to ourselves and with each other. We may embody this “letting go” together through some actions of purification such as smudging, washing-and-drinking, fire-and-earth cleansings, etc.
Once we’ve all “arrived,” we’re ready to begin the work of crafting The Dance Ground in Sacred Space and Time. It’s here we leave behind our clocktime (watches), our cellphones, and begin to drop deeper into the present. We have arranged our affairs so that our commitment to this time will be uninterrupred. We trust the focalizers of that particular Dance to keep track of ceremonial time, which moves in different rhythms than clocktime. The Space is a Circle, a flat piece of floor or earth which we call a Dance Ground, maybe indoors or outdoors, and it has a Center, which is often marked by a Center Pole (an actual pole, or sometimes just an illuminated “space” in the centre). The four cardinal directions are marked by altars on the rim of the circle. A place is made for the Big Drum (a community drum around which several drummers can sit), and instrument blankets are laid out. A food altar, if food is to be shared during that dance, is set up. Often we break into clans of the four directions to co-create the altars from cloths and objects we all have contributed. The embodiment of our intention is expressed through our careful placement of things and attention to detail, to create a Beautiful Space in which to celebrate.
During the initial phases of gathering and setting out the “Dance Ground of the Heart,” we converse. When all the preparations are done, we move into Shared Silence (nonverbal space), letting go of our everyday chatter, both inner and outer. In this silent alone time, we are free to rest, gather our energies, open further to what moves in us in preparation for the Dance. We hold this silence until we gather in council to share our intentions. A typical question at this time is: “What am I dancing for?” Responses to this may address the personal, social, ecological, or spiritual dimensions. If we choose, we may also gather in Men’s and Women’s councils as part of our preparation for entering the Dance. Sometimes, in outdoor dances, the men may get a pole from the forest and ritually “enter” the holy hole the women have dug in the center of the Dance Ground.
As part of crafting the Dance, either before the council or before the Dance itself, each person will dress in Ceremonial Clothes. Sometimes the dance planning group will request all dancers to wear white for the opening of the Dance, or may request particular colour schemes or archetypes to be embodied. In general, each person can express what qualities they desire through the colours and style of what they choose to wear. This can include garments, masks, face paints, and whatever creative or ritual flourishes that arise and feel right. One’s garb or costumery may evolve during the Dance as well, as one’s archetypal “weather” changes. A community “treasure chest” of play objects, coloured scarves, hats, masks, and so forth, can often be a source of surprising delights. Like the instrument blanket, this Play Blanket can enrich the creative palette of the Dance. [Consider this when planning what to bring. Do you have items to add to the Play Blanket, and to the Instrument Blanket?]
ENTERING THE DANCE
At some point, the Beings and Qualities of the Seven Directions (East, South, West, North, Centre, Above and Below) will be “called in.” Though every tradition has its unique understandings of the meanings of the Directions, and our own senses of it are evolving, these are how we have been invoking them lately…
This is a free flow of thoughts on the Directions. Feel free to start now in adding your own associations.
EAST Air, breath, wind, smell. Dawn. Spring. Vision. New Life. Initiative. Ideas. What is being Born, seeded. Eggs. Sprouts. New Growth. Yellows and Greens. Eagles & Winged Ones. Far-seeing, looking ahead toward what’s coming. “The power to dare the first act.”
SOUTH Fire, zenith, High Noon. Summer. Innocence, trust and passion. That which is in Full Blossom and Fruiting. Oranges, Yellows, an Reds. That which is Fully Present. Full Expression. The Heart. The Sun. Flowers, Fruits and the Rooted Ones. “Heart’s Desire, Thy Will be Done.”
WEST Water, reflection, Remembering. Evening. Sunset. Autumn. The harvest. Ancestors, Purples, lavenders, and Blues. Waves flowing, Emotions. Creatures of the Waters. Seashells, Fluids of the body. That which is Pasing Away. “Yes, Life!”
NORTH Earth, matter, material, mater (Mother). Night time. Winter. Deep Rest. Caves. Bones, rocks, stones. The Dark. Earthtones, White and Black. Creepy-crawlies, four-leggeds and two-leggeds. That which is Between Death and Rebirth. The sense of Touch. “No Attachments to our Creations.”
ABOVE Bright expanse of the Heavens. Source of Light. Sun or Suns. Sources of Inspiration. Seed Power of all Possibilities. Planets, Stars, Galaxies. The Celestial Spheres. “Original Blessing: In Essence We are all Complete.”
BELOW The Unknown, Unconscious, Dark Depths of the Psychic Sea, Home of Shadows. Mirror of Souls. Revealer of Mysteries. Egg Power of all Possibilities. “Mysteries are Sources of Power and Joy – Their Secrets are Fields to be Cultivated, Protected, Celebrated.”
CENTER Axis Mundi, World Tree, Spiraling Home. The Heart. The All that Is. Pure White, Gold, and sparkles.
USING THE ALTARS
Once the altars have been crafted and their qualities called in as a group, and once the Dance opens, the Altars can be used as gateways of reflection and prayer, for deepening insight into the qualities of each. Realize the Dance Ground as one whole life, one’s body/being, and each Altar as the home of certain qualities of being. If one wants more passion and zest, go to the South. If one is burdened by hurts from the past, go to the West to reflect on them, grieve them, or let them go—and so forth. In the course of the Dance, if someone is seated, standing or dancing before an Altar, we honour this by not walking between them and the Altar. Space at an Altar can be shared by more than one person, each n their own space in their own way, or sometimes in a shared dance or creation. Often an Altar will be a place of great visual wonder, full of mysterious and inspiring things to see, touch, smell, and “wonder into.” They can be places of refuge, intensification, rest, or awe. They are Altars to the Powers of Life, and as such are places of communion, pillars of the temple of the Dance, arms of the Great Mandala.
OPENING THE DANCE
Out of the silence, we join in a circle around the Dance Ground, and in silence we do a joined-hand spiral into the Center Pole, raising our arms to draw down the “Inspiration, Shining Brightly,” while holding our intentions clearly, then spiraling out into the full circle again, to part hands. Sometimes we then join in a group Yang Dance cycle followed by a group Yin Dance cycle. At this point, the Big Drum will start, the Heart Beat of the Dance which will continue its 1:1 beat throughout the life of the Dance (sometimes booming, sometimes whispering). At this point also, as the Big Drum begins, the silence leaves us free to make sounds, but with a commitment to maintain nonverbal space until the council after the Dance (or until whenever the dancers have agreed). So the Sound Field will include all manner of songs [no words or familiar tunes], chant, tone, chortle, grunt and growl, as well as the full range of sounds from percussion and other musical instruments.
The Big Drum is the Heart of the Sound Field. We like at least two people on the Big Drum. Chanting or toning as one drums on the Big Drum is a great way to resonate with fellow beings, and brings more energy if one’s feeling tired. While the Big Drum keeps its simple 1:1 pulse (fast enough as a baseline for movement and counterplay), other drums, rattles and so on are free to express rhythms or melodies one wants (usually in harmonious synch with the heartbeat pulse, but opening to whatever spirits are afoot), all within a context of listening to what is happening, to the whole texture of sound—and in such a way that the Pulse of the Heartbeat is still heard. The sound field will move through many “climates,” with mysterious chimes, bells, chants, to full-bore bellowing bears, to exquisitely syncopated percussion symphonies. It’s a fertile field where dancers and sounders interplay, where one can experiment with sound, to express the voices one needs to, and to make beautiful artworks in rhythm for the love of life. Our individual commitment to staying present to the sound field builds the Community of the Dance.
WHAT HAPPENS ON THE DANCE GROUND?
The Big Drum is booming, rattles are shaking, voices are floating. The Energy draws one to move onto the Dance Ground. There are four spheres of movement. On the outermost ring, just inside the Altars, is THE YANG CIRCLE, where movement goes around the circles in a clockwise (sun-wise) direction. The Yang circles may have running, trotting, walking, stamping, skipping, etc. as fast or slow one wants. It embodies the “Masculine” traits of up-and-down, piston-like or percussive movement. The Yang Circle, with its Heat and Energy, is often the place where people begin the Dance, often with shakers, rattles or hand drums. The grounding effect of the group walking the circle with rattles helps build the container of the dance. From the first beat of the Big Drum opening the Dance to the closing spiral, one can move in the Yang Circle or any of the other three spheres, whenever one is drawn there.
Just inside the Yang Circle, with movement in a counter-clockwise (moon-wise) direction, is THE YIN CIRCLE. Here the movement is more circular, flowing, elliptical, and “Feminine.” A side-stepping, waltz-paced movement with arms moving in a large, graceful figure-eight pattern is typical here. This is much easier seen than described. If one feels in need of flowing, graceful rhythms or expressions, the Yin Circle is the place. Two or more people moving around the Yin Circle side by side in unison, is one of the graceful delights of the Dance, and aids in building the smooth inner lining of the Dance vessel.
The whole area inside the Yang and Yin circles is known as THE INNER COURTYARD. It is the place of personal and relational dances, of dramatic enactments, of incredible mimes, group contact improv, playful explorations, solo dances, acting out of personal dramas and passages, and so on. Because we are in nonverbal space and cannot ask one another if we want to dance together, this must be done through gestures and eye contact, respecting the other person’s responses. The Inner Courtyard is the arena of death and rebirth, of healing, of joinings and partings, all in free-flowing, unprescribed ways… all safely contained within the Yin and Yang circles, while respecting the integrity of both the Center Pole area (and dancers in communion there) and the Yin and Yang circles.
In the process of the Dance, it is natural to spend time first in the Yang and Yin circles before moving into the Inner Courtyard (one may also have spent time at the Big Drum, too). This is true at the personal level as well as t the community level. The container of the dance takes a while to shape, to “heat up,” and until a secure energetic vessel (“the pot”) exists, the deep inner Energies of Transformation cannot really “cook.”
At the centre of the Inner Courtyard is THE CENTER POLE, connector of Heaven and Earth, representing the great axis within ourselves, rooted in Earth and crowned with the Heavens. The Center Pole may be an actual pole or tree, often decorated with sparkles, candles, streamers or other embellishments. Or it may be a Space acknowledged in some way as “The Centre.” Here in the Centre is the place of deepest Prayers, at the Still Centre of our turning world (the Dance). It is often well into the Dance, after experiencing the energies and activities of the Altars, the Big Drum, the outer circles and the Inner courtyard adventures, that one feels ready to approach the Centre Pole itself. Typically, we share the Centre Pole Dance here: a slow, small-steps-in-toward-the-Pole movement with palms skyward and receptive. In and out, in and out, gradually moving moon-wise around the Pole. Alone or with others, one may pass moments or hours here, in this deep repetitive movement, opening deeper and deeper to the true nature of oneself, and the prayers one carries in one’s heart. Given enough time and patience here, the Messages from the Centre can be profound indeed. Lovely devotional chanting, as well as shared spirit with others, are also to be discovered around the Center Pole.
THE PLACE OF THE WITNESS
There are times in the Dance when one’s energies are a bit fallow, or one just doesn’t know what to do or where to be. This is a good time to go to the place of the Witness. It can be anywhere outside the rim of the dance circle, yet nearby, where one can quietly witness with loving eyes and ears what is taking place on the Dance Ground. Here one can bless the Dance with one’s attention, offering encouragement with one’s gaze to fellow dancers and drummers. As in everyday life, there’s a natural flow from rest to activity and back again—so if one flows in and out of the Witness Place consciously, there will be enough energy in the community to uphold the Dance.
At times in the Dance one is drawn to quiet period of meditation or reflection at the altars, or outside the circle of the Dance. These may be standing, sitting, or lying. One can welcome these inner attunements as a part of one’s dance, keeping the Pulse of the Heartbeat Drum close in awareness. The same present of attention and listening to the Drum is similarly connecting during times of brief food, drink, bowel or bladder breaks.
OUT-RIDING AND SOUL-CATCHING
In some Dances, a person takes on the role of THE OUTRIDER. His or her task is to protect the integrity of the containment of the Dance from any outsiders’ purposeful or accidental interference or intrusion. The rest of the dancers and drummers can relax knowing that this person will handle any disturbances from the outside.
Sometimes, another person will be designated as THE SOUL-CATCHER, whose function is to notice if anyone is in trouble or in need, physically or emotionally, and be available for assistance if requested. Sometimes this person may approach, simply asking “Are you OK?” There’s no intention of interfering with another person’s process or of offering undesired “help,” but simply to be available to “catch” falling “souls” in case of need. Our basic belief is that once anyone has truly committed to being present for the Dance, that except for truly dire, life-threatening emergencies, everything that “comes up” can be handled by oneself and/or within the community of the Dance. Experience has shown this to be the case.
THOUGHTS ON CLOSING THE DANCE
Having been drumming, dancing and celebrating the journey for hours, the time will come when the dance council or leaders will sense the closing is near. If anyone is so drowsy as if to appear asleep, they may be roused for the last bit of the Dance, so as to have an opportunity to prepare to close. The Big Drum will gradually slow down, and all will know, and feel the final heartbeats of the life of the Dance, as a great, deep Silence arrives. After so many hours of drumming and movement, this release into stillness and silence can be astonishing and sweet.
Out of this silence, we will gather in a circle again, with hands joining, for a CLOSING SPIRAL, curling in around the Center Pole to raise through our arms our thanks and the fruits of Energies raised in the Dance, then curling back out into the circle again, soon after which we thank (either aloud or silently) the Powers of the Directions for their gifts in the Dance, and wish them “hail and farewell!” At this point the Dance is closed, and we break hands and open to what’s next.
What’s next may be: for a day dance it may be a small feast, and then shared cleanup before departure; or it may be arranging sleeping places on the dance ground for the night (all in silence), before breaking silence at a morning talking staff council; or it may proceed directly into a period of alone time before a brief council followed by cleanup and parting; or for an all-night dance it may mean a several-hour nap before a closing council in mid-morning.
CLOSING COUNCIL, GIVEAWAY AND FEAST
These elements take different roles in differences Dances. The closing council may be as brief as a few words shared by each participant into the circle at parting after the closing spiral, or it may also take a full morning with several rounds of the Talking Staff, responding to different questions or deepening layer by layer. A typical question is: “What happened for you in the Dance? Tell us about your experience. What was most important… the high points… the challenges?”
Transitioning from Sacred Time and Space is a gradual process, and returning to words needs to be done with care. The tendency to want to start one’s habitual babbling can interfere with the inner work opened up in the Dance, so a certain respect for the process helps in the transition back to everyday rhythms. Holding the silence until the agreed upon time is essential. This may be as early as right after the closing spiral or as late as the council the next morning. Even then any non-essential talk is discouraged. A Talking Staff council is a time for listening and speaking from the heart. Much of the deep heart’s warp and woof is revealed, if you “have ears to hear.” This is the time when we express what we have gleaned from our experiences with the Dance, when we share what we have lived and are living with our peers.
A Giveaway Blanket (which may happen at some Dances) is where each dancer brings an item of personal and spiritual significant that he or she is ready to give away. When the time arrives and the blanket is laid out, everyone places their giveaway item on it. Various methods exist for who chooses first and in which order choosing occurs. Everyone chooses something from the blanket, and we believe there is a “rightness” about which particular item each person receives. Often hearing the story of the giveaway’s significance from the giver will enrich the process for both giver and receiver. Giving an item of great significance opens wider and deeper the way to receive. One cannot judge the value of significance of an item for another person, nor is value necessarily association with monetary worth. The Giveaway can provide something by which one can remember the lessons and the people of the Dance, and is another way of weaving relationships in community.
We often have a Closing Feast to celebrate (sometimes catered), where special, festive, and sometimes seasonal foods are shared. It’s a time of relaxation, easy conversations, toast and boasts and thanks and hugs and appreciations. It all helps in the process of grounding oneself, and preparing for re-entry into “The Everyday World.”
CLEANUP, RESTORATION AND RETURN
Though there may be a cleanup committee to do the final check on the premises, all dancers usually participate in returning the space to its original order. With everyone’s pitching-in, the tasks are easier.
If possible, it’s best to not have any urgent or immediate plans for when one returns home, but to allow as much space and time as possible for “arriving,” settling, integration and “receiving the gifts.”
The story is not over yet!
As we continue to Dance, the Story will Change and the Forms will evolve.
Long May We Celebrate the Gifts of Life and Dance Ourselves Awake!
With All Our Relations! Ho!