The Shortest Distance Between Two Worlds Is a Dance

© Copyright 2024 Fran Carey, All Rights Reserved.

Native cultures around the world have, for centuries, danced like the animals around them. They do this ritually, to celebrate and honor the animals from which they are descended, as well as those with whom their survival is intertwined. Ballet teachers have their students dance like animals, plants, storms, or other nature phenomenon as a way to learn to think outside the plié. Shamans use similar movements in healing ceremonies. Dance can bring nature to you whenever and wherever you are. Although you might feel a touch silly dancing “river” in the checkout line at the grocery.

Look at the animals around you. The spiders. The pigeons. The squirrels. Their anatomy is different than ours. Their muscles attach differently to the bones, and their bones orient differently to each other, so they move differently. Some don’t even have muscles and bones. Watch how they move. Consult the Great Oracle Google for slow motion, up close videos. Then try it yourself.

You can do this at home alone with the curtains closed, or outdoors in a natural space. This isn’t performance art. This is internalizing Nature, feeling the animals or rain or whatever. It’s also a good way to loosen up those tight muscles!

Don’t limit yourself to animals. Dance the rain. Stand tall and still. Spread your arms at shoulder level, then swing them back and forth, in front and behind you, keeping them level. Bring your arms down as you make wavy movements with your fingers like raindrops tracing a window. Whip them and your upper body around like the wind. Stomp like thunder. Snarl and slam your arms down like you’re throwing lightning. Be a gentle afternoon shower. Dance the rain you feel. There is no right or wrong. This is you owning the water element that is the rain.

Be a tree. Stand tall and still, then weep like a willow by bending at the waist, dangling and swinging your arms. Be an ash in a wind storm. Be tall and stoic as an oak. This one is an old dance class exercise. But you won’t be graded this time. Study your local trees and then dance them. Do your dance for the tree. I’ve yet to have one laugh at me. With me, maybe, but never at me.

There is no limit to the things you can be in your dance. Use props if you want, but don’t take them from trees or whoever might be still using them.

Use dance to bring Nature indoors to you when you can’t get out to visit Her, or to get in touch with plants, animals, or ecosystems far from you. Be a meerkat in Denver. An elephant in South Beach. A river in Death Valley.

Music is not even needed for this type of dance, but it can be a nice accompaniment. Choose something appropriate. The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Baby Elephant’s Walk. Sounds of Nature Thunderstorm. Anything that gets you in the head space for the animal or force you want to explore. Wear any sort of clothing you want, with the note that it’s best if it’s something in which you can move freely. Something flowing does nicely for Willow or River. Shoes are also optional, although spinning hurts on most surfaces without at least socks to smooth things out. And ballet shoes wear out fast on concrete or carpet.

Dance is also a traditional way to do nature magic, to bring about a desired change or result. Dancing the hunt is a very old, established way to put meat on the table. The shaman connects to the deer, then the hunters ritually stalk and kill him as he asks the Deer Spirits to send someone to feed the humans. The Rain Dance is a real thing. So do be careful when doing your dance. Try not to wash your area off the map.

Thinking twice is always a good rule for any sort of magic, and dances can be sympathetic magic. While nature spirituality is not, by definition, magic, the practice can be a part of your larger magical practice, or it can be a companion to most any religious path, or a stand-alone form of spirituality. The choice is yours. But do research anything you try to copy from the internet or from rituals you’ve seen from other cultures. No cultural appropriation and don’t do any sort of ritual if you aren’t sure on context and purpose. Again, don’t drown your town. It’s just rude.

Now about Trance Dancing. Because of the rhythmic, repetitive movements, dance can be a form of meditation, and can be used to induce a light, or not so light, hypnotic state. There are modern dance styles that use drugs to enhance the hypnotic effect of the music and the moves, as well as others who do trance dance as part of a complete shamanic practice and course of study. Google it if you are truly interested in the latter. But you don’t have to do an immersive study program to get in touch with yourself and the Universe through dance. Trance dance is not specifically about connecting with Nature, but you can get there from here.

This does require some setup. The music does need to be repetitive, with no highs or lows worthy of remark. “Dead Can Dance” and “Enigma” were the groups to which I was first exposed. Dim, soft lighting works best, as does some incense. Again, nothing really strong, but not too subtle, either. Clothes that don’t draw your attention to the way they feel are a necessity. Shoes are for reducing friction and preventing sore feet only.

Clear your dance space. You aren’t going to be looking at the floor, so make sure you clean up any trip hazards. Turn off the phone or put it in Airplane Mode if it’s the sound source. Put the cat in the other room so Meowsic doesn’t get stepped on. Start standing still in the middle of the room. Now put your body in motion. Move the way you feel, but do it to the beat of the music, and keep it smooth. Traditionally, you would move in a circle, from the inside out, then back to the center, but do what feels right for you. Once you relax into the movement and the moment, quit thinking. Feel the music and become one with it. Yeah, this takes some practice.

Do this alone or with very close friends until you feel comfortable. Make sure there is room enough you don’t smack each other too hard or too often. That really breaks the mood. After you have done a few sessions in which you don’t set a focus before you start, try to set a focus. Start with something simple, like Meowsic the cat. Set up your space, turn on the music, light the incense, and turn down the lights. Look at a picture of a cat, yours or a random one. Stare at it for a few minutes. Bring to conscious awareness as many “cat” associations as you can, preferably good ones. The feel of the fur and the purr. How cute a kitten is playing with a feather toy. The way a cat slinks when he knows you’re watching and he’s literally strutting his stuff. A pounce on a favorite catnip mouse. Now set aside the picture, get up, and dance. Hold the cat images in your mind so they are the last conscious thing before you let yourself sink into the music and the dance. Connect with the cat energy. Trance dance the cat.

If you tend to get really into this sort of exercise, make a playlist on your phone or computer, or make a mix tape, of music that ends with a “wake-up” song or two. Something that will bring you back to ordinary reality, but not too fast. Much as I love Life’s Been Good to Me So Far, it’s not ideal for this purpose. Talk about a crash landing back into your body! Some people find a chime or bell works best for them. I’ve always been partial to the music just stopping. I know it’s time to do something then, like turn off the CD switch on the player so it doesn’t burn out the contacts. Too much time working at Radio Shack is my excuse.

After the dance session, have a snack and something to drink. Not only does this replace the glycogen and glucose you burned and rehydrate you, it helps you reconnect to your body and get centered in the here and now again.

It’s also a good idea to write down what you experienced, what you felt, saw, heard, anything that was not a direct and expected part of the physical experience of dancing in a dim room with a distinctive scent and music that probably is not what you listen to in the car.

Dancing is a good way to get a major endorphin hit. It also improves cardiovascular health if done regularly and enthusiastically, and increases flexibility, and core strength. It burns calories, can be a low impact exercise, and can be done solo or with any number of other people. It can connect you to Nature, your body, and your fellow inhabitants of Planet Earth. Get up, everybody, and dance!

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