Ecstatic Dance was born on the Big Island (Hawai'i) at the oceanside retreat center 'Kalani Honua' (Heaven on Earth), a few kilometers from the Kilauea volcano. There, in 2001, Max Fathom with the support of Elisabeth Betwixt, DJ Sprocket and Justin Hilton, all of them assistants of the center, decided to continue offering movement classes for a lady named Bhoditara. She called her class ex-ecstatic dance, and used pre-recorded cassette tapes. Max had prior experience in Texas participating in a mindful dance community (Sweat Your Prayers). Besides this little group, they had just returned from the famous festival in the desert "Burning Man", seduced by electronic music. All the pieces were put together for the creation of the Ecstatic Dance, with time and experience they were shaping it until creating the guidelines that we know.
Today it is widespread and is all the rage in much of the US, especially in the state of California, and most of the European capitals.
From "Ecstatic Dance" by Albert Pala
Ecstatic Dance is based on a number of rhythms, when danced in sequence, are known as a "Wave". The Wave starts slow, takes us into ecstasy and brings us back into stillness.
Vintage Video from the early days
The practice puts the body in motion in order to still the mind. It draws from indigenous and world traditions using tenets of shamanistic, ecstatic, mystical and eastern philosophy.
Fundamental to the practice is the idea that everything is energy, and moves in waves, patterns and rhythms.
This is a soul journey, by moving the body, releasing the heart, and freeing the mind, one can connect to the essence of the soul, the source of inspiration in which an individual has unlimited possibility and potential.
