Trance Dancing - Gaining Access to Alternate Reality

Do you remember losing yourself while dancing? I do.

There was a place back in the 70's called Purgatory, an 'after hours' club in London, Ontario that opened its doors around midnight and closed with the early dawn.

They named it wrong, because it really was 'Heaven'.

It was there that I saw, first hand, what I call Urban Trance Dancing. Insane non-stop dancing, no-one sitting, no-one dancing with anyone in particular; it was all of us dancing with everyone else, for everyone else and, lastly, for ourselves. It was magic. It was cleansing and it's the oldest form of connecting to the spiritual realm.

Megan Biesele writes:

Though dreams may happen at any time, the central religious experiences of Ju/'hoan life are consciously and, as a matter of course, approached through the avenue of trance. The trance dance involves everyone in society, those who enter trance and experience the power of the other world directly, and those to whom the benefits of the other world - healing and insight - are brought by the trancers... Through the physical and artistic discipline of the highly structured dance, an altered state of consciousness is produced in some of the participants which has benefits for the entire community. Contact with the beyond is regularly made, and all who come to the dance experience an uplifting energy which they feel to be a necessary part of their lives.

Biesele from Women Like Meat University of Witwatersrand Press, pg. 70,74

Related link with some sound tracks of the traditional San songs:

music000001.blogspot.com...

Googling 'Trance Dance' will connect you with thousands of links to Hip Hop, New Age Alpha Wave CD's and many other examples of the modern music back to The Source.

But here is what it all boils down to: Rhythmic drumming, Singing, and, most of all, dancing as one.

I was at a 'Buck and Doe' recently because a niece was getting hitched. A great DJ who knew how to work a crowd, hundreds of people aged between 18 and 30 and NOT ONE PERSON DANCING!!! Unbelievable.

Are we that far removed from the urge to 'let go'?

We need to reconnect with each other and the spirits that guide us. Trance dancing is slowly becoming recognized again through the efforts of Hip Hop artists and many other modern forms. It's time to get onto the dance floor and lose ourselves in the beat until we're exhausted.

That's how we can regain our community, our universal spirit and touch alternate realities.

I'm interested in your thoughts on this. Trance dancing involves some dangerous aspects since not every spirit in that alternate realm is friendly. There are dangers as well and I'd like to discuss them too. Are we afraid to lose ourselves in dance? Should we be? Is it worth the risk?

This reminds me of that scene in the doors movie where Jims dancing around in a trance like state and sees an indian.
I don't dance but I get the same trance like feeling when i play hand drums.(djembe)
Nothing wrong with escaping once in awhile and theres many things that make you feel that way.

I am not sure on an alternate reality so much as an alternate state of mind.

[edit on 6-11-2009 by DrumsRfun]

Psychedelic trance is the way forward.

Cleverly designed to operate on frequencies that put you in states of near meditation.

For me it was the 90's and the rave scene, but i know what you mean.

Listen to happy hardcore, and tell me how quickly with some lights and dark room, you go into one.

Given that its part of old religions, to do this, i.e trance dancing, its been known for along time.

[edit on 11/6/2009 by andy1033]

www.youtube.com...

^^ This

3rd line.

Originally posted by mr-lizard
www.youtube.com...

^^ This

3rd line.

I always prefered, the ups and downs of happy hardcore, over trance, and techno.

Listen to the piano sounds in happy hardcore, and tell what what you feel. lol

You also might be interested in reading about the Mawlawi Order, also known as the Whirling Dervishes. They sometimes report being caught up in a kind of mysticism as they dance.

WOW this is another intresting thread.

Listening to the youtube tune as I type.

Oh nooes! Could this be another plague coming on?

Could this be a historical repeat of the Dancing Plague of 1518 where people began to dance non-stop to their deaths? Most of the dancers died from heart attack, stroke, and exhaustion.

After ruling out astrological and supernatural events as a cause, the physicians announced it was a "natural disease" caused by "hot blood".

lol jaahhaa

I am using some psy to run ... its good .. you can follow the beats .. it helps u

www.youtube.com...

Interesting thread! I heartily agree that not all spirits one encounters are benevolent. There is an inherent danger in people opening themselves to the spirit realm without proper learning or preparation. I think that dancing is similar to certain drugs in this aspect, opening doorways that we may not be ready to see beyond. More than a few people have had their lives destroyed because of this.
Sadly, few people are trained anymore to walk in the spirit realm, Even our institutional religions shy away from it. Cults are the groups that jump in and let god only knows what come in and take control.
Shamanism is a world-wide tradition that has nearly died. I am both encouraged and somewhat afraid of those that want to just jump right into it and find a new aspect to their technology-driven lives. You know the type - "hey, lets do a sweat lodge! it's really cool!" without any clue as to what it means or how and why it is done. Sadly, i think that the group out in the southwest who died recently during a sweatlodge were exactly those types. One should never pay for anything hyped as a spiritual experience, that's for sure! Good intent alone is not sufficient to prepare oneself.
Without a previous connection to nature one should avoid trying contacting spirits. You will need helpers and they come to you when you experience nature in a deeper way. If you want to try this, go outside and ask the great spirit for guidance and helpers in meditation. This is where to start, your foundation to build upon if you seek to enter the spirit realm. Don't put your head in the clouds unless your feet are connected to the earth.
Back to the original point I think that there is currently some kind of malaise that is keeping people from opnely expressing joy and peace. Dark forces have come and now openly oppress those who do not have the power to deal with them. Today's fight is NOT political, it is spiritual and I fear we are all in grave danger. Keep love and light close to your heart in all things, live with care and deliberation.
If we can find the beauty in all things humanity will prevail, otherwise we will continue our spiral of destruction. I wish strength to all in their life journey.

reply to post by masqua


I remember :-)

interesting - because I was just talking about this with a friend very recently

80s - new wave/skaa/reggae (and Santana)

all night...never ending

Originally posted by DrumsRfun
I don't dance but I get the same trance like feeling when i play hand drums.(djembe)

The drumbeat syncs with the heartbeat so that both become one.

Mesmerizing effects that have a potential greater than the sum of its parts. I'm with you on that. Regarding the difference between alternate reality and an alternate state of mind, this is at the center of what this thread is about.

Originally posted by mr-lizard
Cleverly designed to operate on frequencies that put you in states of near meditation.

Absolutely and, imo, is what meditation is all about. One can stare at a candle in silence or trot yourself ragged in dance... it's all about dropping the ego and letting go. Once the 'monkey brain' stops yammering about schedules, the latest terror threat or how much it wants an M&M, it opens a channel to the unconscious.

Originally posted by andy1033
Given that its part of old religions, to do this, i.e trance dancing, its been known for along time.

VERY old religions. In fact, I'd call it the Proto-religion. The beat, the song and dancing ties in with the earliest forms of social interaction. When I think of how the activity has survived for more than 100,000 years and still alive and kicking today, it's obvious there is more to it than just 'fun', imo.

Originally posted by Toromos
the Whirling Dervishes.

Couldn't stress this example enough. The tie between the dervishes and a connection to the spiritual is well documented.

Originally posted by Alethea
Could this be a historical repeat of the Dancing Plague of 1518

Wow... had me going to Google for that one!

Historian John Waller thinks that the dancing epidemic was caused by mass psychogenic illness (MPI), a manifestation of mass hysteria that is often preceded by extreme levels of psychological distress. Waller states that famine had been prevalent in the region for some time, caused by very cold winters, very hot summers, crop frosts, and violent hailstorms.[1][3] Mass deaths followed from malnutrition, and those who survived were forced to kill their farm animals, take out loans, and perhaps even beg in the streets. In addition to food shortages, diseases such as smallpox, syphilis, leprosy, and "the English sweat" (a new disease) afflicted the populace, as well as "spiritual despair on a scale unknown for generations."[3] This series of events might have triggered the MPI.

en.wikipedia.org...

Fascinating. It's as if the hardship of the famine caused people to break down to their most basic urges and began dancing, not to save themselves, as shown by the fact so many died, but to alleviate their suffering. Thanks for this because it enforces what I intend to bring out in this thread.

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
Sadly, few people are trained anymore to walk in the spirit realm, Even our institutional religions shy away from it. Cults are the groups that jump in and let god only knows what come in and take control.

Great post.

Certainly an apt comment, considering what Alethea mentioned above. Most people caught up in the materialistic trappings of the Western World have not only lost the ability to 'let go' of themselves, but they sure as heck can't seem to dance anymore either.

The extremes to which dance can go, if we were to grade things are frightening if one begins to look hard enough. The most obvious example would perhaps be in voodoo rituals, where we've often seen clips of people passing out, falling to the ground shiverring and shaking. This is not fakery. It happens.

There are reports of blood running freely from the nose and even death.

That is the direction I'd like to take this topic into. What happens to people when they lose themselves so completely that they fall unconscious? What is the mechanism of the brain which causes this? Why are accounts of visiting the spirit world so common as a result of shamanistic dance?

Originally posted by Spiramirabilis
80s - new wave/skaa/reggae (and Santana)

all night...never ending

Funny you mention Skaa I'm planning on including quite a bit on that particular subject.

reply to post by masqua


I should have mentioned how much I miss that - part of what we were talking about

it's a difficult feeling to explain - mesmerizing

reply to post by Spiramirabilis


It'd be hard to talk about ska (or skaa) without touching on the Rude Boys



Another Rude Boys vid:

www.youtube.com...

Jamiaican music with Latin/African roots which got really hot in the 60's. The simple two-tone beat is easy to dance to, especially when the two forms, Skanking (bent knees, arms cocked and striking out with fists) and the Skinhead Stomp (same thing with a more violent moves. My favourite, and the one I've always done, is the Rude boys Skank.

But let's get to the basics here. Watch the posture and moves on these dancers carefully:



Notice the bent forward posture?

Compare what you saw to the following report about the San of South Africa. The San Trance Dance is one of the best documented ritual dances.

...men frequently carry dancing sticks on which they rest their weight as their bodies are bent sdharply forward at the waist so that their chests are nearly parallel to the ground.

San Spirituality J D Lewis-Williams/D G Pearce - Altimira Press pg 88

Interesting to note that a ritual dance in the Kalahari with a history going back thousands of years can once again become a popular craze in the early 60's and carry on being popular for 50 years afterwards.

To any onlooker, both the style of dancing, as well as the music itself, would be almost identical.

Warning: 'National Geographic' style nudity possible

www.youtube.com...
www.youtube.com...

Even the youngest children get the moves down pat:

www.youtube.com...

Some things just never fade away. There's a reason for that and it has to do with neurological hardwiring.

there is nothing more in my whole life that i love to experience more than the dance. it is such a difficult thing to come by anymore (for me). the variables involving such an event only synch up once every few years, but when they do it makes EVERYTHING worth it.

i djed a private party a few weeks ago...played a wide variety of musics...very very little dancing. ?!?!

for some reason, dancing and singing are things that people "can't do". i have always wondered why? they are both totally natural and spiritually fulfilling. i fear that our modern world strongly discourages both the natural and the spiritually fulfilling.


but people crave it. and it is totally amazing when it happens.

reply to post by masqua


Rude Boys... :-)

this subject really interests me masqua

so, because I couldn't help myself - here's a bunch - all pretty short - just the links

this will probably bore most people to tears - but I had fun :-)

was looking for dance for the sake of dance - not as much performance

www.youtube.com... __Chechen disco (I kid you not)
www.youtube.com... __Sioux
www.youtube.com... __Sioux
www.youtube.com... __Japan
www.youtube.com... __Greece
www.youtube.com... __Inuit
www.youtube.com... __China
www.youtube.com... __Haiti
www.youtube.com...
www.youtube.com... __Hasidic
www.youtube.com... __Tibet
www.youtube.com... __Tuareg
www.youtube.com...
www.youtube.com...
www.youtube.com... __Australian - Aborigine
www.youtube.com... __Syria
www.youtube.com... __Morocco






[edit on 11/7/2009 by Spiramirabilis]

Originally posted by andy1033

Originally posted by mr-lizard
www.youtube.com...

^^ This

3rd line.

I always prefered, the ups and downs of happy hardcore, over trance, and techno.

Listen to the piano sounds in happy hardcore, and tell what what you feel. lol

I like UK Hardcore - just listening to it - but dancing to that might be odd - I prefer progressive trance/house (tiesto/avb) for dancing i.e. rave scene

I also think belly dancing is interesting – it’s not just about the performance for entertainment that we usually see. Women often dance together – just to dance - and it can be pretty hypnotic

I had a very hard time finding good examples – thousands upon thousands of sexy, spangly, exotic belly dance videos... :-)

then these:



Zar

For centuries women in Africa and the Middle East have used this music to cure pain in times of stress or illness...

good explanation here: www.youtube.com...





Buddhist trance dance



[edit on 11/7/2009 by Spiramirabilis]

For those who like ambient, beautiful airy music then i suggest you download this (free and legal).

www.ektoplazm.com...-20701

Outstanding