In 2018 the FolkTranceParty research and workshop happened for the first time at the ImPulsTanz festival and as the result of this workshop were many ecstatic bodies in space. Now FolktranceParty comes back in a new form. Ecstatic Body? What does this mean? Being high on drugs, sexy and enlightened? Well, no and maybe. The Ecstatic Body is used here as a symbol of the ecstatic potential – the ability of self empowerment, natural high, expansion of consciousness and the freedom – we all carry and are able to access and practise through meditation, dancing, singing, breathing, rituals, party, intimacy – in a conscious and mindful way and therefore anchored by and in our bodies.
This workshop proposes ways to discover this ecstatic potential, which allows us to drop into a state of being moved rather than moving actively. The tools for this will be Folk, Trance and Party used in four stages of getting in touch. Getting in touch with: self, other, all and the unknown. Self as in starting with practices on our own in silence, then getting in touch with the other as couples, later into the all by group practices and then into the unknown. Folk comes in by using social dances, folkdance and -music (all) and couple dances (other). The confrontation with Folk is there as well, to get in touch with our relation to blocks and boundaries of the personal and social body and in couples. Additionally it will create a relation to our national body, national identity, roots and home. Trance is used here as a symbol for transformational processes, meditation (self) or states of being moved (the unknown). Party describes a way of transformation and learning by using joyful resources, accessing pleasure and celebrating. Here we use conscious dancefloor and – party practices, mindfulness practices and body oriented practices like whirling, shaking, latihan, etc.
Simon MayerMahara McKay
