Come early and join us in our opening circle at 9 pm while we all set the spirit of our dancing Journeys. Please remember our invitation to respect the intention of the three seperate 'Rooms'.
Theme: Vocal Play with facilitator Jaia & 2 DJs JAIAquarian with a rich background in both movement and vocal activation will lead us on a journey that embraces the voice as a tool for deepening our relationship to music and dance. Basing our exploration on the Four Elements, you will be invited to use tones, call and response chants as well as tapping into the more playful and primal sounds that emerge from the vocal-energetic relationship to the music. The night promises to be an exuberant celebration of our inner and outer soundscapes. For the first time, Journeys is welcoming DJ Mars (aka DJ Diggity). Sharing DJ duties will be resident DJ Abheeru. There will be a beautiful mix of organic and electronic sounds from ethnic fusion, worldbeat, tribal chants, to progressive, house and live vocal loops to dance our voices up and out of the body, tuning our inner music with the help of the outer. Active meditation at 7:30 pm and Journeys opening circle at 9 pm.
PAST JOURNEYS
This Journeys was facilitated by Abheeru (a first for him!) and his partner Alexandra and was inspired by their recent commitment celebrated on the Winter Solstice. This month intentional dance evening, titled Sacred Union, was an opportunity for those newlyweds to share their passion for experiencing the Beloved through dance, meditation, celebration and community. They infused the room with love and guide the dancers using music, awareness, sacred poetry from Rumi, Hafiz & Tagore. Also contributing to the evening was Zamir playing his truly magical hun instrument. DJ Spaceman Spliff from BeLeaf Productions and DJ Abheeru from Just Dance fined tune their infectious Global Fusion music to support the energy and what will emerge from this transformative evening.
Theme: Liquid Light with facilitator Stephanie Lafazanos and 2 DJs An imaginative Journey exploring the brilliant light and liquid nature of our energy!
We began this Journey by creating an energy field and shifted it into different forms and personalities. We later settled on one or two particular expressions or form inviting them to offer the 'medicine' we may have needed and ended by dissolving into the light that helps us to feel openness. Two DJs, Ashkant from Telepaphone Productions and Abheeru from Just Dance fine tuned their infectious Global Fusion music to support each stage of this process and the let go of what will emerge from this transformative evening.
Theme: Water Dance with facilitator Michelle Ivy + 2 DJs We explored the wonders of water through dance, movement and sound. The four phases of water served as a structure for exploring our relationship to essential nourishment. During the evening we took time to make meaningful connections with ourselves, our environment and eachother through a gentle, freeing practice of movement, dance and poetry. With DJ Mazeguider and DJ Aerion and award-winning poet Ray Hsu who offered poetry to deepen the journey upriver. Michelle Ivy is a registered yoga, dance and Bellyfit instructor who loves to facilitate fun, healthy and strengthening practices for body, mind and spirit. She has studied dance therapy with The Wesley Institute of Dance Therapy and has taught yoga and dance at UBC, outdoor music festivals, weddings and at Yoga by the Sea in Roberts Creek for the past five years.
Theme: Alchemy of Shadow and Light with facilitator Little Woo + 2 DJs This Journey began by dancing from our Shadow and into our Light. Then we moved behind the of Veils of Maya before integrating using the power of Alchemy. To navigate those stages (and this is optional), you could dance with giant pieces of fabrics that will be backlit and allow you to create shadow dancing behind the 'Veil of Maya'!! Also blindfolds were provided for you to experiment with darkness while dancing your shadow! An awesome and transformational night!!! Little Woo is a performance artist, community builder and spiritual counselor in Vancouver, BC. Through her art and her Epic Alchemy workshops, she shares inspiring teachings and tools for personal transformation. She is actively involved in diverse events from party festivals to wellness retreats, and has been featured in publications such as the Georgia Straight, the Vancouver Sun and Shared Vision. www.littlewoo.org DJ Jacob Cino is a pioneer of dub and its fusions. He has been producing and MCing for over 16 years. Cutting his teeth with years of hip hop, dub and drum'n'bass MC’ing and DJ’ing, the founder of the Vancouver group Third Eye Tribe Jacob continues to explore and producing new territories mixing in influence of World Musik with Electronic Beat Riddims. www.thirdeyetribe.bc.ca DJ Abheeru discovered music with a passion in his late teens while he began playing keyboards in local touring bands. Later, he encountered World Music first hand during his travels to over 40 countries. This inspired him to create Just Dance and for the last 16 years, he has cultivated a profound relationship with dance; one that became an ecstatic, spiritual and full-on body experience. Theme: ONE Village with facilitator Jacky Essombe + DJ Nils & DJ Ashkant! In this unique Journey, we traveled to Africa and connected with our tribal roots. We joined a tribe of brothers and sisters and make a conscious decision to Belong. We danced and celebrated life with our community as we honored those who have walked before us and made it possible for us to be here. Jacky Essombe is a “cultural liaison” between the African and the Western worlds. Her passion for her culture has inspired her to become a professional dancer, dance teacher, storyteller, She uses dance as a medium to express life to its fullest and also as a journey to a higher level of consciousness. She truly believes that the Western world can benefit from the traditional African heritage (www.JackyEssombe.com). The evening was supported by the musical tapestry of 2 of Vancouver most respected DJ NILS and DJ ASHKANT who provided music for an open and sacred space for your dance.
Theme: ONE Love with Bruno BE One Love with Bruno Be will explore the dept of our hearth and Universal connection trough dance. This Journey will lead you to open your hearth to the music and to connect with one another in the room. To dance as One and feel the energy circulating and amplifying as we look at each other as being all human beyond judgements and fears. About Bruno BE: Bruno Be is an inspirational DJ, MC, Didgeridoo player, hand drummer and percussionist. Is music his uplifting and original, it will take you on a journey that truly nourish your soul. His music is real and touching, often organic, tribal and trance induce, with a lot of live instruments and inspiring vocals. He is one of those DJs with the purpose of raising our consciousness and vibration and to make your soul dance trough you.
Theme: Deep Rhythm & Tribe with Navaro Franco + 2 DJs Rhythm & Dance are tribal 'technologies' that have helped humans throughout time to be connected and in harmony with each other and the natural world. Rhythm is the 'glue' that holds Universes and time together! We will work with rhythm as a tool to ground, enliven, uplift and activate our bodies, connect us to the dancing tribe in the room, and connect us to rhythms. Anchoring with the beat grounds our energy and allows us to lift higher, expanding and opening into joy! Those tools will allow us to deepen and expand in our own dance journeys, and in our connection to the Whole. Navaro Franco has been drumming and dancing for over 25 years. She has studied music and dance in North America and Africa with renowned teachers such as the Chigamba family, Gordy Ryan of Olatunji's Drums of Passion, and Babatunde Olatunji. Navaro has also deeply explored dance in the forms of Contact Improv and Improvisation, as well as studying African Dance, and modern ecstatic dance forms. She has taught and performed drumming and ecstatic dance to thousands of people over the past 20 years. Visit her at www.navarofranco.com and www.OneWithDrum.com Theme: Energetic InterPlay with Howler & Friends + DJ Jeet-K This will be a fusion of diverse talents as we journey into greater awareness of the energy flowing through our bodies with the guidance of Laurence Davies. Then we shake off and play with this energy with some group improvisational theatre directed by Ilya Parizhsky. Then Howler integrates all of these as he sets the stage for us to be reborn upon it, exploring inner questions, being witnessed by our peers beyond the boundaries of the material realm. Jeet-K a.k.a. DJ Mazeguider weaves a spectrum of delightful & dance-inspiring rhythms, ranging from techno & electro to progressive & a wide variety of downtempo. He started as a disc jockey 15 years ago as a hip hop artist & producer of electronic music playing live-PA & originals. Now he is a versatile DJ of many styles and always lays down a unique journey distinguished by a deeply feeling taste for meaningful, compelling dance-floor frenzy.
Theme: Dialogues on the dance floor with Philip Clement A heart based evening of creating community on the dance floor -- using the language of dance and contact improvisation for non verbal improvised in-the-moment movement dialogues -- in and out of contact. All organic naturally sweetened user friendly for solo, partnering, and group improvisation where boundary setting & boundary stretching, creativity & physical wellness... all occur naturally. Two DJs, Ashkant from Telepaphone Productions and Abheeru from Just Dance fine tuned their infectuous Fusion music to support each stage of this process and the let go of what will emerge from this transformative evening. About Philip Clement. Philip was bit by the dance improvisation bug in July 1976, and has been infected ever since. Experiencing and teaching touch & movement therapies, and heart based dialogue, from both his natural and learned skills. www.philipclement.com Theme: Union with Stephanie Lafazanos Union was a Journey from birth, through the polarities and inner marriage of masculine and feminine to the let go and surrender of death. Awaken and feel the orgasmic energy that pervades all of life, that gives us life. Give birth to yourself and own your power. Reclaim the power to be you. Merge your masculine and feminine into a dialog, a dance of union and divine marriage. Finally let go and witness what emerges in the transformation as you die to yourself... Two DJs, Nils from Beats without Borders and Abheeru from Just Dance fine tuned their infectuous Fusion music to support each stage of this process and the let go of what will emerge from this transformative evening. About Stephanie Lafazanos. Stephanie is a healer, teacher, certified as a Medical Intuitive and Tantric practitioner. She is inspired by the magic of life and enjoys leading classes and workshops in movement, healing, meditation, qigong and Tantra. She believes in empowering individuals to discover and celebrate their truth through the wisdom of their own body. She holds sacred space for the blossoming of all souls. Intune Holistics and Shakti Om~Training In Sacred Intimacy are her evolving practices in Vancouver. www.intuneholistics.com
Theme: Soulful Steps with Bettina Rothe For the first Journeys of this new season, we offered an evening of intentional dancing, weaving together through a magical sound landscape to liberate our bodies, hearts and minds in order to take Soulful Steps on the dance floor and in our lives. Facilitator Bettina Rothe returned to Journeys to expand and deepen on her previous experience with us. She lightly guided us in a dance and movement exploration of who we are and where we stand in the world. Music was spun by two DJs, Bettina and Abheeru, who provided specific rhythms and sonic landscape for each of the five segments of this journey... About Bettina Rothe. She has studied various healing movement arts, meditation and shamanic practices around the world. She fell in love with the 5Rhythms practice of Gabrielle Rothe while living at the Esalen Institute in California and later became a licensed 5Rhythms dance teacher. She has been facilitating movement and meditation classes and workshops nationally and internationally since 1998. You can find more information about her and her weekly workshop by visiting her website at www.soulfulsteps.com
Theme: The Alchemy of Sensuality with Little Woo How does your Sensual Self interact with the World? How do you connect to events, people, places and things? How can we be more present and comfortable in our own skin? Come practice the sacred art of Sensuality through movement and dance! Learn how to engage all your senses and your consciousness in a playful and liberating way. Connect more deeply to your natural state of body bliss Little Woo is a performance artist, community builder and spiritual counselor in Vancouver, BC. Through her art and her Epic Alchemy workshops, she shares inspiring teachings and tools for personal transformation. She is actively involved in diverse events from party festivals to wellness retreats, and has been featured in publications such as the Georgia Straight, the Vancouver Sun and Shared Vision. www.littlewoo.org Guest DJ: Adrian from Beats without Borders. Adrian is a producer, multi-instrumentalist & DJ who has played in several bands.He looks forward to performing at more conscious events that involve ritual, performance, & intention to invoke the magik, healing, & peace in these crazy mad times we find ourselves in. Adrian makes music & performs because he loves to share music with people & make them dance, heal, integrate, vibrate, & zone out in the multiple dimensions that music can navigate. www.BeatsWithoutBorders.com
Theme: Roots with Jacky Essombe In this African Journey, we traveledl to Africa and connected with our tribal roots. We listened to messages passed on to us and we released whatever diid not serve us in order to provide new spaciousness. We consciously welcomed the guidance of our ancestors in the unfolding of our life, through the metaphor of our dance. We danced our gratitude and we celebrated the widening of our community, made richer by our connection with our ancestry. Jacky Essombe is a “cultural liaison” between the African and the Western worlds. Her passion for her culture has inspired her to become a professional dancer, dance teacher, storyteller, trainer, speaker and a TV and radio show host. She uses dance as a medium to express life to its fullest and also as a journey to a higher level of consciousness. In all her work, including her increasingly popular African Healing Dance Workshop, she loves to share the traditions, history and culture of Africa, and the wisdom of her ancestors, and she truly believes that the Western world can benefit from the traditional African heritage. www.JackyEssombe.com.
Theme: Freedom Dances - Journey of the Light Warrior with Yemaya Renuka We explored the energy of the Light Warrior. Together we danced through Roots, Time, Space, Love and Action. We stood in the Center of our Dreams, ready to activate and manifest, simultaneously expanding upward and grounding. Calling the Warrior as protector, Warrior as disciple of Truth; the part of us who practices the discipline of searching for truth within oneself, within relationships, and the world. Once we found what makes our heart vibrates to its highest frequency, we moved into action with grace. Yemaya Renuka Duby comes from a background of Somatic therapy, traditional Yoga studies, a life long of wild dancing and personal and community healing. She originated Freedom Dances, a form of Ecstatic Dance designed to empower participants from the core and to invoke trust in the sacred beauty of life among the group. Intoxicating music tunes, magical dance maps, Shamanic Body Maps™, laughter and tears weave the tapestry for deep transformation. www.FreedomDances.com
Theme: The Dance of Polarities with Soasis and Zach In this Journeys, you were invited to play, explore, move in and out of the balance, up and down through the middle, over the edge, up to the sky, and come to rest in the center of a deep and peace full stillness. We danced to the map of the 5 Rhythms with our attention on the polarities that exist in the body, heart and mind as a way to cultivate awareness and a sense of knowing. As wife and husband, Soasis and Zach are naturally full time students of polarities and hope to share their love and commitment to living a conscious life through this moving meditation practice. Soasis Sukuweh has been facilitating 5Rhythms internationally for groups of all ages, ethnicity's, means and abilities for over a decade. She is also a mother, lover, singer, dancer and teacher. Zach, is a sound vibrational healer, a performing musician and facilitates workshops in learning to play the dijeridu. Zach will add live dijeridu, percussion and vocals to make this event a sound vibrational healing. Theme: Earth Prayers with Navaro Franco and Pepe Danza EARTH PRAYERS is... a deepening into body consciousness and resonate sacred body and community space, a chance to awaken your body's vital forces and collectively send healing joy and prayers to living Gaia (Earth). Dance intentionally to break out of limiting trance and open into harmony with the beauty, power, and grace of your true Nature. Earth Prayers draws upon tribal earth-based traditions of rhythm, chant, & dance...and ancient to modern healing ecstatic dance practices. Navaro Franco has been facilitating Ecstatic Trance Dance for the past 7 years. She has studied dance and drumming in Africa, and has taught thousands of people She holds weekly and monthly drum and ecstatic dance space www.navarofranco.com Pepe Danza is an electrifying percussionist, multi-instrumentalist, teacher and composer. He has been a major force in World Music for many years. He is at the top of his field in Vancouver as a drummer and multi-instrumentalist. www.myspace.com/pepedanza
Theme: Kundalini Dance with Australian guest facilitator Leyolah Antara Kundalini Dance is a transformational dance form designed for people of all ages and fitness levels to activate their inner healer, rejuvenate the body and initiate positive life changes through the medium of ecstatic dance. Sensual, dynamic and trance-inducing, participants journey through the chakras, generating the potent healing energy within to release emotional stress and enhance life.Visiting from Australia, Leyolah Antara is a dance shaman, a transformational alchemist, a technician of ecstasy, a midwife for the soul's emergence into all it can be. Her work is deep and life changing, her heart is huge, her experience vast. Her work is a synthesis of chakra healing, dance therapy, transpersonal psychology, breathwork, sound healing and tantra. She has been teaching and developing Kundalini Dance both nationally and internationally for the past 15years. For more info visit: www.kundalini-dance.com
Theme: Freedom Dances with Yemaya Renuka Freedom Dances, an inspirational transformative ecstatic dance experience for all, is based on ancient tribal wisdoms and human evolution. Theme: FoolsPlay ~ Journey With Your Inner Child with Michael Bean Theme: Movement and Vocal Expression with Jaia Jaia Dax Be facilitated this Journeys by blending movement with a vocal activation. The focus was on a vocal activation and brought participants more fully into their experience of the music by deepening the relationship between the body and the voice. Participants felt a deep connection with their bodies through an exploration of the voice that included toning, call and response, chanting and spontaneous vocal expression as part of your movement experience. Jaia has been studying ecstatic dance and vocalisation for over ten years, recently founding a new form called the Infinity Process which incorporates universal sacred geometries of the body and the world around us into the experience of movement and voice.
Theme: Embodying Gratitude : Journeying thru Psyonic Yoga with Alia This Journeys focused on embodying gratitude. As we cultivated an attitude of gratitude by connecting deeply with our bodies and our heart, we experienced more love, joy and inner peace.Psyonic Yoga is a powerful fusion of yoga and dance. We open body, mind and spirit through form as breath guides us through the asanas. We then allow form to melt into fluidity as we explore movement impulses arising out of certain postures and body parts. From there we continued to follow our movement impulses allowing breath, music, the magic of the moment. This Journey was introduced and loosely facilitated by Alia Gunnlaugson who is a Certified Yoga Teacher and is the co-creator of Psyonic Yoga. She has a certificate in movement based Expressive Arts Therapy from the Tamalpa Institute and has studied a wide variety of Movement and Healing Arts over the past 25 years..
Theme: Extatic Wave: a Journey through the 5Rhythms with Bettina Rothe February's Journeys brought the framework of another dance modality: The 5Rhythms™. Created by Gabrielle Roth, this is a form of ecstatic dance that helps us to free our bodies, open our hearts and empty our minds. It is a workout for body and soul, a moving meditation, a spiritual practice designed to release the dancer. It’s a formless form, one that expands your range of physical and emotional expression and introduces you to forgotten parts of your self. This Journey was introduced and facilitated by local 5Rhythms teacher Bettina Rothe along with the musical magic of DJ Nils (of Beats without Borders) and DJ Jay Michael (of Area709).
Theme: Reflection with Luna Ravenchilde and guests An evening of Reflection. As we approached the longest night of the year, we looked within, reflecting on who and what we are and what has brought us there. Through the loving acceptance of the darkness both within and without, we opened ourselves to the light. Calling in the light, we danced to celebrate the return of the Sun. With the musical guidance of DJs Solus and Abheeru, a dance ceremony of polarity and balance (with Luna Ravenchilde and Michael Bean), plus special guests: Milan (Didjireedoo) and Theda Midler (improvisational vocalist). Theme: Devotion with Tarun and David Embry With a set of live electronic Kirtan by Tarun and David Embry of Blue Lotus Music, we explored our devotion to the divine within and without through sacred chanting, devotionally inspired music and dance. Also with two DJs, Solus and Abheeru, along with the devotionally inspired dance by Luna and Navaro, the altar by Ariel and the chill out space. Theme: Trance Dance with Thomas Fillingham At the final evening of the first season of Journeys, Thomas Fillingham guided our dancing journey using the tools of Trance Dance. Frank Natale re-created this dance approach from many indigenous traditions. It is done eyes closed or blindfolded, using a breathing method called the fire breath, and with music that will take you inwards into your sacred source. Theme: Journey To Healing with Navaro Franco Setting an intention for healing - we dance to let go of what does not serve, and open to receive what we want in our life. Navaro will offer gifts from her rich journey into the world of dance and drumming and set a sacred space for your exploration of a personal healing Journey. The evening will be divided into two parts, each including a continuous flow through a 5 part cycle: 1...the movement of energy from inner 2... to outer form 3... to expression and 4... transformation, and 5... back again to presence and stillness. Theme: Connecting the Tribes with Luna, Ki, Namgyle and guests There are many ways we can experience feelings of connectedness. For this Journeys, music, movement and dance guided through many layers and ways of reaching that satisfying feeling. The opening meditation gave an opportunity to fully 'arrive' at the hall with a unique mixture of movement, breath and stillness. After a short interlude, we joined in circle to state our intention. Ki and Abheeru then set the space for you to explore Connection starting from within, moving towards your immediate space and then with individuals, all using many Contact Dancing techniques. In the second half, Namgyle and Luna, kept expanding the circle of connections by including different aspects of our lives (friends, groups, communities, tribes,...) until we reached a place where we can clearly feel our Common Ground. Theme: Journeying to the 4 Directions with Luna and guests Inspired by the sacred sweatlodge ceremony, we explored four rounds of dancing that each began with brief guidance. We sweat together journeying through the four sacred directions. The rounds started in the East - honoring the Earth and all it provided for us, and taking time to get in touch with ourselves, our bodies and our intention for the evening. We then honored the South - inviting into our lives the element of fire, igniting our passions and remembering to play and using this round to really dance all of our prayers. Next was the West - honoring water, the dreamtime, and retreating within - it is here that we listened for the answers to our prayers and receive guidance. Finally we danced in the North - calling on the element of air to bring us higher awareness and the mental clarity we needed, in this round we danced with lightness, gratitude and celebration for all we experienced in our lives, and for all that this dance ceremony has given us.
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What is Just Dance Journeys? Journeys is the new third monthly Just Dance event that combines infectuous Global Beat music and sacred space for you to dance your Journey. While Journeys is in many ways similar to a regular Just Dance evening (world music, no smoking-no alcohol, same local, early meditation, etc?), it also offers a different format that will support more intentional dancing.How is it different than a regular Just Dance? During Journeys, everything from the evening theme, the music and the environment provides an open space to take your dancing to a deeper place. Call it an opportunity to tribal dance, sweat your prayers, shamanic journeying; the focus is on the dancers and their expression and freedom. To support this spirit, Journeys will be less of a socializing event, at least in terms of verbal communications.Who offers Journeys? For this new event, Abheeru expands the Just Dance team and welcomes many talented and experienced folks from different dance communities. In no particular order, the lineup includes Luna from Ekstasis Dance, Nils from Beats without Borders, Nararo from One with Drums, Ariel and many others. Click here for detailed Bios.How is sacred space provided? Each month, Journeys features a unique theme that is brought to life by all the members of this multitalented crew as each evening is hosted by different combination of DJs and facilitators. Brief sections of the evening, including opening and closing circles, are offered to set the spirit the theme and the general guiding principles for the journey. Click here for details on the next Journeys.How will the hall be used? For Journeys, our hall is arranged in three distinctive spaces. The main central floor is where dancing and circles happen, the front foyer and adjacent coatroom where (verbal) socializing is and the stage will host the sacred space that will include chill out and healing/massage areas. Also watch how unique altars and decorative elements will complement each theme night. Click here for more details on the rooms.Are children welcomed to Journeys? As with our other Just Dance events, Journeys is community based and is open to all ages. We invite parents or guardians to explain to their youthful dancers the unique spirit of Journeys, including the Rooms arrangements. | ||||
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For Journeys, our hall is arranged in three distinctive spaces. While no one is 'enforcing' the purpose of each of those spaces, we invite the participants to support the spirit we wish to offer. The Central Floor is where dancing (and circles) happen. This is where we invite all dancers, movers and shakers to dive in and explore their sacred realms through movement. In consideration for their journeys, we ask that everyone limits verbal conversations and savor non-verbal communications. There is always at least one altar in this space. Sacred Space is on the stage and includes a chill out area for anyone wishing stretch, meditate, connect non-verbally or just chill. Every month we also invite one or two different practitioners (massage, healing, etc?) to offer samples of their crafts for a nominal fee (if you are a practitioner wishing to promote your practice and earn please contact us). Front Section is the area including the front foyer and the adjacent coatroom where socializing can be had. An exception to this is during the short quiet gatherings/circles in the main room as even the quietest conversation travels and disrupts. | ||
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