Dancing the Year
The Dancing the Year cycle of circle dances developed as a dancing map of the year cycle, using the old system of zodiacal signs as reference points.
The year cycle, or medicine wheel, is a space-time map of a full turn of a cycle in which each segment has a distinct character related to its place in the circle. Their distinct character is expressed in the signs of the Zodiac, an ancient space-time map, as well as in any system of seasonal celebrations, and can also be experienced in the dances related to each sign or segment.
The dances guide us through the year, through circular space as well as time, helping us to root in sacred time and space.Circle dancing is coming home: to myself and the dance of my own breath, to community, to the cycles and circles of the universe. in dancing together we can experience ourselves and our circle as a hologramme in very tangible, physical waysand be with our emotions and mental structures in an environment that supports unity and balance.
Our dancing circle connects us into the strands of the web of life. We dance for the earth as we dance for ourselves and each other, to share the healing we receive with our community and our planet.
The dances can be danced individually to call upon certain parts of the cycle and what they mean to us, or they can be danced in a sequence to experience the flow of the seasons.
Dancing the Year has developed over several year cycles, exploring the quality of each time segment and observing each one turn into movement and music and be danced in the circle. The dances went out into different dancing circles, and being danced collectively, they also began to show their potential for a collective experience of the year cycle and the sacred nature of cyclical time-space.
Only the dances that are specific to the Dancing the Year Cycle are described here. Other dances that resonate with certain segments of the cycle and are danced as part of Dancing the Year are traditional dances and can be found elsewhere. I would like to emphasise that dances should not be learned from dance notes only, these notes are meant for those who have already experienced Dancing the Year, as reminders of the steps and source information for the music.
Taurus: Carpet Girl
Carpet Girl
Music: Burhan Ocal/Istanbul Oriental Ensemble: Caravanserai, track 3: Hali Dokuyan Kiz
Steps: W-hold in circle or line, body facing centre,
2 parts in 4 steps each, always leading with left foot. Steps in
the first part can be bigger to travel, smaller in the second part
while staying in place.
1) left cross in front to the right,
right side to the right, repeat these.
2) left step back away
from centre, right replace, left side to the left, right replace.
Story: This dance has two images related to it. One
is the Girl Weaving a Carpet (this is what the title of the music
means), based on a time when the music played while weaving gave
the weavers the rhythm and also the patterns for their work
(similar to the working songs in the gaelic tradition). The steps
remind of the thread going across the piece in the first part, of
the thread being tied into the fabric in the second part. The
other image is that of the welsh spring goddess Bloddeuwedd, who
in spring walks across the meadows and fields, flowers springing
up in her footsteps. She also is creating a pattern of colours on
the carpet of our May landscape.
Cancer: the Creek
The Creek
Music: Jan Garbarek: Visible World, track 2: The Creek
Steps: V-hold in a circle, body facing the centre.
In the first part go in walking forward slightly diagonally to the
right, swivel and walk backwards also slightly diagonally to the
right, creating a zigzag-pattern. In the second part we stay in
place, the steps are small and the tap is relaxed and in place,
close to the other foot.
1) right forward, left forward, right
backward, left backward, all the while progressing to the right, do this twice
2)
right side to the right, left tap, left side to the left, right
tap, right forward, left tap, left backward, right tap
Story: The first part of the dance is describing the movement of water, here the creek at summertime in the sign of Cancer, using the age old sign of the zigzag line. In the second part we greet the four directions and four corners of our dwelling place, making our home in the alive and ever flowing waters of the creek.
Leo: Bells for the Virgin
Bells for the Virgin
Music: Vox: From Spain to Spain, track 2: Quen na Virgen
Steps: V-hold in a circle, begin with singing.
1)
right in, left tap, left back, right tap, repeat. going in arms
come up to W, going out go back down to V
2) let go of hands,
arms can open into individual gesture. turn over right shoulder,
then back over left, all while staying on the line of the circle.
going to the right: right turn, left turn, right turn, left tap,
then going to the left: left turn, right turn, left turn, right
tap
Story: The ruling planet of Leo is the sun, who is represented in wo ways in this dance. In the first part of the dance we all turn towards the centre, to the sun of the whole circle, and dance the rays of the sun connecting us all to the centre. In the second part we become the sun ourselves, the centre of our universe, turning around our own centre. In this way we move between the individual and the collective galaxy.
Libra: Libra Lullaby
Libra Lullaby
Music: Karen Matheson: Dark Alan, on: Putumayo Women of the World Celtic
Steps: V-hold, in a circle, start with the singing. As
it is a short piece of music, dance it twice.
1)walk to the
right, stepping right, left, right, sway left, sway right. use the
two sways to change direction and turn to face left.
2) repeat
to the left: walk to the left, stepping left, right, left, sway
right, sway left. use the sways to change direction and turn to
face right.
3) walk to the right. stepping right, left, right,
close with the left so your weight is equally on both feet. begin
again.
Story: The movements dance the scales, first one side, then swinging to the other, then the middle point with a brief moment of perfect balance, standing on both feet equally. Explore both sides equally, but lightly. The polarities that are part of life on earth dance gracefully back and forth, reach a temporary resolution and emerge again for the next round of polarities. The two sides don't fight but balance each other, not searching for a compromise but for the point of balance between them.
Capricorn: Time
Time
Music: Kroke: Time, different recordings, especially on The Oriente Naviator 2000 and Kroke & Nigel Kennedy
Steps: V-hold in a circle. begin once you feel sure of
the rhythm.
1) moving to the left, begin with left foot in a
slow-quick-quick rhythm, walking left, right, left and right,
left, right. repeat this sequence.
2) let go of hands and
mark a full circle on the spot beginning with direction of travel,
then turning to the left: step forward with the left and bounce
twice in the knees, turn a quarter towards left with the left and
bounce twice, turn a quarter with the left so you now face against
dance direction and bounce twice, turn a quarter with the left so
you face inwards and bounce twice. the turn is on the long beat,
the bounces two short beats.
Use hands/arms in whatever gesture
supports the movement.
Story: We are measuring time, our own, our heartbeat,
moving in our own time, move, then stop and ground the travel by
bouncing and calling on the four directions, rooting in our own
centre.
The pattern we dance together is a line of spirals,
ancient pattern of flow, but organised flow, individual whirls
coming together into flowforms that circle ceramics and weavings.