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Dance Ecstatic in Paradise
The people of Kalani share their passion for ritual by creating a weekly container for connection.
Guided by the slow ambient music, a mass of hot, sweaty bodies that just minutes ago were jumping up and down, spinning in circles, or waving frenetically from side to side now move like warm liquid and melt onto the floor in a large open circle. As the room grows quiet with anticipation, Max Fathom stands up in his socks and paces across the room. At least 200 members of the same tribe stop to recognize the passing of their leader.
Outside, the trade winds blow off the ocean, and the macadamia nut and palm trees throw dark shadows against the star-filled night sky. Fathom stops walking and stands in the middle of the floor. He pauses for a moment, puts his hands together as if in prayer right below his mouth, and takes a deep breath. “Awake from your dreams and be free,” he begins, and launches into a rhyming poem of his own invention. When the poem is over, the circle erupts into applause. Peoples’ faces are full of emotion, witness to the passing of the torch. A man steps forward from the circle and offers Fathom a prayer in Hawaiian. A hui ho, he ends, “until we meet again.”
For the past six years, Ecstatic Dance has been a regular occurrence at Kalani Oceanside Retreat on the big island of Hawaii. Nestled between the jagged lava rock coastline and the lush untamed jungle, the nonprofit yoga and wellness center brings visitors from around the world to celebrate Hawaiian culture, nature, and education. The dance is housed at Kalani, in the heart of the bohemian district of Puna, also home to the world’s most active volcano. On this balmy tropical evening, Kilauea sends up glowing red lava that reflects powerfully in the western sky. Each week, 200-300 people converge from all over the island for what co-steward Elizabeth Corrigan refers to as a “ritual community movement space.” Tonight, its founder, Max Fathom, is facilitating the group for the last time before he moves back to his home city of Austin, Texas.
Over the years, the dance has grown from five to ten dancers showing up in a small yoga studio to the dance church that it is today, completely filling the 5,000 square foot building. People of all ages come to this event week after week to dance, stretch, release emotions, connect with people, and have fun in a safe, nonjudgmental environment. The care that goes into creating this space is evident everywhere, as witnessed by the five foot heart-shaped lava rock altar adorned with plumeria, fresh papaya, candles, and incense.
As Ecstatic Dance has grown, so has the group of people who make the event happen. Almost a year ago, Corrigan joined Fathom as co-facilitator of the dance. This partnership spawned the first Ecstatic Dance facilitator training, designed to bring people together who wanted to take a larger role in supporting the dance and maintaining the consistently high level of integrity of the experience. Based on their interest, facilitators take turns playing the music or leading the opening invocation. They also do a lot of behind-the-scenes work making sure the space is kept sacred for all participants. As Fathom says, “these spaces are made rich by people revealing themselves. You could just put on an iTunes playlist, but you wouldn’t have what we have here each week. There’s a real valuable component to a group being led by someone they trust and that can pull them into some deeper, richer spaces of their Sunday morning church experience. We want our facilitators to develop the ability to lead that.”
With Fathom’s departure, the core group will consist of three co-stewards, including Corrigan, and several other people who hold a common vision for the dance. Of paramount importance is that they are accurately reflecting the needs of the people who show up to dance each week. “This dance is a whole community endeavor,” Corrigan says. “Any of the leadership roles in it are really there to focalize what is already happening in this community. We listen really fervently. We make ourselves available to people. We bring things into action in terms of setting up the space and securing it, but it’s really run by the desires of the community, not of us.”
As the space slowly clears out, Fathom reflects on the dance. “These groups serve a tremendous need in any neighborhood they’re in. There’s a real need out there for a community experience that has some depth to it that is also fun. If you’ve got a CD player, a couple of speakers, and people who want to get together and you can find a space, just do it. The rewards are tremendous.”For more information on Kalani Oceanside Retreatwww.kalani.com