Weaving the World of Sacred Dance | Sacred Dance Festival

This amazing journey of discovery – personal, collective, global – for this unique organization continues in to this our 66th year on the planet – Dancing the Sacred, Moving the World! The Sept. 21/22 “mini” online Festival “Weaving the World of Sacred Dance” created a beautiful tapestry of the world of dancing the sacred celebrating the awesome group of “approved” Sacred Dance Guild facilitators! Six of the approved “Sacred Dance Guild Facilitators” took us on a personal, collective and global journey “Weaving the World of Sacred Dance” – September 21 – which was also World Peace Day and September 22nd which was the September Equinox! A perfect way to dance through these global experiences!

The 2024 “fee” for this two day event was just $66.00 (for members) in gratitude for our 66 revolutions around the sun! (non-members $75.00 – or become a member for the special rate to apply!).

SPECIAL NOTE: In addition to receiving access to the 2024 Mini Festival recordings, those registered received access to the recordings from the 2023 “mini” festival that featured our honorary members – as our gift to you!

We honor and give deep bows of gratitude to the six facilitators for this event – while they are gifts to all of us in the Sacred Dance Village – each are each gifting their time back to us – in appreciation for their partnership with the Sacred Dance Guild through the SDG Professional Facilitator’s Program.

In the words of Ted Shawn – who was the “director” of the first three Sacred Dance Guild summer festivals at “Jacob’s Pillow” – DANCE WE MUST!

SACRED DANCE GUILD MINI FESTIVAL – 2024! Details Below

Registration will be for ALL sessions and ALL will be open to ALL who register to come and go to any or all sessions as you are able and feel called! This is YOUR Festival Experience. Come to a few sessions, come to all – you decide if and when you open the ZOOM Door! Recordings will be available as soon as possible after each session has concluded and all recordings will be available to all participants following the event.

Program

This sacred dance festival will offer you a full day Saturday and Sunday afternoon of inspiration and movement experiences along with opportunities to meet and move with fellow sacred dancers. AND JOIN in for the Sacred Sunday evening program celebrating the Sacred Dance Guild treasures!

PLEASE NOTE – ALL TIMES SHOWING ARE IN EDT!! If you are NOT in EDT, please check your local time! https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2024

9:30 am – OPENING GATHERING & The SDG Cafe
10:00 am – SACRED STRENGTH with Hiie Saumaa (from France)
11:30 am – TASTE OF SACRED PERU with Vannia Ibarguen (from California)
2:30 pm – WEAVING HOPE AND PROMISE – with John West (from California)
4:00 pm – INVOKE THE POWER OF DANCING… with Cynthia Winton-Henry (from California)

Note: one Zoom link will be sent for all Festival sessions on Saturday, Sept. 21st

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2024
Note: one Zoom link for Festival sessions on Sunday, Sept 22, separate link for the Equinox Dance Gathering, the SDG AGM & the Sacred Sunday Celebration

8:30 am – A SPECIAL INVITATION to an Equinox Dance Gathering! (Separate Zoom Link)
12:30 pm – SDG ANNUAL GENERAL GATHERING – OPEN TO ALL (Separate Zoom Link)
2:00 pm – TIFERET : BEAUTY with Judith Rose (from New York)
3:30 pm – SACRED DANCE MEDITATION with Carla Walter (from Georgia)
4:30 pm – CLOSING FUSION – Gathering with Jessica Abejar & The SDG Cafe
7:30 pm – SACRED SUNDAY – CEREMONY/CELEBRATION HONORING SDG FACILITATORS (Separate Zoom link)

Note: one Zoom link will be sent for all Festival sessions on Sunday, Sept. 22nd; however separate links will be sent for the SDG AGM and the Sacred Sunday

Please note, all times, classes and activities are subject to change

Workshops

Workshops offered on Saturday and Sunday will each be 60 minutes in length. All workshops and sessions will be recorded and made available to participants as soon as possible after they are completed. To the extent possible we have tried to “schedule” workshops to fit the time zone of the presenter and the time zones of the participants! Not an easy task! We compared it to trying to solve the Rubik’s Cube!

PLEASE NOTE: All times are showing in EDT! If you are not in EDT, please check times in your local area! https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

IMPORTANT:

Please arrive on time for workshops and other activities.
There will be “Waiting Rooms” set up and the session will “open” a few minutes before start time.
Sessions will “close” 5 minutes after start to respect both the presenter and other participants.
There will be various time “breaks” between all workshops and events to allow participants time for whatever is needed and organizers to technically reset everything between sessions!

WORKSHOP DETAILS ARE LISTED BELOW IN THE ORDER THAT THEY WILL BE PRESENTED…

Hiie Saumaa – Sacred Strength

Saturday, September 21 – 10:00 am EDT

Dancing in from Paris, France. What does strength mean to you? Do you feel strong and how? Is it possible to combine physical strength training and a sense of the divine? In this workshop, we will explore whether we can connect to the sense of the sacred while we do physical conditioning exercises. I will guide you through traditional strength training exercises but in a way in which you will also connect to your emotions, the imagination, your memories, goals, and dreams. Strength is sacred: without a sense of inner and outer strength, our sense of vitality, hope, and life direction diminish. I hope that in this workshop, you’ll discover some ways of attending to your physical, emotional, and spiritual strength at the same time. I hope you’ll feel more relaxed, grounded, and full of aliveness after the class. Please wear comfortable exercise clothes and have a Yoga mat. We’ll be barefoot.

Hiie SAUMAA (PhD, Columbia University) is a somatic / holistic movement and dance specialist. She offers online and in-person classes and workshops in bodily awareness, somatic dance, Nia dance, holistic strength training and flexibility, creative movement, and sensuality through movement. She is a columnist on somatics for the journal of Integrative and Complementary Therapies and runs a YouTube channel dedicated to the wisdom of the moving, sensing, and sensual body. Originally from Estonia, she is currently based in Paris, France. In addition to presenting at SDG mini Festivals, Hiie presented a Sacred Dance Guild on line 6 week series “Our Sacred Dance, Our Sacred Space” in 2023.
See https://www.hiiesaumaa.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@HiieSaumaaSomatics
https://www.instagram.com/hiiesaumaa/

Vannia Ibarguen – Taste of the Sacred Peru

Saturday, September 21 – 11:30 am EDT

Dancing in from Los Angeles, California. In this session, Vannia will unfold the essence of what she shared as one of the facilitator’s at the July 2024 Sacred Dance Guild Journey to Peru. You’ll experience a taste of different Peruvian folk dances, related to the elements Earth, Water, Fire, and Air; and to the four centers of energy closer to Pachamama, Mother Earth: Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus, Heart. If you have a shawl or rope, bring that along (and of course – bring water to nourish the body!)

Vannia Ibarguen is a Peruvian facilitator, performer, choreographer, dance instructor, and Artistic Director of VIDA – Vannia Ibarguen Dance Arts. Her research is focused on the interaction between dance and technology, and also the relationship between classical, contemporary and folk dance styles. She was a gymnast in her youth, then worked as a professional ballet dancer for more than 10 years, and then she decided to earn her MFA in Dance at the University of Maryland. Vannia has received awards for her choreography in the United States, Peru, Argentina, Cuba, and Colombia. She is also the Artistic Director of Global Water Dances, a biennial event where more than 100 cities around the world create outdoor dances to create awareness about water issues in the local and global community. Vannia is also faculty at the Cerritos College’s Dance Department, Board member of the California Dance Education Association and Professional Fellow at the Arts Council for Long Beach, California. See further details on her website.

John West – Weaving Hope and Promise…

Saturday, September 21 – 2:30 pm EDT

Dancing in from Los Angeles, California. Weaving hope and promise through dance movements of joy and rhythms of the heart. Join John in expressing these commitments of heart and mind as he leads participants in dances dedicated to a better world and future.

John West as a child studied dance at the Lester Horton School of Dance, and as a teen studied tap under Willie Covan. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in dance and theatre from Macalester College, he returned to Los Angeles and began a career of teaching and administrating at his alma mater, Mount Carmel High School. Continuing his professional education, Mr. West earned a M.Ed. from Loyola-Marymount University and a M.A. degree in Folklore and Mythology from UCLA with an emphasis in biblical literature and dance. Later, he began a long and varied career in the independent schools of Los Angeles, starting at Harvard/Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City. Throughout his teaching career he has taught not only in academic areas but also directed plays, taught dance and choreographed musicals. He has been a dancer and choreographer in the field of sacred and liturgical dance since 1967, when he assisted in the creation of an experimental liturgy in a parish church in St. Paul, Minnesota. His work as Artistic Director of the Valyermo Dancers continues to be complemented by his roles as Sacred & Liturgical Dance Workshop Leader and Clinician and as Independent Educational Consultant on Equity and Social Justice. In 2013 he received the honor of “Man of Valor” from the NAACP. He lends his expertise to schools and organizational boards in Southern California. John has led many workshops for the Sacred Dance Guild and was a panelist on the 2nd Quarterly Conversation – Is THIS Sacred Dance.

Cynthia Winton-Henry – Invoke the Power of Dancing on Behalf Of One Another and the World

Saturday – September 21 – 4:00 pm EDT

Dancing in from California. Healers and dancers throughout time have offered powerful medicine by shaking, rattling, and dancing. They knew something. In this workshop you will source your own movement as you invoke Divine Guidance. You will learn how to differentiate between taking on other’s prayer needs vs. trusting movement to activate the highest good for both you and them. We will practice releasing our obligation to the outcome as we hand over the prayer, trusting in its power. Experience what it is like to have someone dance for your needs and learn how dancing on behalf of others can be a center of one’s personal and group life.

Cynthia Winton-Henry, MDiv cofounded InterPlay, an international movement and leadership program that uses creativity to unlock the wisdom of the body. She writes, teaches, speaks, and offers spiritual coaching through Hidden Monastery Online Dance Chapels and Art of Ensoulment Courses. A life-long advocate of sacred dance, she writes at The Dancing Center on Substack. Her books include Art of Ensoulment: A Playbook on How to Create from Body and Soul, What the Body Wants, Chasing the Dance of Life, Dance: A Sacred Art: Discovering the Joy of Movement as Spiritual Practice. Find her at Cynthia-Winton-Henry.com

Judith Rose – TIFERET : BEAUTY

Sunday – September 22 – 2:00 pm EDT

Dancing in from Nyack, New York – A Vital Movement™ Workshop with Judith Rose.
Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old. – Franz Kafka

TIFERET : BEAUTY – Beauty, in its purest form, is ageless. It is an essential element in the practice of Vital Movement™. Join founder Judith Rose for an experiential journey that will explore the mystical understandings and therapeutic possibilities of a unique movement art that is graceful, fluid, and attuned to the aesthetic principle. Scientific studies have proven what ancient, intuitive wisdom has always known: Conscious, progressive movement work that engages the body and the spirit is a key factor in wellness for the long run. Be part of a deeply focused, dynamic communal ritual to encourage awareness, aliveness, wellbeing, and delight.

Judith Rose, the founder of Vital Movement™, is an experienced educator, choreographer, published poet, and movement artist. She has an extensive background in a variety of movement arts, therapeutic modalities, and specialized trainings. Her private practice in therapeutic wellness work is located in Nyack, NY.
www.judithroseVM.com

Carla Walter – Sacred Dance Meditation

Sunday, September 22 – 3:30 pm EDT

Dancing in from Georgia. Sacred Dance Meditation is known throughout all time and space, a the silent influencer of change and the spiraling path

CARLA Stalling Walter, (UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Riverside, USA, Ph.D.) All through her life, Carla’s love of dance led her. Dance is a wonderful physical exercise. But it has psychological influences, and power to transform lives. Her articles and books amplify dance’s powers as healing, meditative, and influential. Her most recent publication, Sacred Dance Meditations: 365 Globally Inspired Movement Practices Enhancing Awakening, Clarity and Connection (2020, Penguin Random House, with a foreword by Wendy Morrell https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/625264/sacred-dance-meditations-by-carla-stalling-walter/) is an inspirational daily reader drawing on dance’s powers.

Carla’s workshop focuses on sacred dance meditation with some Zen Buddhist influences.

Special Events

Opening – Saturday Morning – 9:30 am EDT – JOIN US for a time to connect, to get to know each other, to ask any questions, to create community and weave our dancing threads with the other villagers!

Equinox Dance Premiere – Sunday Morning – 8:30 am EDT – SDG Facilitator Marylee Hardenbergh of Global Site Performance invites ALL of us to zoom in to an Equinox Dance celebrating this global experience! See details HERE.

Closing – Sunday – 4:30 pm EDT – We’ll celebrate our time and Weave the World of Sacred Dance together at this “fusion” experience facilitated by Jessica Abejar of The Moving Prayer.

Register

Registration Fees

The full package includes all festival online events.

Full package – SDG Members & Affiliates: $66.00 USD
Full package – Non-members: $75.00 USD

Scholarships

The Sacred Dance Guild is committed to offering programs and opportunities to all. In these unprecedented times we know many are struggling so we will also be providing a limited number of partial and full scholarships for those who must dance with us but are financially challenged. For information on scholarships contact Betsy at betsea2000@gmail.com

Cancellation Policy

A $20 cancellation fee will be charged for refunds up to September 15th. No refunds after Sep. 15 however you can transfer your registration to someone else by advising the registrar at pres@sacreddanceguild.org

Waiver

A Festival Waiver is included on the Registration Page. Please read the information provided and select your response. This will be considered your electronic signature.

It is important to note that our online process DOES provide participants the option to turn OFF their video and to change the name displayed. All sessions will be recorded for SDG archives, publicity, and promotion.

Sponsors/Donations

Sharing what we have is how we can all dance together in peace and unity around the world. The Sacred Dance Guild is committed to opening our doors to all who want to dance from their sacred hearts! Your gift provides those who would not otherwise be able to join us an opportunity to dance on into the village. Deep bows to you for sharing your gifts.

This option is available on the Registration form. If you are unable to join us at the Festival but wish to be a sponsor – click HERE to make your donation and we’ll do the rest!

Technical Notes- For Online Zoomers!

The 2024 Festival will be using ZOOM as our platform for all classes and activities. Details will be sent to all participants before the Festival!

Participant’s Guide to Improving Your Zoom Experience

Everyone wants a high-quality video and audio connection to the Zoom session where you can see and hear everyone and they can see and hear you. However, we all experience temporary (or ongoing) connection issues or bandwidth problems that can affect our ability to participate in a Zoom event.

Here are some suggestions that can help to provide the best experience!

Disconnect other devices on your local network that may be using up bandwidth. Even “uploads” can cause “download” problems. In particular, streaming services (like Netflix) or online gaming via platforms like XBox Live can have a dramatic impact on Zoom quality, so if you’re sharing an internet connection with others, maybe ask them to “pause” while you’re participating in your event!
Use “Speaker View” instead of “Gallery View”. This is a general suggestion as having only one video stream on screen at a time reduces the bandwidth needed. Most of the Festival sessions will use “Spotlight” so the presenter will be in the center of the screen so that will override the view you have selected. In some classes we will want you to use Gallery View so you can see others in the “group”! Don’t worry though – every session will have “tech” people there with you so should be able to provide advice at the moment!
Turn off your video. Turning off your video during the workshop dips in Internet bandwidth and can help improve your audio. Sometimes; however, the presenter likes to see those in the session so might ask people to turn their videos ON. In sessions with a large number of participants turning the video “off” can improve the sound for everyone!
Quit other applications on your computer that may be using significant processing power. Having lots of open browser tabs can also cause problems.
Use a wired connection to your home router if possible. WiFi signal quality can vary inside your house. Don’t worry if you don’t have this option – it’s just a “nice to have” for those who know what this even means!!
Check your internet speed with speedtest.net. Speeds of 600kbps (0.6mbps) are required for Zoom (both download and upload). Speeds of 1.2mbps are required for high quality video. If your speeds are below these values, consider using a smartphone (#4, above) or, if possible, connect to another network. Your internet provider may have options for increasing your bandwidth as well.
Use headphones if you have them and are comfortable doing so. Your audio issue may not be related to bandwidth at all. Headphones reduce echo and feedback issues. Those with microphones can reduce background noise.

Contacts

For general inquiries:

admin@sacreddanceguild.org

1-877-422-8678 (toll-free in North America)

+1-410-647-5002 (outside of North America, answered by Next Wave Group)

Click the names below to email:

Registrar: Wendy Morrell

Scholarship Coordinator: Betsy O’Neill

Program Coordinators Deb Donaldson and Jennifer Payne

Participant Contact Deb Donaldson

Tech Contact: Jessica Abejar