Hi there,

Adnan Sarhan wrote about the spirit of true dance:

A real and true dance creates communication with the people who are watching and with the drum (he played in his shows). You become a moving rhythm. Your spirit takes over the body and tells the body what to do. When the spirit commands the body, the body becomes an instrument of marvels. The body projects itself in exaltation and elation. The cosmic energy opens itself and flows to the body and energizes the body with vitality, beauty, and intelligence. 

When I first came to Adnan’s Sufi workshop, I was not a dancer. I had been a long-distance runner for fifteen years and was stiff as a stick. Middle Eastern dance, the kind of dance Adnan taught, requires flexibility and fluidity. I had neither. Nevertheless, at my very first workshop, I was invited to dance in the middle of the circle. I was nervous and quickly ran out of breath. But in that brief moment, I was hooked on the dance!

During my first summer, camp I made a belly dance costume with the help of the more experienced dancers. Unfortunately, my costume danced in more shows than I did -- on someone else’s body. 

I learned to dance from behind a video camera. Adnan wanted me to capture the flow and movement of the dancers in his dance shows. I could not use the wide-angle lens that made the dancer the size of a peanut. I had to zoom in and out to capture the dancer's movement up close and follow it as it expanded into space. There was no way to predict the movement as it followed no choreography. The drum moved the dancer, and spirit moved Adnan's hands. To anticipate the dancer’s next move I had to feel the drum and the dance inside my own body. Only then could I follow the dancer with the camera.

It was an amazing exercise that put me in the moment, moment to moment, through the whole show. If I got distracted, I would lose the shot.

I videotaped Adnan’s shows for many summers. Then one day he gave the camera to someone else. Did I feel rejected? Probably. However, his decision allowed me to be in the shows. 

I was an avid student carefully copying the dancers who led us in the workshop circles and practicing any instructions the accomplished dancers offered. 

Ego held me back from becoming one of Adnan’s dancers for a long time. I was so intent on getting the movement right. I watched and practiced and watched. But this only made me more self-conscious and awkward because I was focused on what I was doing instead of the music and the moment. Only when I stopped trying to win Adnan’s approval and danced for myself, did I begin to dance with spirit.

Dance is a quick way for me to connect to spirit. I let the music take over. It becomes my partner, enters my cells, and animates my movement. All the early training in Middle Eastern dance from the other dancers provides my body with a vocabulary and syntax of expression. There is always something new to discover in the music and the movement. 

When I dance with a veil, the veil is my partner. The veil partners with the music --rising and falling, twisting and turning in response to the sound. The dance becomes a three-way dance of the music, the veil, and me. When I dance with other veil dancers, the dance becomes four ways -- the music, the unity of the veils, the explosion of colors, and the synchronicity of the dancers. There is no time for thought only flow.

Veil dancing requires arm strength and body flexibility. Many of the slow movements we do in my class develop and maintain arm strength and flexibility.

When I started studying with Adnan, his slow arm movements almost brought me to tears. My arms burned and begged for rest. I wanted to stop but didn't. Now my arms are strong and I know how to manage my energy and strength.

When the dance becomes perfected, deep, and real, it becomes a living dance that makes the life within more alive, more aware, more intelligent, more alert, and awake in the moment. True and real dance is never in the past or the future. It is in the present and the present becomes the heaven of dance. The dance brings transcendence to a higher reality and the dance becomes a song dancing with the stars. The mist becomes the veil of the dancer. The dancing song and the undulating veil sway with the breeze. The night of Scheherazade becomes alive and the echo of the lute penetrates the heart of night. The spirit becomes the dance and the dance becomes the spirit and the life becomes loveable. The moment of the loveable life becomes fragrant with the perfume of heaven and life becomes contentment and the pleasure of spirit becomes its depth.

– Adnan Sarhan –

Dance can take you into the moment. It stops your thoughts, worries, and fears. It connects you with yourself, your movement, your spirit, and a bigger picture of life. 

Are you ready to dance? Join the Sufi Classes: Sunday, November 10th, 8:00 am PST and Tuesday, November 12th at 10:30 am PST

The Zoom LINK: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88050735178?pwd=zkrVoc4Mtg0pSXtAAWmoCrHWQb2qb1.1

Don’t forget to use SUFI all in caps if you are asked for the password.

Be brilliant,

Dr. Michelle

Life Transformation Coach

Empowering Women to Reinvent Their Life After Loss

Secrets of Life and Death

https://www.facebook.com/secretsoflifeanddeath.com