Ecstatic Dance. Interview with Esta Polyesta. 2019. 

I would love to visit Croatia

the way of our ancestors, before christianity told us that free and crazy dancing is from the devil. The ancestors knew that dance brings you closer to the divine inside yourself. Closer to natural wisdom. Human beings have been dancing since the beginning of humanity for all emotions. Now dance , in mainstream society is reduced to a performance , instead of a way to connecting to all emotions.

@@EstaPolyesta Yes, I was interested in your take on this and I appreciate you taking the time to reply. I'm aware of what you've said here, in fact I'm intimately involved in both the practice and remembrance of ancient dance traditions and movement as codes, giudes and entrances therein. I play for the ceremonies of Candomblé in Brazil, where what you've described in part is one of its fundamental elements. I'm interested in the way various dance practices in our society (in Europe and the US etc) try and open and reconnect with something of this. Jon x

@@babaana i am also interested to connect with people to make the dance available to more people and i am so interested to learn more.

@@EstaPolyesta Hi, I love ecstatic dance so much, it has really changed my life. Thank you so much for your passion. Is ecstatic dance philosophically against the usage of psychedelic substances such as 2cb? I find it really opens emotional doors, and provides a sense of sensuality and emotional vulnerability that blooms in a really beautiful and profound way on the dance floor. Do I have to be concerned about judgement in an ecstatic dance setting? It doesn't feel that way when the music takes control of my mind, body, and soul. But before dance I always worry that my approach philosophically conflicts with the community. I am new to the community so I just don't know, my greatest worry is someone confronting me that what I'm doing doesn't belong at ecstatic dance. Thoughts?

@@TopGunMan If I may answere even though I have not been to an ecstatic dance event.. 😌 I have been dancing like this for more than 7 years and never took any drugs during it. I just found out about this movement and I am so happy about it! Because I have been around people on drugs all those years and I am longing for a place like this where everybody is free from drugs or alcohol, purely themselves. You may feel totally free and open and connected to the world and loving while you are on a drug. But for a person who is not, you are elsewhere than he/she is. I feel this disconnection between myself and someone on a substance very strongly because I am super sensitive. But it is everywhere I go. I feel like these ecstatic dance events could finally be a sacred space, protected place for all of us who don't want to use substances, who want to stay completely clear. It would make me sad to know that this agreement would be disregarded, that this sacred bond would be disrupted and a ecstatic dance event would become like millions of other events. This is truely something special and I would hope that it stays pure and healthy as it is right now. You have hundreds of other options (festivals, parties and so on) to go dance ecstatically, but for all of us who want to experience this and be in a protected substance-free space this is kind of our only option. You may think that what you do for yourself doesn't affect others but in this case I would strongly disagree. It changes the energy in the room, the connection between the people and the vibrations...