At the Festivalito con Amigos encuentro in Germany, which is near where I live in France, I remarked to someone on the last day as we were putting on our street shoes, "I had so many ecstatic dances!" He was in disbelief.
--"Ecstatic dances? Really?"
-- "Well," I said, "At times, I experience ecstasy in meditation. Sometimes I experience ecstasy in the simplest things in life, like the ecstasy of a good conversation. So why wouldn't it be normal to have experiences of ecstatic dance?"
He agreed. He recommended a book he was reading on meditation about finding ecstasy in the simple things of life. Perhaps he wouldn't have minded me saying that dancing was "so much fun" or "addicting." Mere fun is acceptable (and often true). "Dance is addicting" is modern parlance for "dance is sinful and wrong," as dance probably was called historically in one's culture. Both are sad ways of expressing the beauty of dance or any means of self-expression bringing us joy. Using words that limit, such as "fun" instead of "magical wonder," or are negative words, such as "addiction," dampen our experiences. "Fun" is not problematic, but is that as high as it goes to sum up a wonderful tanda or evening?
If you have grown up in a culture that only tolerates dance, but that culture has a history of being repressed (think: the US and some European nations), you might just tolerate an open embrace. In that case, saying that dance is merely fun is okay. To overcome cultural norms, being inebriated in order to enjoy dancing may help too. However, a close embrace and experiencing ecstasy is not so acceptable to many. On the other hand, in some cultures where dance is encouraged, such as in Latin America, ecstatic dance is possible, but only with your partner because of jealousy. Sure, the experience can be ecstatic--but don't tell you partner about it! ;-) Tell your partner merely, "It was fun today at the milonga." Just fun. It's sometimes best to self-censure to a jealous partner, but don't lie to yourself as well!
One last thing
An important key to finding these magical moments more often is by being grateful for your joyful moments of dance, and the ecstasy of many ways of self-expression in life. The simple things of life. Through gratitude, I believe, these ecstatic moments will start appearing more frequently. It is good to call these moments--at least to yourself--"ecstatic."
I would love to hear your comments.
