When I moved to Todos Santos, I searched for a regular ecstatic dance community and finding none, I decided to create one. Ecstatic dance, in short, saved my life. It was first a recovery group, then therapy, then a spiritual community, then became a supportive family, and in all these iterations, it was both a space and a modality, that allowed me to heal and grow. Not being able to gather to dance when I’d been dancing twice a week for 6 years, was, in some ways a reversal of some of the gains I’d made. I was desperate to dance again.
While I volunteered in my former community, I had no facilitation or DJ experience. I tried to find a DJ, but the ones I approached didn’t seem interested in doing it by donation. So, I tapped the DJ mixes on Mixcloud and picked the best ones, usually my favorites from my former community in Portland (shout out to Felix Roth!). I did my best to market and create an event that was open to all. Attendance wasn’t big, and I was often nervous and my facilitation left things to be desired. Eventually, I met some others who were as passionate as I was and who taught me how to make playlists based on Gabrielle Roth’s 5 Rhythms theory.
So I now have a Spotify account with those playlists (they are marked by the dancing woman in red dress), as well as others that I’ve made for general listening (my partner and I like 90’s music, so we listened to that in the 3 hours waiting to cross the border into the states in June). But the one that I’ve been enjoying lately is a playlist that I made for a dear friend of mine who I’d met in Todos Santos who had a long drive ahead of her. I called it “Mixtape 4 Sara” and perhaps you’ll enjoy it too! I also created one entitled “Mother” after my mother passed away, with songs of sorrow, grief, and rage to assist me in moving through the grief of my mother’s death.
As I am heading back to Todos Santos in the next month, I am gearing up to get back into the swing of dancing and creating playlists. When I left, I had thought that perhaps I’d learn to actually DJ but was ill during that portion of the trip, so never actually went to the workshop or met up with any DJs as I’d originally intended. I’d also been going through a bit of a dark period where I wasn’t even sure I’d do the dance anymore. But since our plans recently changed and we’ll be heading back soon, I’ve found myself excited to create and started listening to songs again with an ear toward movement.
Here are some highlights from “Mixtape 4 Sara”:
Gooey
If you have Spotify and feel so inclined, please share some of your favorite music with me. Or simply tell me the artist/song, and I’ll find and give it a listen. Who knows? It might end up in a playlist.
I love that you just went for it!!!! So awesome, so brave♥️ Have you danced 5Rhythms with us in the gorge?