How London went wild for ecstatic dance

Dancing while sober may seem terrifying, but new classes teaching ritualistic raving are now huge

- Rebecca Thornton

IT’S 8.30pm on a freezing Thursday evening. I’m inside The Lodge Space, a wellness centre in Canada Water. I’m throwing (dubious) shapes to thumping house music. As instructed, my eyes are closed, but I do allow myself a few sneaky peeks. Opposite me, fellow class members Emma and Kemi are both enjoying the movement of their own youthful limbs: fiery, sexy, absurdly uninhibited. They’re also whooping to the thudding beats of their own wild abandonment. I stay silent.

This is not me as a hedonistic, raving twenty-something, but instead a sober, slightly self-conscious forty-something in athleisurewear, taking one for the team to report on the rise in Ecstatic Dance — a form of movement based on ancient traditions. Shamans used it as a way of connecting to spirits; the ancient Greeks used it as a way to worship the divine; and the Sufis incorporated it into their routines. It’s an abandonment of all inhibitions where one is encouraged to move as your body dictates, often to drums and rhythmic beats. The aim is to achieve a meditative state and fans of this intentional raving say the benefits are significant. Seth Newman, of Ecstatic Dance London, tells me it boosts confidence, enhances creativity, and decreases stress, which translates into real world benefits; whether that’s having the courage to ask for a pay rise on Monday morning, or getting a better night’s sleep.

Ecstatic Dance is now sweeping the globe with packed classes everywhere from Bali to Berlin. Sah D’Simone, for example, who incorporates Ecstatic Dance into his Somatic Activated Healing Method™, has nearly half a million Instagram followers and counts spiritual guru Deepak Chopra and Kanye West as fans.