Dancing Brush

Dancing Brush #31

In early 2005 I discovered the Sunday morning Ecstatic Dance gathering in Ashland and began to going there simply to dance to wonderful music. In April of 2006, I was inspired to take my easel, paper and brushes and ink to the Dance and to paint there. While some 30-40 dancers leap and sway, bend and turn, hop and twirl around the room, my brush dances on the paper, capturing the rhythms and energy of the human dancers with a few lines. Spontaneity is the essence of ecstatic dance, both that of the human dancers and that of my brush. Legs and arms and hips are moving constantly and for the brush there is no “going back,” no time to prepare but only to follow with intense focus essential movements and gestures, and hopefully to capture the changing rhythms.

The music at Ecstatic Dance, woven together by the “guide” Diane Horbacewicz, follows a sequence of 5 rhythms (in the tradition of Gabrielle Roth): Flowing, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical and Stillness. A special “thanks” to the people of Ashland’s Ecstatic Dance community for bringing their unique creative and healing energy to our world.