We have come to be danced
not the pretty dance ---
not the nice invisible, self-conscious shuffle,
but the matted hair flying, voodoo mama
shaman shakin’ ancient bones dance,
the strip us from our casings, return our wings ---
the shed dead cells and slip into
the luminous skin of love dance. ----
(The) Free Free Free dance
the everyone can come to our heaven dance.
We have come to be danced
- Jewel Mathieson

 

The 5Rhythms® is a simple, powerful moving meditation that anyone – of any age, size, or physical ability - can practice. There are no steps to follow, no choreography to learn, no way to do it wrong. The only requirement is a body that is still breathing, a heart that is still beating, and mind that is still curious!

Just like light, sound or ocean waves, a dancing body when moving freely passes through five distinct rhythmic patterns. These patterns continuously repeat themselves in a wave of motion.

The Five Rhythms are:

• FLOWING – the fluid, continuous, grounded glide of our own movements
• STACCATO – the percussive, pulsing beat that shapes us a thousand different ways
• CHAOS – the rhythm of letting go, releasing into the catalytic wildness of our dance that can never be planned or repeated
• LYRICAL – the rhythm of trance, where the weight of self-consciousness dissolves, where we lighten up and disappear into our own uniqueness
• STILLNESS – the quiet emptiness, where gentle movements rise and fall, start and end, in a field of silence

Source: Moving Center School, California
 

More about the 5 Rhythms...

The 5 Rhythms is a map of how energy moves through the body - through your life...
Read More About the 5 Rhythms (including a short video from Gabrielle Roth).

Getting Started

An easy way to get started is to come along to one of the weekly drop-in classes. To experience the gifts of the practice right from the start, please read 'Welcome to 5 Rhythms', a brief guide which includes notes of regular dates; please also see Dates & Times for any notices of changes.

Going Deeper

Drop-in classes are great, and ... longer Workshops can take things to a whole new level, shifting and expanding the energy and 'vocabulary' of your dance and the places it takes you in amazing and unpredictable ways. Read more about workshops and courses...

© 2010-2012 Bernadette Ryder & all quoted sources.