A Deeper Side of Dance #3
(Spring 1997 WCA)

Neil Douglas-Klotz

In March, I attended and presented at the Association of Humanistic Psychology's Midwest conference, an event co-sponsored by PeaceWorks. At the conference I met one of body-oriented (somatic) researchers whose work I have long admired: Deane Juhan. Juhan authored the ground-breaking book, Job's Body, about ten years ago, which is as important to communicating the "new physics of the body" as Fritjof Capra's Tao of Physics was in relating Eastern mysticism to new directions in Western science.

Murshid Samuel L. Lewis, the founder of the Dances, was also keenly engaged in relating the mysteries of "body" to a larger dimension of social and mystical inquiry. His best work on this subject, Introduction to Spiritual Brotherhood (sic) is sadly out of print currently. In an era when most "spiritual" approaches emphasized escaping the body, Murshid was way ahead of his time.

At the March gathering, Deane Juhan related some of the latest data from the frontiers of the "new physiology." The search for the mind, he said, had begun with a simplistic assumption that to know the brain was all that was necessary. However, as the data has continued to come in, evidence of Mind--memory, information exchange, intelligence--has been found in virtually all structures of the body, down to the level of each individual cell.

Previously, the nucleus of the cell was considered the most important structure. The nucleus floated around in a soup that was considered unimportant, bounded by a wall that kept everything from sloshing out.

However, new data shows that the "soup" contains micro-fibrules, that not only hold things in a particular shape but act as a matrix of communication from one cell to another. The cell wall, far from being unintelligent, actively takes part in deciding what is let in and what goes out. There is communication not only from center to periphery but also in the other direction. The whole model of mind or brain as computer has broken down. The brain is more of a gland than a computer, bathing in and squirting messages through liquid neuro-transmitters, hormones and other substances that flow throughout the body. Muscle, connective tissue and the cell itself is a repository of "mind."

The image of the Dances and Dance leaders again struck me. As I first began to lead, my whole focus was on the burden of my own adequacy or inadequacy as I stood in the center of the circle. My inflation or low self-esteem made it impossible to really sense what was going on in the circle, or to connect with a source of guidance outside myself. As my ego or thought-of-self relaxed (and was sometimes broken by circumstances or my guide), I let go and could get in contact with something that felt like guidance from outside--the spirit of Murshid Samuel Lewis or my teacher.

As I became more confirmed in this experience, I also began to sense more of what was going on in the circle and became more sensitive to shifts in energy and atmosphere. At this point, I receive much more "information" from the circle than I ever transmit. I just focus what I receive and cycle it back transformed through the neuro-transmitter of the sacred phrase. And in those sublime moments, self, other, phrase, center and circle all express Allah. Ruth St. Denis calls this state, "you and I and the whole dancing universe."

One could say that the test of experienced Dance or Walk teachers is not that they are magnetic personalities or entertainers, but rather that they can become a clearer lens for this flow of energy back and forth from center to circle. Surrender clears the flow for inspiration; ego clogs it up. We need enough healthy "I am" in our subconscious to absorb the diversity we find outside and inside. As Jelaluddin Rumi says about our inner wilderness: "There are also those in this amazing jungle who can absorb you into their own surrender. If you have to stalk and steal something, steal from them!" Knowing the self, one and many, progressively creates a "lucid body."

On a broader level, the ego challenges we go through as Dance leaders or Dancers mirror the evolution of humanity. We humans can evolve from being caught up in our own needs, to opening in surrender, awe and devotion, to realizing our unity with all that is. On a planetary level, we are currently caught between holding on to our illusion of human control and surrendering to the fact that we are making our "circle" of being uninhabitable. We often don't want to hear the messages coming to us from the periphery--the voices of nature, animals and marginal peoples.

So perhaps we Dancers can consciously undertake some of this difficult learning about center and circle, self and relationship, individual and community, on behalf of the whole humanity. With the Buddhists we can say," May any learning we receive--pleasant or unpleasant--may any blessing created or received, be released for the benefit of all sentient beings. Svaha!"