by Loui Tucker
This article first appeared in the May/June 2023 issue of Let's Dance! magazine. It was reprinted in the National Folk Organization's quarterly newsletter, the NFO-News, September 2023.
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As both a long-time dancer and a dance teacher, I am having difficulty with some recent additions to our local repertoire, dances that came from the Sacred Circle Dance community. (Raise your hand if you’ve heard of this group.) I will admit that I like these dances and they are played regularly at local dance events. What I am struggling with is where to put them in our framework of dances. Let me back up a bit and provide some background for my dilemma.
Back in the early days of international folk dance, before 1960, dances were fairly easily assigned to a country of origin. Dances were brought to us by natives of that country, or teachers who studied dance and dancing in that country (Seljančica Kolo, Syrtós, The Crested Hen, Veleta Waltz, Danish Family Circle).
Fairly early on, international folk dancers even knew that Serbians, Croatians, and Macedonians were ethnic groups within the political boundaries of Yugoslavia (Bela Rada was identified as Serbian in 1955).
There were choreographies by master teachers based on research (Hopak, Russian Peasant Dance, Skaters’ Waltz). There were dances from the United States (Blue Bonnet Waltz and Black Hawk Waltz) that were not assigned a foreign country. We also accepted dances done by natives living in the United States, even dances created in the United States by those immigrant populations (Wooden Shoes, Sweet Girl, Miserlou).
There were also dances that were arranged/created/choreographed by incorporating several short sequences that were sometimes individual dances done in neighboring regions. In addition, some teachers chose figures from dances that were done freestyle in the country of origin and formalized a specific sequence that was memorized by folk dancers. These dances were not done in the country of origin, but they had an authentic foundation. Folk dance communities also embraced dances choreographed for the stage, or taken from a large performance piece, as long as those dances were choreographed by natives of that culture (Békési Páros, Vidinsko Horo, Ciuleandra).
Side issues cropped up from time to time pitting choreographed dances against what were perceived to be authentic village dances. Some felt that English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh set dances were less authentic, although the term “devised” is used instead of “choreographed.” Israeli dances were similarly dismissed. Due to the country’s youth, there was no centuries-old dance tradition, so all their dances were, by necessity, choreographed. To many, Israeli dances were not true “folk” dances.
Dance teachers from a particular country created dances based on traditional figures and steps. Some of this was because of increasing pressure from dancers for new dances and more complex ones because one- and two-part dances were no longer a sufficient challenge. These dances began taking up more and more space in our repertoire. The dance teachers include Ahmet Lüleci, Atanas Kolarovski, Cristian Florescu, Iliana Bozhanova, and Daniel Sandu.
In the last 20 years or so, there has been an increasing number of dances choreographed by non-natives based on music from a particular country (Valle Hajde Merre Furkën, Ne Klepeći, W Moim Ogródeczku, Valle Shqiptare). Some, but not all, of these choreographed dances have a foundation in the traditional steps of that country. Steve Kotansky is a good example of a choreographer who has a deep connection with the Balkans and Hungary/Transylvania after years of studying and living there, and he builds his dances from existing dance motifs. He identifies some of his dances as his own choreography to music that he liked, but the dances are not ones that you would find being danced in the country by the natives. Other dances in this category, however, are a clear mismatch of music and dance movement (C’est une jeune mariee, Ne Veruje Srce Pameti, Shuj Shuj Zemer).
Now we come back to the Sacred Circle Dance community. An internet search provides some history of this group, and I found my own research to be one of those rabbit holes that took me to some fascinating websites.
Sacred Circle Dance has its roots in Germany with the ballet master and dance educator Bernhard Wosien. Starting in 1976, Wosien introduced circle dances at the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland. He used both traditional dances and his own choreography to develop something he called “group awareness” using “dance and aspects of dancing in spiritual and curative contexts.” Wosien’s approach spread across Europe in the 1980s and eventually spread around the world.
Sacred Circle Dance is said to offer an “integrative approach to healing, relaxation and to some, a deeply moving spiritual experience.” It differs from folk dance “through the sacred intention that is held for each dance.” The websites that promote sacred circle dance often also offer massage, therapy, and counseling.
Recently there has been a push to remove the word “sacred” from this activity in order to attract a more diverse group of participants. There are some who want to change the name to “World Circle Dance” because it “draws on the rich and diverse traditional dances of many countries, as well as modern music with adaptations of traditional steps or new choreographies.”
The Sacred Circle Dance repertoire is almost exclusively circle dances. One website includes a list of close to 3000 of their dances compiled from many sources. The list I found includes dozens of dances done in our international dance community: Miserlou, Indijski Čoček, Rumelaj, Pembe, Hora Mare, Šetnja, Opsa, Ramo Ramo, Alunelul, and Karagouna, to name a few. The ethnic origin is of no interest to them, however. The dances are not organized by country or ethnic origin, but by categories such as Female Energy, Animals, Religion, Labyrinth, Closing Dances, and Calendar.
They also have their own choreographers who make dances specifically for their community: Bobbi Bailin, Maureen Atkins, June Watts, Nanni Kloke, Siomara Kronbauer, and Sabine Reisinger. Through the magic of YouTube and other cross-pollinators, a few of the dances from the Sacred Circle Dances have found their way into our international dance repertoire.
Which brings me to two particular dances that have entered our repertoire recently and are creating the difficulty I mentioned at the start of this piece. Fado was choreographed by Nanni Kloke (who is Swedish) and Julud was choreographed by Sabine Reisinger (Austrian).
I have no problem with choreography or choreographed dances. That would be a tad hypocritical of me since I specialize in the dances of Israel. What I am concerned about is how to categorize these dances. We appear to have pegged these dances to their musical source. But can we call Fado a Portuguese dance? Can we call Julud a dance from the Western Sahara?
Neither of these dances has any visible connection to the dance traditions of the country that provided the music. Fado is a circle dance and the Portuguese dance repertoire has close to zero circle dances. Traditional Portuguese dances are couple dances. Julud is a lovely dance to captivating music, but the dance reflects nothing whatsoever of the dance styles of any African country. Both dances were created specifically for the Sacred Circle Dance devotees and their repertoire.
If we are going to label dances based on the source of the music, we are going to be relabeling quite a few of the dances in our repertoire. The music for Siriyisko Horo comes from Egypt; the tune for Tokyo Polka comes from Finland, although the music Richard Powers used is from Japan; and the music for Cumbia Semana is by a Mexican artist. What will we do with a Scottish Country dance like Broadway (a medley of U.S. show tunes) and the English dance Sapphire Sea (written by a band based in North Carolina)? Then there is the issue of dances we currently ascribe to the Roma.
Besides, we bill ourselves as international folk dancers, not international folk music appreciators.
Could we just label them as U.S. or USA the way we label Maple Leaf Rag, Jiffy Mixer, Three’s a Crowd, Istanbul, and Tokyo Polka? Probably not, because not all Sacred Circle dances were created in or for the U.S. market. Perhaps we need a new category: “Sacred Circle.” After all, in the past we have assigned dances to cultures that are not countries (Assyrian; Basque; Rom/Romani) and to countries that have multiple cultures/ethnicities within their borders.
If a culture is said to include the customs, arts, and social institutions of a particular nation, people, or other social group, then the Sacred Circle Dance community would fit that definition. It is a form of dance followed by thousands of dancers in the United States and Europe. That community is the source of dances, so why not recognize them as such?
All I am hoping for is honesty and consistency. When we put these dances on our programs and playlists, can we be honest and state that they are from the Sacred Circle community? That’s what I plan to do.
Perhaps it is also time to connect a dance to its choreographer instead of to its music – but that is a subject for another day.
Karen Bennett contributed to this article.