Santo Dança

Rhythm • Prayer • Union of mind-body-spirit • Abandon

Herstory

The origin of dance began with shamanistic rituals in which members played the part of their totems, rhythmically fusing their body and soul with that of their chosen animal. One way humans partook of the power of their totem was by wearing their skins and feathers, but the most powerful way was by imitating their movement, behavior, and sound.

Santo Dança joined them in their festivities, dancing round the fire to the beat of the sacred drum that pulsed with the pounding of her heart. The rhythm intoxicates her, taking over her body as she moves in tune to the earth. Her feet drum out their rhythm, her body flickers like the flames that light the night and warm their ritual dance. Spreading her arms, she is a bird in flight, then becomes a swirling hurricane. Her dance is a prayer in motion.

The rhythmic sways of Santo Dança engage our conscious mind and induce a state of meditation. Dance, like meditation, loosens the power of habitual patterns of thinking and behavior. Dance is a powerful tool for womyn, who can break the unconscious grip of dominant patriarchal beliefs with the rocking of their bodies and the stomping of their feet.(1)

Meditation & Participation

When we dance, we align ourselves with the sacred rhythms of the earth, our human and animal community, and the cosmos. To dance is to summon the Divine and transmit that energy out into the world.

Allowing your whole self to enter into the spirit of Santo Dança is to enter into a trance in which the lines between self and our earthly community are blurred. Before you can invoke this energy, you must first become comfortable with the temple that is your body. Do not examine it for peeling paint or needed repairs, but love it for its unique character, its cozy corners, and warm feelings of familiarity and shelter. And when you dance you will come home.

Santo Dança invites you to enter your body’s sanctuary and dance until the vibrational force awakens the Divine within, and your body quivers with the knowledge that you are She. She can be playful, angry, prowling, exuberant, reverent, and sexual. You can be all these things and more.

1. Redmond, Layne. When the Drummers Were Women: A Spiritual History of Rhythm. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1997.

Artwork by Sudie Rakusin, text by Anna Styers-Barnett
Copyright by the Artist & Author ~ All rights reserved