Ecstatic Dance Culture | Studying Somatics, August 2025
- DJ | ARTWORKS
- Sep 16
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 5
I was recently interviewed for Studying Somatics, a Bath Spa University research project ecstatic dance and the communities it creates. In the conversation, I shared my journey from discovering ecstatic dance in lockdown to becoming artist in residence with Ecstatic Dance Culture, and how art, visuals, and ritual shape our monthly full moon gatherings.
Below is the write-up of our conversation.
Finding ecstatic dance in lockdown
I first found ecstatic dance in lockdown. Growing up, music was always central — my dad is a musician, and my social life over the years was centred around rave culture, live gigs, and festivals. When the pandemic shut everything down, I missed that sense of awe, connection, and shared joy.
I saw an event listed on The Dandelion network and turned up with my sister. It was a socially distanced outdoor dance, silent-disco style. We stood two metres apart in the mud — me stubbornly in wellies, too shy to go barefoot at the time. But something clicked. Even without words, there was connection: glances, grooves, a sense of being alive again. It's where I met Kata Armitage from Ecstatic Dance Culture, our eyes meeting across the dance floor in shared delight of the dance and the beats. I spent my lockdown summers
Learning vulnerability through movement
At first, I found it nerve-wracking. Dancing with strangers felt exposing. I worried if my movements were “good enough.” Over time, I realised ecstatic dance is a practice in letting go of self-consciousness. It’s about vulnerability, yes — but also about play, mirroring, and opening up.
And sometimes it’s about having your own journey, moving inward. Both are valid.
From dancer to space holder
Today, I’m an artist in residence and space holder with Ecstatic Dance Culture in Hackney Wick. Alongside our team, I help create a space that sits somewhere between rave, ritual, and sanctuary.
Each month, we gather under the full moon. The altar, the lighting, and my visuals are shaped around the moon’s seasonal themes. For the Sturgeon Moon, I projected watery reflections across the walls. For the Harvest Moon, we bring in fields of grains and earth tones. Each cycle becomes a chance to weave myth, nature, and community into the dance.
Visuals as modern myth and mirror
My visuals are not just backdrops — they are narrative arcs that mirror the music and the emotional journey of the dance. Sometimes abstract, sometimes figurative, they draw on myth, nature, and my own lived experiences.
Recently, after showing a series of powerful feminine archetypes, a dancer told me: “Those visuals will stay with me for a long time. I needed to see them — they made me want to be a different version of myself.”
That is the kind of feedback that inspires me to keep experimenting — crafting visuals that act as icons, catalysts, and mirrors for the journeys dancers are taking.
Building community beyond the dancefloor
Perhaps the most beautiful part is the community forming around these dances. After our events, women often linger to share food and talk. In a world where real community is rare, these bonds — born out of a non-verbal, body-led space — feel deeply precious.
Ecstatic dance is not just an event. It’s a practice of remembering: how to move, how to connect, how to play, how to be human together.
Closing reflection
Being part of Studying Somatics has been a chance to reflect on why I do this work — weaving visuals, ritual, and movement into shared experiences that help us reconnect with ourselves, each other, and the cycles of nature.
About the Project
This interview was part of Studying Somatics, a research project led by Bath Spa University exploring ecstatic dance, somatic practices, and their impact on community, wellbeing, and creativity. You can read more about the project here.
Ready to Dance Under the Full Moon?
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