About Circle Dance
The Positive Power of Circle Dance
Throughout the world, over thousands of years,
people have danced.
In circles, spirals and lines, around campfires,
in birthing rooms,
at wakes and weddings, people have danced.
To encourage good crops, to celebrate community,
in acts of prayer and worship, people have danced.
And in this new millenium
with all its challenges and upheavals,
people are again discovering
the positive power of dance.
Circle Dance is a low impact, non-competitive activity
which combines easy to learn
dance steps and movements
with traditional, contemporary, world and folk music.
A truly inclusive form of dance, participants
do not need partners or previous dance experience,
and it is suitable for the majority of people,
from children to seniors.
Circle Dance engages our body's natural rhythms
and weaves together mind and heart, body and spirit,
in ways that uplift and empower us.
As a form of gentle exercise, it reduces stress
and promotes relaxation, balance and flexibility,
while its rhythmic movements contribute
to fitness and a state of well being.
As a means to self awareness and expanded consciousness,
Circle Dance nurtures our life force energy
and strengthens our connections
to self, others and Spirit.
About Marisa Ala Dea
One of the best aspects of growing up
in an extended family of Italian migrants,
was the constant exposure to music, song and dance,
and not only as spectators, but as active participants.
Everybody danced.....mothers taught their sons
and fathers their daughters,
and so my dancing journey began......
My love of music and dance took on new meaning
when I discovered Circle Dance in 1992.
After dancing with various teachers and leaders,
I began to choreograph my own Circle Dances,
and started teaching classes in 1996.
My qualifications and experience
are in Education, Lifestyle & Leisure,
Women's Studies and Sacred & Circle Dance.
I have facilitated workshops and programs for schools,
nursing homes, community and women's groups,
and have created and directed Rites of Passage,
Full Moon Gatherings and Sacred Dance Circles.
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