Ecstatic Dance is


Viewpoints,...


There is a vitality,
a life force
a quickening
that is translated through you
into action
and because there is only one of you
in all time
this expression is unique
and if you block it, it will never exist
through any other medium
and it will be lost,
the world will not have it.
It is not your business to determine
how good it is
nor how valuable
nor how it compares with other
expressions.
It is your business
to keep it yours
clearly and directly
and
keep the channel open.

-- Martha Graham, modern dance pioneer

When we experience moments of ecstacy -- in play, in stillness, in art, in great sex -- they come not as an exception, an accident, but as a taste of what life is meant to be. Why shouldn't we be able to live more and more in ecstacy, if we have the courage to venture out of inertia and imitation into intuition and imagination? Ecstacy is an ideal, a goal, but it can be the expectation of every day. Those times when we're grounded in our body, pure in our hearts, clear in our minds, rooted in our soul, and suffused with the spirit of life, are our birthright.

-- Gabrielle Roth, from Maps to Ecstacy: Teachings of an Urban Shaman