A Moveable Feast Presents: Trance Dance

Story and Photos by Raydiance Joy Grace

Puna Rising

Celebrating Community, Creativity, and Resilience

A Moveable Feast Presents

TRANCE DANCE

Saturday, May 24, at Kalani

There was a palpable excitement in the room as we watched Shola prepare the ritualistic altar in the front of the room. I looked around the room, primarily seeing new participants who had never experienced Trance Dance before. Shola gave a detailed introduction to the mechanics of what is Trance Dance: “How to have the best experience, free your mind, breathe, and find your divine dancer.” The dancers found a space in the room that they felt safe dancing in with their blindfolds for an hour to recorded music that had originally been selected by Frank Natale, a pioneer in Trance Dance, and Shola’s first teacher. The music started out with nature sounds moving into drumming and chanting of different tribal music from Africa and other indigenous tribes. It became a cacophony of mixed tribal sounds, freeing the mind as it weaved through many planes of existence. At the end of this personal journey into the self, the participants shared in the closing circle that they all had amazing experiences that revealed important aspects of their lives. 

Shola was invited to a Trance Dance Ritual in Italy in 1992 at the Frank Natale Institute, an experiential educational organization that offered trainings for the evolution of participants to raise their consciousness.  The Trance Dance made an impact on her mind, body, and spirit, awakening her to want to know more about her inner world and what was around her. She started taking the training seminars, in which she discovered herself in ways she had never experienced before. Shola took a shamanic seminar taught by Wilbert Alix, an African/American renowned teacher of Trance Dance, a practice rooted in ancient shamanic traditions, which offered a unique perspective on healing and human potential. Wilbert was traveling internationally doing his shamanic training, including going to Hawaii, at Kalani Honua, teaching how to become a Trance Dance Facilitator. After many years of inviting Shola to join him in Hawaii, she decided to come here in 2003 as his assistant in his shamanic retreats. She was a monthly facilitator for the dance at Kalani till 2018 while Wilbert continued his training there every year.

I asked Shola if she would describe a transformative experience that she or someone else had during a Trance Dance.

Shola said, “It is hard to pick one, but I remember during a Trance Dance, I found myself in Africa with a caravan of men, women, and children traveling through all the villages. Wherever we went, we were spreading the message of love, joy, and beauty. We brought the message of dance, sound, and healing, and created a musical tribe. This made a huge imprint in my soul.”

I also asked her what is the most important thing you have learned from doing Trance Dance.

Shola responded, “There is so much more available to us than we think, and how much freedom we have in taking our journey as an expansion of what is happening inward. Frank Natale was always saying, We transform in the darkness so we grow into the light. We go to the place we don’t normally want to go to because it is scary. In the darkness, we can find our true power. It is also the shadow, and another way to look and learn. We couldn’t appreciate the stars without the night. The light and the darkness are part of the mystery of the universe, and when combined, help us to evolve. Trance Dance is just a doorway to remember who we are in our true essence!” 

 He emphasized Trance Dance as a meditation in motion, a way for individuals to connect with their spirit through rhythm, movement, and breath. Alix discovered the healing effects of Trance Dance in 1989, using it to overcome chronic pain in his lower back. He believed that intention was key; by setting a clear purpose before dancing, participants could unlock deep emotional and spiritual insights. Trance Dance, as taught by Alix, involves rhythmic drumming, blindfolds to remove visual distractions, and conscious breathing. He described trance as a state similar to meditation, where the mind empties and the spirit surfaces. His teachings were influenced by his apprenticeship with Frank Natale, another pioneer in trance dance and neo-shamanism.

I asked Robert what the meaning is behind choosing the theme ‘Moveable Feast’ as the motto to promote his community programs.

Robert responded, “I took the title from Earnest Hemingway’s memoir ‘Moveable Feast’ because I saw similarities between his experience of Paris and my experience of Puna.  As a young man after the war in Paris in the 1920s, he was bowled over by the creativity that he experienced there, going from salon to salon or event to event, experiencing the illuminaries of the 20th century in Paris. He was having a movable feast. It wasn’t the food per se, but food metaphorically in terms of the degree of talent. I’ve been here in Puna since 2013, from New York, not a small place to come from. I was immediately struck by how I felt that I was in a place of the highest quotient of mindful intelligence people I have experienced.  The goal of Puna Rising is to be a virtual organisation with everything online since 2021. We want to create a physical structure that serves as a hub for Puna using the old Malama building, which is currently for rent and has been empty for over 3 years. We think that would make an amazing community resource, but we don’t have the money right now to create that space.  I thought that if I could show the creative genius of Puna and get people excited about this idea, I could generate enough energy to begin to make that dream a reality.”

 How did you happen to pick Trance Dance as one of your community events?

 “I initially contracted with 14 different groups for events, and we had 50 events where people would come up to me to give me suggestions for other types of events. I was introduced to Shola after someone else had dropped out of our program, and I saw an opportunity to host her, and it’s worked out fantastically.”

Is your intention to continue to invite different community leaders and sponsor them?

 “You’re right!  We have a flyer out on Puna Happenings, and I’m going to apply for a second year of funding.  We see ourselves as an incubator for Puna. We’re not here for well-established organisations but people who want to uplift their projects or their ideas and move them to the next stage.  We create an environment where people can come for free, which makes it more attractive for attendance, and we can give them significant exposure. They also receive valuable feedback from participants.” 

That’s terrific support from you and your organisation!  Is there anything else you want to say about what you’re doing?

 “My goal is to evolve a stronger network in Puna with this creative talent that people feel inspired to participate in some way. My other goal is how I can contribute to making this community resource a reality, because once we have a physical structure, that will be a game-changer. It will be called “Puna Ola”, which means wellspring in Hawaiian, and it will serve as a wellspring to continue to feed and nurture the people of Puna.”

Shola is available to facilitate at  your retreat center in addition to Kalani for her programs in how to find ‘your divine dancer’ CONTACT: 808 365-3916