Dance of life
This ceremony is essentially based on the tradition of the dreamer sun dances and shamanic knowledge of the indigenous peoples of North America and is also inspired by alchemical knowledge and rituals from Europe.
We celebrate life.
In a large circle, people come together in diversity and beauty. Everyone brings their natural medicine gifts and carries them with their hearts to the tree of life on their own path.
We dance for three days and nights for the healing of Grandmother Earth and for us humans to live in harmony with her. We dance for peace and freedom and for the well-being of all beings: flowers and trees, animals in the water, on land and in the air. We dance so that young and old, women, men and non-binary people of all cultures and religions come together in respect and beauty and learn respectfully from each other. We dance for ourselves, for our friends, families and ancestors:
for all those we love.
The tree is at the center
During the first four days, everyone sets up the large dance floor together. This sometimes involves intensive physical work. The atmosphere is filled with joint ‘tackling’, joyful working together, discovering and forging new friendships and meeting old friends. Preparatory sweat lodges are held on some evenings.
Then it begins.
The guardians light the kindling fire. They nourish it throughout the
n three days and nights. With heart, hand and presence, they serve the dance and the people, take care of any work that needs to be done and look after the space. The singers and drummers on the large frame drum weave a tapestry of sound with ancient power songs from the indigenous peoples of North America and many other cultures, from sunrise to deep into the night. The dancers dance their dreams, intentions and their salvation back to the tree and back to their place. Most dancers fast during these three days of the ceremony, others nourish their bodies with as little food as necessary. Again and again, they dream silently under the dancing shield of their painted visions.
The dance gains strength.
The circles of dancers, singers and guardians create a condensing dream matrix: Visions emerge. They are reminders of future expansions of our lives. Hope and joy are companions. The knowledge of new possibilities becomes anchored. Enthusiasm nourishes the soul!
A new fire of life is kindled.
On the final day, everything is dismantled together and we leave the country in beauty. Dream seeds sprout in secret. Small and large changes grow into everyday life. Remembered extensions take shape.
A dream is reality.
Participate as …
For three days you dance your intentions, your dreams and visions awake. You dance for all beings on this earth, for the evolution of the collective of human beings and for yourself on your individual path of growth. By dancing we mean the constant and forward movement towards the tree, which stands at the center of the large dance floor, and back to your shelter. You give yourself completely to your dance and follow your path, accompanied by grandfather sun, grandfathers stars, grandmothers planets, sister moon and grandmother earth.
Draw your intentions/dreams/visions on your sign at home. It hangs in your shelter by the dance floor and you nourish it with every step you take towards the tree and with every dream. Because at night, when the drum rests, you enter dreamtime and sleep in your dance floor shelter. During the dance and in your dreams you will be gifted with additional images and insights and experience your creative power in beauty. By recognizing and internalizing your intention more and more clearly, you create reality.
With ceremonial medicine songs and the rhythm of the great life dance drum, the singers support you and your connection to the heartbeat of Grandmother Earth is awakened. With the knowledge that the guardians are carefully maintaining everyday reality, you can fully engage with your magical world and be “all-one”.
You only leave the dance floor for the intake of water in the water sanctuary and perhaps for a rare, minimal intake of food. All this and the “holy toilets” are located near the dance floor. You therefore never remove yourself from the energy of the life substance during the ceremony.
You know the ceremony and the dance floor, because you set up the dance floor with the other dancers during the preparation days. This “creating something together” is something very rare these days and has become something special. You experience what it means when everyone contributes their strength, their talents and their presence to a common work.
In the evenings we meet for a deeper understanding of the ceremony. First-year dancers have the opportunity to ask their questions at a special meeting. You will also be accompanied by a mentor of your choice. You take part in sweat lodge ceremonies to prepare for the dance. After the dance, this is rounded off with a final sweat lodge. With a lovingly prepared feast, we give our bodies the opportunity to ground themselves again. The following night, the ancestors dance their own dance on the square. On the final day, everything is dismantled together and we leave the country in beauty. Dream seeds sprout in secret. Small and large changes grow into everyday life. Remembered extensions take shape.
If you intend to take part, you will receive the information and everything important for the organization after registration.
Sing and drum !
During the three days of the Life Dance, the songs and the drumbeat carry the dancers with their intentions and dreams to the Life Dance Tree. The energetic, ceremonial songs support the dance and give the singers a deep connection. Experiencing dance as a singer means letting your heart’s voice resound. As a singer, in contrast to the dancers (who dance for themselves), you receive the gift of hearing, feeling and entering yourself in a ceremonial setting, in a (singing) group.
Knowing that the drum vibrates in harmony with the heartbeat of Mother Earth, you experience nourishment with every sound and every drumbeat that you give away. Many of the songs are old, traditional chants of the Native Indians. You stand or sit in a circle around the drum, filled with the voices of your fellow singers and the warm sound of the drum.
It is wonderful to support the dancers and the energy of the life dance as a singer. This brings energy into the flow of life. You are in harmony.
During the ceremony, the three singing groups alternate every hour from early morning until late at night. You sing for an hour and are then replaced by the next group. This creates an interweaving in which you usually sing for a good hour and have just under two hours to yourself. You are also free to dance during this time.
Your group will grow together during the preparation days. You sing together – sometimes with the life dance drum – practicing and accompanying the build-up in a sensual and humorous way. During a certain period of preparation and dismantling, you will help with setting up and dismantling the dance floor.
You take part in sweat lodge ceremonies to prepare for the dance. After the dance, this is rounded off with a final sweat lodge.
The “harmony” with the drum vibrates in all beings for a long time after the dance and our hearts are touched by the songs and sounds. A new song of life has begun.
If you intend to take part, you will find information and everything you need for the organization here:
Hats!
You are the guardian and keeper of the space and a valuable part of the dance of life. Through your participation you will experience the strength and confidence in your stability and thus nourish the dancers and yourself.
As a guardian, you make your gifts available to the collective and gain insights into the various dimensions and energies of the ceremony.
You will receive the support of the colorful group of guardians.
Experienced guardians, dancers and singers, but also young people on their path, find a place in this group where their valuable gifts are honored.
During the preparation time, you build around the dance floor, prepare wood, lay pipes, build stairs, etc. This “creating something together” is something very rare these days and has become something special.
During the dance you support the community in a practical as well as a ceremonial form. For example, you take care of the fire on the altar, take on tasks on the sweat lodge site, provide water and food for the dancers. You thus create a stable space in your collective, which is fundamental for the ceremony.
You take part in sweat lodge ceremonies to prepare for the dance. After the dance, this is rounded off with a final sweat lodge.
The working time is divided up according to the number of guardians. In any case, there will be times when you can dance your dream to the tree like the dancers. At home you create your power stick with your intentions/dreams/visions.
On the final day, everything is dismantled together and we leave the country in beauty.
Your staff will remind you at home of your supporting functions in life and a new perspective on the gift of service will be yours.
If you intend to take part, you can register here.
The children’s camp at Lebenstanz is a wonderful place in nature where families and children are very welcome. It offers children and young people the opportunity to take part in the dance of life with their families. Of course, we have plenty of child-friendly activities (games, handicrafts, swimming, etc.) in the protected setting of the children’s camp. The children experience a playful approach to nature and spirituality and also have the opportunity for ceremonies in nature.
Small children from babies up to 8 years of age are welcome at the children’s camp with an accompanying person (parent, grandmother etc.), older children from 8 years up to teenagers can attend the children’s camp alone if a parent participates in the life dance as a singer, guardian or dancer.
If this appeals to you and you have any questions, please contact
We look forward to seeing you!
Help with preparation and follow-up!
Preparation assistant
As a preparatory assistant, you will be in the country earlier – when everything is still relatively quiet. As one of nine to eleven energetic people, you will help from Tuesday morning to Friday morning: Setting up community tents, providing tools and materials, building sweat lodges, mowing the sweat lodge and dance area and more. In doing so, you are helping to lay the foundations for providing food and protection from the rain for the people who will soon be arriving in the country and bringing a first beauty to the time we spend together!
Follow-up assistant
After the official end of the dance, you will certainly stay in the country for an extra day (i.e. until Sunday) for the follow-up work.
If the communal tents are not yet dry in bad weather, it is the responsibility of the post-processing helpers to stow them away dry. This would include postponing the return journey by another day!
In the group of follow-up helpers, you will take care of the final clean-up work and create the final beauty in which we leave the country.
The dates for 2023 are:
Pre-helpers July 25 to 28, 2023
Follow-up assistants 5. to August 6, 2023
If you would like to be a helper this year, please contact michael.m@lebenstanz.info BEFORE you register.
And here you will find information and everything important for the organization:
