Laura Shannon with Kostantis Kourmadias Laura has travelled widely to research Greek and Balkan traditional dances and her teaching offers a deep experience of the sacred symbols these dances contain.
Kostantis Kourmadias is a virtuoso of the violin and saz, specialising in music of the Greek islands and Asia Minor, where his grandparents were born. He teaches Byzantine music at the Ilion music school in Athens, and travels widely to accompany Laura Shannon’s seminars.
Susanne Anders Bartholomäi will share DanceMeditation. She offers an approach to dance that deepens the awareness and the experience of movement and helps to find authenticity in the dance.
Peter Vallance will be sharing his approach to traditional and choreographed dances and how he blends and grows them together to create a ‘dancing field’ within which transformation can occur.
Barbara Swetina shares dances from different spiritual traditions which use mantras, sacred harmony chants and simple movements to honour the sacred in all life.
Renata Ramos will present the Findhorn Flower Essences Dance project, which includes specially commissioned dances by dancers from Brazil and Findhorn.
Anni Broadhead will share Earth Energy dances.
Brant Bambery will present a special Festival edition of “The Centrepiece”, an online Sacred Dance showcase.
Francesca Stridgen and Kathryn Kusa will lead Meditative Sacred Dance, bringing together themes and the qualities of wholeness and beauty drawn from their long experience of leading dance in the Findhorn Community and elsewhere.
Katharina Kroeber will offer Dancing Health, which explores how dances of all traditions interact with our body intelligence, leading to a path of balance and peace within ourselves, our circle, and our communities. The class offers a framework of dances as a healing modality that can be applied to any tradition old or new.
Festival Choir with Kate O’Connell – learn by ear, no experience needed. Kate is again offering a singing group through the week, learning songs to sing on the last night of the festival. Some of these are songs to accompany the dances. Beautiful heartwarming harmony songs from around the world…. Festival participants will join with local singers for a wonderful, fun and inspirational experience.
Kate was founder of our festival back in 1992 and has offered the choir for many of the intervening years.
O’Connell Band
Kate and Rory O’Connell and good friend Bill Henderson have been offering live music for our festival since its inception. They met at Dance Camp Wales in the mid 80s and were inspired to bring that festival spirit with live music to Findhorn. They play music for sacred circle dance in a range of styles from many different cultures and aim to bring excitement and enthusiasm to their events.
They will be joined by local singer Sheila Hull, with dances taught by their dear friend Peter Vallance… always a fantastic event.
Dancing to live music is an essential part of the Festival experience and evening sessions will have musicians playing for us to dance; an evening of traditional Greek, Balkan and Armenian dances with Laura Shannon and Kostantis Kourmadias; Barbara Swetina with an evening of Sacred Harmony Dances; a Scottish Ceilidh and an evening with the O’Connells’ band and Peter Vallance.
Findhorn Sacred Dance 