Also known as Sacred Dance or World Dance, Circle Dance is a wonderful way to meet others while having gentle exercise in a supportive environment. From the prayerful to the playful, the meditative to the more lively, Circle Dance can transform our lives in some surprising ways. As one dancer said, “Sometimes I come along tired and heavy and, by the end of the session, I am filled with energy and joy”.

Circle dance draws on traditions from around the world and combines these with modern choreographies, all to the accompaniment of wonderful music. The steps tend to be simple and repetitive and there are no wrong steps, just regional variations (!) so you don’t have to worry if you have two left feet. You don’t need a partner and we learn the dances as we do them, so there is nothing to remember from week to week. You can just drop into a group for an hour when you have time, so no onerous commitments.

Circle Dance is suitable for people of all ages from 9 to 99, both women and men. People with disabilities are especially welcome. Circle dance can shift you from your normal (stressed!) state of consciousness to a more relaxed and peaceful state. It is wonderful for people suffering from anxiety or depression.

I currently lead several dance groups in Hertfordshire and am happy to lead regular sessions or one-off workshops in the community and in residential care settings

The following is reputed to be written by St Augustine(AD 354--430), and even if it isn’t, it reminds us that dance I can be part of our fuller humanity and spirituality.

I praise the dance, for it frees people from the heaviness of matter and binds the isolated to community

 I praise the dance, which demands everything: health and a clear spirit and a buoyant soul.

Dance is a transformation of space, of time, of people, who are in constant danger of becoming all brain, will or feeling.

Dancing demands a whole person, one who is firmly anchored in the centre of his life, who is not obsessed by lust for people or things and the demon of isolation in his own ego.

Dancing demands a free person, one who vibrates with the equipoise of all his powers.

I praise the dance.

O man, learn to dance, or else the angels in heaven will not know what to do with you