Healing Dance, magic in motion by Bia Ricco

Throughout the world, in every culture, one thing we surely find besides religion: dance. Dance has been used a way to communicate, entertain, express, trancend...
If we analyze a dance we can tell a lot from a culture, the movements, the costumes, the colors, the music and so on. 

Dance has certainly been an important part of ceremonies, rituals, celebrations and entertainment since the birth of the earliest human civilizations. Archaeology delivers traces of dance from prehistoric times such as Egyptian tomb paintings depicting dancing figures from circa 3300 BC and the Bhimbetka rock-shelter paintings in India. 

My life as an artist has always been dedicated in a search for answers. The search became a research, and after using photography and other visual arts as means of expressions I decided to into dancing.
During this journey of discovery, where my body is the only tool I have to express, I’ve  realized how we can communicate with higher forces and learn about our own limitations just by moving the body following a rhythm. Dancing has become my therapy. 

One of my favorite dances is definitely Oriental Dance (aka Belly Dance) because of its natural movements and how it enhances the true feminine power energy, SHAKTI. Every woman is a goddess and dancing reminds us that.
Personally, Belly Dance has helped me regulate my monthly cycles, relieve cramps and other PMS symptoms. It is a gentle way to open up the chakras (main energy centers in the body) and help the energy flow and circulate.

The main energy responsible for all the benefits of the dance is called KUNDALINI. It sits on the sacrum at the base of our spine, mostly still so is our job to keep Kundalini flowing if we want to stay healthy and happy. Movement and breathing are the most efficient way; Dancing and Yoga are highly recommended. 

Dancing can also work as a spiritual tool in a sense that it forces us to be in the present, to feel the music, stop our anxious minds and just enjoy the moment. 
Vibrations and shimmies eliminate excess energy, grounding us and connecting us with mother earth.
It is definitely a mind, body and soul workout. 

Another important aspect especially in the times we are living now is the energy that comes out of the dance: the love and the peace. It is so important that we do our part creating and emanating this energy since there is so much violence and struggles for power out there. It is our responsibility to create a different reality. People should spend more time dancing than fighting. Children, our future generation, should balance the TV and computer time with dancing. 

My work involves trance dance with a fusion of different cultural dances like samba, belly dance, Indian, African and others, in connection with yoga mudras, pranayamas and other forms of alternative therapy 
Its purpose is to move not only the physical body, but also the emotional, energetic and other parts of our beings, healing and expanding our limits 

For example a person has a hard time with a certain movement that uses the knees a lot, I would not only look at physical level of it, but maybe the fact of an accident, that could also be the root of the problem. Knees are our pride, our ability to let go of our pride and bend down with flexibility to move forward. What kind of movements, music, affirmations, and colors will help this person to move on... 
The most important thing is to be gentle and kind with ourselves seeking excellence but never forgetting to have fun. 

"Forget your troubles and DANCE....Forget your sickness and DANCE..."
Bob Marley