I played this set on the 27.07.2025 at Arillas-Soundgarden/Corfu/Greece.
I’m shaping ecstatic dance as a meditative dance journey, guiding people into deep states of inner connection through my DJ sets. This goes against the current trend in ecstatic dance, where DJs aim for bigger events with hundreds of people dancing more like a conscious rave — electronic and organic sounds, but more of a party vibe without alcohol. In such large crowds, the sense of intimacy, connection, and meditative depth often gets lost. In contrast, my sets are designed as emotional, inward journeys that foster real presence and connection between participants.
In this set i focused on surprising soundscapes, classic music/instruments and a tribute to Ozzy Osborne, who passed away 5 days before i played this set.

Playlist:

1: Ness - Contact
2: Marsh - Come Together
3: Igorrr - Problème d'émotion
4: Alon Aboutboul - Password (feat. The White Screen & Elya)
5: Xique-Xique - Xaxoeira
6: L'Antidote - The Orchard- Akın Sevgör Remix
7: Larizzle - En Bongo
8: Acid Arab - Ya Mahla
9: Masomenos - Coco Classico
10: Lisette Lombé et Cloé du Trèfle - Entends comme tu n'es pas seule
11: Apocalyptica - Nothing Else Matters
12: Emmanuel Santarromana - Opéra 
13: Tipper, Spoonbill - Emerald Hooves 
14: Kalya Scintilla - Caravan Planet 
15:  DJBassedOut/Black Sabbath - War Pigs (Dubstep)
16: Jeans Team, Parov Stelar - Keine Melodien...1,2,3,4,5
17: TRAM DES BALKANS - Tshanka tshanka
18: Laurent Dury - Polkaism 
19: BROKINPAPER - SAPIOSEXUALITY
20: Cepasa & Artem Borodatiuk - Тільки в Києві
21: Ganja White Night - Kraken
22: Chancha Via Circuito, Meridian Brothers - El pavo real 
23: Yael Deckelbaum - Women of the World Unite (Kareem RaÏhani Remix)
24: Macadam Crocodile - Walk Faster
25: Byron Metcalf & Ari Urban (feat. Dashmesh) - Fearless Encounter
26: Alexa Sunshine Rose - Arms of Love
27: Pete La Roca - Lazy Afternoon
28: White Noise

"Inner & Outer Connection" Ecstatic Dance Corfu

We can‘t always choose the music life plays for us, but we can choose how we dance to it !!!

DJ & owner of Arillas Soundgarden on the beautiful island of Corfu in Greece. Host of the year-round weekly Ecstatic Dance on Sunday mornings.

For me, ecstatic dance is art, culture, joy and healing. As a DJ and dancer, it allows you to free yourself from things that you are unconsciously stuck in… and you can do that just by going through your own automatically triggered processes through the music and the energy in the field of all the dancers present.

In the 80s/90s I was a successful vinyl DJ and club owner (Unterhaus Karlsruhe). I was a resident DJ in Frankfurt (Dorian Gray), Stuttgart (ZAP), Pforzheim (Scandal, Café Cairo) and many more. I also had DJ bookings in Ibiza (Pasha, Amnesia), Zürich (Rohstofflager, Oxa, Streetparade), Berlin (Planet, UFO, Loveparade) and many more. 

My personal highlight was to play together a „back-to-back“ with the legendary „Grandmaster Flash“ at a B-Boy battle in 1997.

At the end of 1990 I opened one of the first DJ schools in Germany and then supported newly founded DJ schools in other cities. In 1999 I ended my vinyl DJ career and worked as a paragliding instructor, among other things, until I founded the unicorn startup Volocopter in 2012. Since 2020 I have left the operational business at Volocopter and am now a world and time traveler.

On January 1st, 2023, I started back behind the (now digital) DJ decks. Since then, I've been hosting weekly Ecstatic Dance at my event/retreat location "Soundgarden" in Arillas on the island of Corfu in Greece.

Since 2 years I train my voice in throat and overtone singing. As SpaceDeer, my signature move is to sing in the intro phase of my Ecstatic Dance sets.

About Ecstatic Dance:

Ecstatic Dance is a danced meditation that frees people from things they're stuck in. As DJs we start with longer intros without beats and slowly transform the energy to one or two peeks to get the dancers really ecstatic... we also try to go through different energies - sadness, anger, happieness, freedom, peace … and a variety of genres and extraordinaire/crazy tracks are welcome. But always organic electronic dance music is a base of the sets. At the end there is also a longer phase with slow beats or just sounds/noises to bring the dancers to the floor and guide them to lie still on the floor for 5-10 minutes... to integrate their inner processes that have unfolded during the dance.

Main rules of ecstatic dance:

- no talking during the dance
- be sober (no alcohol or drugs)
- dance barefoot
- no judgement of your own or others movements/behaviours
- contact dance is welcome, but only in respect of your own - and of the others boarders.

About Soundgarden:

Soundgarden is a magical place in the olive groves overlooking the Ionian Sea, nestled in the lush hills above the lively seaside village of Arillas, popular with alternative international tourism. A well-equipped, year-round venue and retreat was created by man and nature together to serve as a high-vibrational field to connect, retreat, celebrate, move, listen, dance and transform.
With its magical outdoor areas (Under the Flower, The Olive Stage, Outdoor Kitchen, Olive Grove Dancefloor) and indoor areas (The Tree Temple) and a high-end sound system, Arillas-Soundgarden offers ideal conditions to experience unforgettable moments.

www.arillas-soundgarden.com