Medicine by Lanie McKeever

How far you have come on this day –
To acknowledge the things you have locked away:
Grief. Rage. Sorrow. Belonging. Power.
How far you have come on this day –
To step into this circle,
And witness the things we all have carried or thrown away.
How far we have come on this day –
To bring what lies within you and within me
And to give it life with our bodies,
Our blessed breath.
How far we have come on this day –
To call down this big medicine
As we shoulder our joys and sorrows,
Together.

Medicine - Asheville Movement Collective - Ecstatic Dance - 5.21.23

Radiance by Lanie McKeever

Welcome to the turning towards heat and light,
of Summer Solstice days –
This time of vibrant awakening
Merriment
Fertility
and Bounty.
Welcome to these Cancerian depths
of Cerulean waters –
Pulling us towards inward
Exaltation
Creativity
and Splendor.

Let us gather now:
Coax the coals
Stack the kindling
Sing to the Element of Fire
and awaken our ancient knowing.

Let us light up our devotions 
to our blazing dreams–
Turning our faces and bodies,
towards the heat and light.

Dance now,
For this fire lies within you,
A magnificent radiance,
A mirror to our Sun above.

Radiance - Asheville Movement Collective - Ecstatic Dance - 6.23.23

What Dreams May Come

“You are born to fly, and in dreams you remember the soul has wings.” — Robert Moss

What Dreams May Come - Asheville Movement Collective Ecstatic Dance - 2/3/23

"May you taste freedom.
May you taste the freedom to
Connect with your body, sovereign
With the deep Earth and glowing Moon.
May you taste the freedom to
Connect with your spirit, brilliant
Against the cosmic Sky and shining Sun.
May you taste freedom.
May you feel the ancient inheritance of Love
From those who stand with You
Offering nurturing, protection, and strength.
May you taste freedom.
May you taste the freedom
To Love all that arises within you and around you.
May you taste freedom.
May you devour and plunge,
Feet first, head first.
Into Celebration
Into Communion
With the
Life you have been given."

~ (c) LMcK (2022)

Taste of Freedom - Asheville Movement Collective Ecstatic Dance 6.19.22

“…May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.”

- From "Beannacht / Blessing" by John O’Donohue (1956-2008)

Nourishment - Asheville Movement Collective - Ecstatic Dance - 9.3.23

From “The Journey“ by David Whyte

Above the mountains
the geese turn into
the light again
Painting their
black silhouettes
on an open sky.
Sometimes everything
has to be
inscribed across
the heavens
so you can find
the one line
already written
inside you.
…
Sometimes with
the bones of the black
sticks left when the fire
has gone out
someone has written
something new
in the ashes of your life.
You are not leaving.
Even as the light fades quickly now,
you are arriving.

For this dance, we are leaning into this season of change, of turning within—gathering what we have learned and grown from and moving deeper into this new cycle.

Time of the Turning - Asheville Movement Collective - Ecstatic Dance - 10.8.23

“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”
― Carl Gustav Jung

Come explore the pieces and parts of us who dance in the liminal spaces of our minds, bodies, hearts, and souls at this moment in time. As we move towards Samhain (Halloween), the Underworld also moves towards us. Together, we will celebrate our Earthly riches and bounty and are invited to honor those who have been excluded or forgotten, as well as those who have been beacons of light in our Hearts.

Figures of Darkness & Light - Asheville Movement Collective - Ecstatic Dance - 10.27.23

"As the time of winter darkness and winter light comes,
Dream down and rest.
Withdraw where you can;
Hold close the warmth,
That is yours and yours alone.

Our bodies and bones will pass.
Time will pass.
Memory will pass.

Your Heart, your heart….
Ah, your heart. Yes.
She will be the one who hears the far off bells.

When she does:
Remember.
Remember.
Remember.

The Light is Coming."

Poem by Lanie McKever (2023_

“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in…”
-	From Leonard Cohen, “Anthem”

Ring the Bells - Asheville Movement Collective - Ecstatic Dance - 12.22.23

Becoming

As one year closes, another opens to us. Even as the past and present may hold grief, loss, silence – all is in the flow. Life is always moving forward. In every moment, we are beginning again. For this dance, feel the beating wings of excitement alongside the fear of the sweet Unknown and the grief of what must be let go of. This new dawn is already here. Allow this time to uplift your Heart to possibility and joy. Allow this time to welcome you and who you are becoming.

"The Wild Iris - Louise Glück

At the end of my suffering
there was a door.

Hear me out: that which you call death
I remember.

Overhead, noises, branches of the pine shifting.
Then nothing. The weak sun
flickered over the dry surface.

It is terrible to survive
as consciousness
buried in the dark earth.

Then it was over: that which you fear, being
a soul and unable
to speak, ending abruptly, the stiff earth
bending a little. And what I took to be
birds darting in low shrubs.

You who do not remember
passage from the other world
I tell you I could speak again: whatever
returns from oblivion returns
to find a voice:
from the center of my life came
a great fountain, deep blue
shadows on azure seawater."

Becoming - Asheville Movement Collective - Ecstatic Dance - 1.14.24

On this eve of the Chinese New Year, with its powerful Wood Dragon energy along with the New Moon in Aquarius, I wanted to invite us to drop in together to feel and support each other in the huge collective and communal transformational waves breaking through this year. This continues to be a potent time of endings and new beginnings and cycles for ourselves and the collective. We are all being called like never before to breakthrough barriers and release what has held us back from living our lives to the fullest. 

Dance Your Pain by Chelan Harkin

"Your sorrow
can be a glorious dragon
She wants to roar
Her flaming wisdoms through you
Suffering is the great wreckage 
of love
coming to crumble
everything that has not been true
in your heart. 
She is here to make you a giant
and to endow your heart
with a tenderness
soft enough to hold (the Divine). 
She comes to wage life in your chest
Your body is a volcano.
Suffering activates
every blazing piece of (divinity)
you’ve held latent inside you.
You needn’t fear Her lash—
suffering exists 
to jostle you awake, 
to convince you to shake
every illusion 
that has clung to your soul
leeching your vastness.
The tectonic plates
of the status quo
are meant to rumble, 
Structures that could never hold you
are meant to collapse—
their downfall is the revelation 
of more of your totality.
Security and stability
are not the ultimate foundations—
love is
and She is a wild, thrashing thing
and in Her desire for all of you
She will undo you from everything. 
Stay the course, darling.
You are larger than you know."

(Let’s BREAKTHROUGH!)

BreakThrough! - Asheville Movement Collective - Ecstatic Dance - 2.9.24

Invitation: Opening
For this dance, the invitation is to drop into the energy of Spring and what that means for you and your body. Maybe this is still a time of slowness, gentleness, or even an opening, an awakening, a stretching--gently pushing, still close to the ground--smelling the warming earth, roots drinking in nutrients and water. Maybe it is a time of feeling the first shoots of energy and aliveness and possibility. Maybe you are fully ready to pulse, arch, and bloom into creation. Whatever you are feeling, whatever your body needs, come dance the promise of opening and newness in the air.

Be Opened By the Strange!
Be Opened By the Wonderful!
Be Opened to the Sweetness of your Soul!
All Hail to the Ides of March
and the Blessings of Spring!


Opening ~ Asheville Movement Collective ~ Friday Night Ecstatic Dance Wave, Warren Wilson College ~ 3.22.2024

We are dropping into some yummy Moon Magic, moving under the influence of the full Flower Moon. The invitation is to “Allow love to enter every area of your life and to have unshakable faith in the universe and in life. Let this be a time of accepting, emptying, letting go, as we open the door to what is coming or what needs to go.” In this time of possibility and blossoming, let’s take a deep dive together through movement.

I invite you to settle more, lay back, and listen to this prayer by Ana Lopez:

Full Flower Moon Prayer by Ana Luciana Lopez:

“May this Full Moon envelop me in its magnificent healing light.
May it flow through every cell of my body and soul.
Thank you for healing my physical, emotional and spiritual aches.
Thank you for accompanying me in healing so that I may radiate Joy and Love deep within me.
So be it. "

*Moon Magic* ~ Asheville Movement Collective ~ Ecstatic Dance ~ 5.24.24

For this dance, the phrases Rising Dawn; Inner Light; Inner Gold; and the Rise of Love have been weaving into and informing this magical mix. Could we be on the precipice of a rising dawn in our world? What does it mean to connect to and shine your inner light, your inner gold? How is Love moving in us lately?

Mythologist and storyteller, Michael Meade, shares that finding and revealing our natural inheritance, this inner gold, is the adventure we undertake our entire life. It is about finally getting in touch with the Soul medicine you have been carrying all your life and then releasing it into the world. I invite you to connect to the rising and swelling of your journey throughout this dance, allowing you to Shine inwards and outwards in sweet, funky ways.

*SHINE YOUR INNER GOLD* ~ Asheville Movement Collective ~ 6.9.24

A visionary & expressive artist attuned to Mother Gaia & our cosmic birthright. Featuring the soundscapes of the Divine Feminine, ancestral longings, and the return of Joy.

Lanie McKeever // RainbowDragonHeart

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