This day is kind of like two birthdays for me.  While it’s my 43rd, it’s also my 20th!
It was April 2003 that I moved from Kauai to Big Island where I found Ecstatic Dance in it’s early form.  It’s silly how much I can gush with gratitude for Ecstatic Dance.  But I do so because I believe it saved my life.

This is going to be hard to share and probably hard to read.

I wish I could say I came to Big Island with grace.  
When I came from Kauai, I felt utterly alone, heartbroken, angry, and confused.
It was the most painful, and difficult time of my life.  
My partner, newborn child and I were splitting up, and for good reason.
I was a mess in so many ways.  

My waking hours were filled with anguish.  There’s no way to explain the extent to the suffering I was experiencing.  I can just say it was impossible to see a way through it.
One day while walking through Pahoa I was brought to Kalani Honua… to Ecstatic Dance.
It was just a few people dancing barefoot to classic rock, pop, and a few electronica songs.  
No talking.  Just dancing.  
No direction.  Just movement.
I felt at home.  

Where my emotions once felt like someone standing on my chest, they finally moved through me.
I felt relief, integration and a bit of community.  
It became my weekly church where I diligently returned in search of peace, movement, release, integration, and connection.

I soon started to DJ.  
I started having a greater sense of purpose.  
Creating a musical “journey” for the Ecstatic Dance became a creative outlet.  Before then, I didn’t know I was a creative!
The 30+ hours it took to make a set went by in a blink.  
I was in the flow, where time stopped and nothing else existed.  
And the sense of achievement after coming through the creative process gave me hope.

In 2009, Ecstatic Dance stopped happening at Kalani.  Only then I realized I’d taken it for granted the whole time.
I stopped going to Ecstatic Dance for nearly 10 years.
My health declined. I gained weight. I began drinking to excess, focusing only on work.
Until a few years ago I had the opportunity to start a new Ecstatic Dance in Southern Oregon.

It started with just my partner and I.  
Week after week, we showed up.  Just us.
I practiced speaking the guidelines I’d learned from the years before at Ecstatic Dance.
Then, one by one over weeks and months, a new person would join us.
I shared the intentions I understood Ecstatic Dance was founded on.
I found my voice in sharing these intentions.
And eventually, a community formed with Ecstatic Dance in Williams.

Since then, my life has never been the same.  
There’s a kind of magic in building community around a central idea.
This idea being that we can find a sense of introspection, inclusivity, and interconnectedness… a way to integrate, process, and overcome our emotional wounds, possibly “healing” them ourselves through movement,
I can’t stop talking about how amazing this experience has been for me.
Since then, I’ve stopped drinking. 
I’ve started doing therapeutic treatments.  
I’ve been going to group workshops for self improvement through meditation and breathing.
My 40th, 3 years ago, seems like it was a rebirth.  
I’ve finally found a way to forgive myself…  A, way to forgive my parents… and everyone else.
Where once I was seething with anger, a facade to cover up the fear and sadness, today I’m able to face the world… vulnerable, honest, flawed, but willing to keep improving.

I look back at everything I’ve been through… and everything I’ve put others through.  
I’m immensely sorry.  
I wish I could start over with the sense of empathy and care I have now.
But, I also feel immensely grateful.
Today, I get to be alive.
And that means I can still do good.

2023-04-09 Ecstatic Dance Kalani

Ecstatic Dance @ Kalani

Sky Makai is one the facilitators of the original Ecstatic Dance on Hawai'i Island. 
A dancer at heart, Sky joined Ecstatic Dance at Kalani Honua in the early days when Ecstatic Dance was only a handful of people and unheard of -  except as a concept in Gabrielle Roth’s seminal book: Maps to Ecstasy 
Sky began providing opening music with Ecstatic Dance’s founder, Max Fathom.  Later, Sky took part in the original Ecstatic Dance Facilitator workshops, becoming one of Kalani Ecstatic Dance's core team of facilitators.   

Staying true to the roots of Ecstatic Dance, Sky's sets observe a distinguishable arc.  These musical journeys pay homage to Gabrielle Roth's influential practice of observing and moving through a “Wave” of musical selections.  The practice involves considering how waves are inherent in all of nature; our life cycles, our relationships, and in our most intimate moments.
Sky’s musical journeys are designed to reach intense and energetic ecstasy while also encouraging introspection and emotional release.
We love Sky’s passion and dedication to our Ritual Community Movement Journey, his dedication to personal growth, and his love of helping others.

Today, Sky is a steward and resident Facilitator of Ecstatic Dance at Kalani Honua, having previously been co-founder of Ecstatic Dance at Honoka’a as well as Ecstatic Dance in Williams, Oregon.

In an effort to preserve the history this worldwide phenomenon, Sky created on an unofficial Ecstatic Dance Facilitator Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MeU3X6Gz3BIXrEFEfFpmZJhrO0GsWDOL4hWMPdYT6IY/mobilebasic

New tracks tagged #DJ Mix: Ecstatic Dance