Soil & Sky Ecstatic Dance
at the Haw River Ballroom!
an improvisational movement journey
facilitated by Julia Hartsell
Sponsored by:
“Throughout time, humans have danced into expanded states of consciousness to connect with themselves, one another, nature and the divine.”
Sunday, September 22
Location: Haw River Ballroom
Doors open at 10:15am for a self-guided warmup
Opening circle at 11am
90-minute dance wave, followed by an optional closing share
Included with Soil Sky Event Pass. Option to purchase a dance-only ticket for $15 on the ticket page.
No experience necessary.
Newcomers please arrive for the opening circle.
Dance in bare feet, socks or dance specific shoes.
Bring an open mind and heart.
Bring a water bottle.
Dancing children are welcome with an attentive guardian. Please help kids preserve the conversation-free dance floor. Small children especially should be kept from running through the space to prevent collision and injury.
Ecstatic Dance is an improvisational movement journey led by carefully curated music inspired by Gabrielle Roth's 5Rhythms. Generally, the score, or dance wave, starts slow, builds in energy toward a peak and descends again to stillness. With no verbal guidance or conversation on the dance floor, there is abundant space for presence, creativity, improvisation, feeling and synchronicity to unfold. Practitioners are encouraged to welcome and follow the body’s impulses toward authentic, spontaneous expression which can include a full range of feelings from grief and anger to ecstatic joy and celebration.
Ecstatic Dance can be a profound, empowering, playful and prayerful practice for people of diverse bodies, ages, orientations, affiliations and backgrounds. Absolute beginners and long-time practitioners are welcome.
In this session, we’ll begin with an opening circle to orient everyone to the practice and co-create a safe and sacred space for movement exploration and connection.
If you find that you love the practice and would like to dance more frequently, we invite you to weekly ecstatic dance on Sundays at Heartward Sanctuary, 20 minutes south of Saxapahaw.
ABOUT JULIA HARTSELL
Julia Hartsell, a dancer, writer and ritualist, has dedicated decades to fostering healing and community through movement.
Renowned globally for her impact on Hoop Dance, and locally for shaping the Triangle’s Ecstatic Dance scene, Julia founded The Flowjo, a Carrboro studio that pioneered Ecstatic Dance in the area. She also organized the International Dance Conference, Hoop Convergence, for nearly a decade. Her passion for movement as a healing modality has taken her across the globe, where she has developed innovative grief ceremonies, ritual dances, and ancestral practices.
Julia co-founded Heartward Sanctuary in Silk Hope, NC, an arts-based temple and natural burial site, where she facilitates community rituals like the weekly Temple Dancewave. She supports individuals through various life transitions as a trained Ancestral Lineage Healing Practitioner, Death Doula, and Home Funeral Guide.
Her extensive movement repertoire includes Hoop Dance, Ecstatic Dance, Authentic Movement, AcroYoga, and Contact Improvisation, among others.
Julia currently resides in Silk Hope, traditional lands of the Shakori, Sissipihaw and Catawba tribes, with her beloved partner, canine companion and a wake of vultures.
ABOUT THE HAW RIVER BALLROOM
Come For The Music, Stay For The Views
Haw River Ballroom is a beautiful riverside music venue set in the former Dye House in historic Saxapahaw. With highly engineered acoustics, and state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems, three floors, a riverside deck and courtyard, gorgeous architectural detail, vintage furnishings, solar and geothermal power, climate control, and an idyllic rural river setting just minutes from Chapel Hill—there is just no other place quite like it.
Shows have included The Collection, Big Thief, St. Vincent, Iron & Wine, Tank and the Bangas, Sharon Van Etten, Sufjan Stevens, Sylvan Esso, Phantogram, Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, Jeff Tweedy, Ben Gibbard, Jason Isbell, Tallest Man on Earth, The Mountain Goats, Mountain Man, Drive by Truckers, Angel Olsen, War on Drugs, Kurt Vile, Son Volt, Margo Price, Ibeyi, Beach House, and Shovels and Rope among many others.
You will hear us say many times that Saxapahaw is a magical place. We are a small, tight-knit community that loves the slowness of living a little off grid and being close to Haw River. Our history and culture is rich in this little hidden gem of a village. Saxapahaw has been featured in Garden and Gun, The New York Times, Southern Living, and The Washington Post. You can read more about our history here.
