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THE PRIMAL SOURCE
Throughout the centuries, humanity has created infinite concepts and images to try to transmit this dimension of reality. Of course, no concept can ever express it. Only hints can be given for the searchers to recognize it. We cannot say that the following are synonyms, but we can appreciate shades of what we believe the Primal Source to be in Lao Tse’s Tao (mother of all things), Buda’s Sunya, Emptyness, in Tibetan Budism’s Rigpa, the Great Spirit of the American natives or the Holy Spirit of Christianity.
The Primal Source is the origin, the road, the end and the essential nature of everything. It is Pure Self without attributes, absolute consciousness. It constitutes What we are in our deepest self.
The Primal Source is this dimension, which we have access to each night when we sleep without dreaming, when we truly rest. Though, in most cases, we access the Primal Source unconsciously. A few minutes in this state of mental stillness and absorption in the principle provides more cellular, mental and existential renewal and relief than hours of rest and relaxation or food can provide.
ORIGINS OF PRIMAL DANCE
Primal Dance has been influenced by many great teachers I had the privilege to meet. Many of them, like Viktor Frankl, Stanley Kripner, David Spangler or Steve Andreas are not easily recognizable in the dance. But there they are, in one way or another. Some others, like Stan Grof - whose presence has been transcendental in my life - Rolando Toro and his Biodance, or the Gymnastics of the energy centers of Susana Milderman can be intensely perceived in our classes. While in most of its theoretical background, Primal Dance is a tribute to the work of Ken Wilber.
But Primal Dance started to develop early in my childhood, in contact with the popular music and dances of my country. Among the ones I have always enjoyed, I was captivated by the “candombe” (afro-southamerican music) and the “malambo”, a powerful male dance I enjoyed dancing in my schools festivals where I was always selected to perform. These dances, primal in nature and both based on percussion, taught me that rhythm comes from the earth.
The argentine “zamba”, a very romantic dance, showed me the grace and beauty of the female-male encounter.
My father, an accomplished tango dancer, showed me with his dance that sensuality is a game that pleases the heart and soul. He had the habit of taking me to meetings and music shows every week; a heritage I will always be grateful for.
My mother and sisters introduced me to traditional Spanish dance. From my Spanish grandparents I inherited devotion to bagpipes, and from my Italian grandfather, I received the happiness of the tarantella, and a love for passionate songs.
As a child, my poet sister Sonia introduced me to the world of Yoga and Mysticism. Through them the conscience of my body and its infinite dimensions started to change forever. Finally as a teenager, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Master Tsun Kuen Ma and to start an excellent and intense training in Tai Chi Chuan; the energetic dimensions of movement I still practice.
This entire rich genetic and cultural heritage, of which I thank my ancestors and life for, was activated by frequent trips. In Findhorn, Scotland, I discovered sacred circular dances. In Esalen, California, came American native music. In Spain, I was aroused by flamenco. In Brazil and the Caribbean, I understood the meaning of sensuality. Rock and roll concerts showed me that Western culture is still alive ... then finally, Eastern dances actually lit the spark in me.
Primal Dance began to take its actual form when I got in contact with Tantra. In a very deep non-ordinary state of conscious, the sacred secret of Shiva’s dance, Nataraj, was revealed to me. In fact, at the very beginning, I named it Tantric Dance, but unfortunately most people in the West cannot distinguish Tantra from Kamasutra therefore the dance was renamed.
The belief that Tantra is a system to develop sexual skills is widespread in Western civilization. Nothing is farther from the truth than this. The word Tantra comes from Sanskrit and it refers to the act of weaving. Tantra makes reference to the basic warp of the universe, its essential ground. The similarities between Tantra and Modern Physics are astonishing, with the difference being that the 3000 years old Tantra’s aim is not limited to the physical world. The aim far from sexual skill is to reach a complete union with the cosmos in an experiential and vital way. Sexuality is only a means to the end, not an end in itself.
Primal Dance looks for ways to reach those levels of conscience where this truth is revealed in a tangible, uncompromising way.
The study and exploration of non-ordinary states of conscience was also an essential element in this search. But Primal Dance intends to go beyond the mere occasional access to these states. For this, we provide a systematic theoretical background and practices and exercises aimed at harmonizing and stabilizing our conscience in these superior levels of existence.
Primal Dance could be very well defined as a method of expanding the conscience in a systematic, natural and risk-free way, and which, at the same time, helps us to stay there in our everyday life.
Honoring its origins, Primal Dance is celebration, joy, magic, and human warmth. It is like going back home, to the source, the origin of everything, which is the only place where we can be healed, renewed and reborn. There, existence is revealed from its deep and always mysterious sense. It is where we can be what we truly are.
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