Our bodies our uniquely capable of channeling Cosmic Light down from the formless into form, anchoring it on to the planet.

As modern sacred dancers, part of what ushers sacredness into our movements is the fundamental recognition that the human body is a vessel.  Our forms are uniquely capable of channeling Light, the Cosmic Genesis energy that flows from formless into our form, and anchor it on to the Earth. With benevolent, directed attention, this ability is unlimited in its capacity to benefit ourselves, our families, and our community.  

For over a thousand years in India — and many ancient places around the world — Temple Dance was seen as the highest offering one could give to the Divine.  It represented a total union of spiritual practices as expressed through human ability.  In the Indian temple traditions, many goddesses and gods danced in order to maintain the order of the Cosmos and received great joy when their devotees danced back to them as offering.  With this practice, energy flowed from the Divine Realms to Earth and back again, creating harmony and balance in every layer of existence. Through the active meditativeness of ritualized physical movement, humans over time discovered that dance opened up access to deep personal power that, in turn,  created auspiciousness for their communities and helped them better  understand the order danced into existence by their deities.  It was a way of emulating — and learning from — forces of Nature and the Universe to help unlock the secret Mysteries of creation.

From Kalidasi: The concept of Modern Temple Dance (MTD) really first took form in 2011. I was sitting on the rooftop of the Rang Nath Temple in Pushkar, overlooking the Gayatri Mountain, listening to one of my Odissi Guru’s many brilliant lectures on the philosophy of classical Indian art. I had already spent several months in the rigorous Odissi intensive program with the Shakti School of Dance. At that point I was saturated in the bliss of my training, dancing five hours each day and studying the ancient scriptures of dance and drama at night. Although I had been drawn to the spiritual benefits of dance for years at that point, I came to a realization: at its philisophical core, sacred art (and by proxy the artist) was capable of elevating both the performer and the viewer out of their suffering and into their original state of Divine Bliss. And not just one particular dance, but DANCE.  When dance is used in this context, it is recognized as the highest form of yoga as it was capable of bi-passing the negative ego long enough for the heart to anchor the Divine Truth within our body. Satyam Shivam Sundaram: “God/The Divine is the Ultimate Truth, and the Ultimate Truth is always Beautiful”. This brilliant and flawless technology of movements cleared trauma stored within the muscles, opened the Heart through devotion, literally re-wired synapsis in the brain, all while pushing the body to its limit and beyond. The result was something undeniable and life changing. I had been a dancer of many disciplines for years before coming to Odissi, most notably belly dance, for which I was both a  professional performer and teacher. Similar to Odissi, when I first learned belly dance, I could feel, almost instantaneously, an unmistakable power opening up and flooding into my body from my crown to my root. It was a power like I had never experienced before and it illuminated for me that dance held an incredible power and life-change potential for healing and transformation. It was at that moment that I dedicated my life to finding out WHY. After studying belly dance and Odissi for many years, I wanted to create a codified system to train dancers in how to clearly and safely channel these energies within their body, how to use their physical form as a sacred vessel, and then use dance to direct it towards the service of a greater good. That, to me, was how I wished to define and apply sacred dance. And I wanted to thoughtfully teach it to all those who felt the calling to be sacred dancers. Fundamentally I wanted a teaching modality that honored and transmitted the ancient wisdoms of the lineage in a reverential way that holds the teachings in tact, all while creating in a format that could reach the earnest modern seeker. A seeker who felt the call and potential of sacred dance within themselves and yet may not have the physicality, ability, or personal pull towards traditional classical dance.   

MTD is designed to be a deeply-immersive, safe discipline that combines natural movements of Belly Dance; devotional approaches of Classical Indian Temple Dance philosophies; and Kalidasi’s unique, inclusive rituals of healing and empowerment.  Each dance form’s lineage is honoured.  Each spiritual ritual is focused on expanding and refining the emotional, mental, and physical body — for the honoring and healing of both the human AND the Divine — within each MTD practitioner.

Dance students engage in a comprehensive curriculum specifically designed to clear stagnation from the body and strengthen their foundational energetic practices.  Step-by-step, dancers discover the power contained within each area of their physical, mental, and emotional bodies and how to direct it towards a positive outcome. They’ll explore the movements of belly dance, Indian temple dance, mudras, and other embodiment practices with the end goal of learning to move through every arena of life with intention, compassion, and power.

Here are some of the outcomes of MTD study:

• GAIN an experiential sense of the power of sacred dance, as well as its purpose and place, for healing in our modern world.
• LEARN nuances of movement in the realms of Belly Dance, Classical Indian dance, and Mudric arts techniques.
• ACTIVATE your body — charging it with vitality and Light — through customized meditations and energetic clearing exercises.
• DISCOVER the bliss of MTD choreography, a physical practice the feeds the energies each dancer experiences as they live into their fully-embodied, soul-aligned, dance artistry.
• CREATE your personal Spiritual Toolbox:  learn the step by step approach to create your OWN personal, sacred dance practice — which you’ll take home with you — that’s customizable to your needs and wants.

• And so much more…

Engaging in Modern Temple Dance training is a fun AND effective way to empower your body and enliven your soul.  It’s a “bliss-permeated” healing and strengthening method that bridges the best of ancient discipline into the freedom of expression so many of us crave — and need! — in our modern lives.

Testimonials from Modern Temple Dance students….