“Who needs to take drugs when you can do this?”
~quote from a recent Beach Dance participant~  

I wholeheartedly agree.  Why get high with a substance that’s toxic to your body and takes your mind away from being fully present when you can have what I’ll call a whole-being experience that takes you to a blissed-out place?   What exactly do I mean by whole-being?   Simply put, I think it’s the feeling of being free.  And that, of course, means different things for different people, but I believe when our entire being (mind, body and spirit) is engaged in something that gives us  an opportunity to feel free, the sensations we experience are akin to the high that drugs provide.

Yes, I dabbled with a few substances while I was in college and yes, I’ll admit I had some pretty fun interesting times, but they pale in comparison to the feelings I’ve experienced through dance.   Cloud Nine is available twenty-four seven, three hundred sixty-five if we choose it, but we tend to forget that because life is tough sometimes and it races along at a dizzying pace.    For me, becoming a dancer and establishing a dance practice  has been one of the most freeing and fulfilling things I’ve done in my life.  Find something that engages you in a whole-being experience on a regular basis and you’ll discover the best drug of all…living your own life.

In four days, I’ll be living my life on an island for awhile.  Beach Dance will be taking a three week leave of absence from its home base of Cannon Beach, Oregon while I’m in Maui, Hawaii.    If you can’t join us for tomorrow night’s or Saturday morning’s event, your next opportunity to dance along the shores of Cannon Beach will be on Friday, September 10th.   And if you happen to be in Maui on August 20th, 21st, 27th or 28th, come dance on Keawakapu  Beach in Kihei.  

Season Three of Beach Dance has been spectacular in so many ways (keep reading for a recap on this summer’s dancing goodness so far)  but the Pacific Northwest weather has been downright disappointing.   Summer has yet to show up along the Oregon coast, so the thought of getting on a plane on Monday to blue skies, sunshine and warm temperatures thrills me to no end.   While I’ll be dancing as often as I can on the beach and at The Studio Maui, I’ll be taking care of a lovely bed and breakfast during my stay and that excites me almost as much as Beach Dance does.

If you were a participant in one of the last four events and you’d like to know the songs and artists that were on the playlists, let me know and I’ll send you an email with that information.  It takes awhile to upload all the music to the player and post it here and I know I”m a tad bit behind on that.   The playlists will be listed in a future post, but there’s a good possibility they won’t appear here until I return from my travels.

Last, but not least…before I take off on my island adventure, here are some of the highlights this year so far:

• Sixteen and twenty-one ~ that’s how many people attended the July 30 and 31 events.  Most attendees ever for that weekend!  
• Surfers dance on water and on land ~ I put together a special playlist for the women of Lexie Hallahan’s recent Women’s Surfing Retreat in Seaside, Oregon and we had ourselves a grand time dancing to ”Wipe Out” and “Surfing U.S.A.”   
• A Family Affair ~ Last week, I had a private event for a lovely woman named Debbie, her niece and two of her niece’s friends.   “Eat, Sleep and Ride” was the theme as all the younger gals love horses.
• Camp Continues On ~ This past Monday, some of the staff I worked with at the Leadership Camp I mentioned in my last post,  had a mini reunion here in Cannon Beach.  We danced. We laughed.  We hugged.   We shared a meal together.  I’m thinking pizza should be served after every Beach Dance.

Cloud Nine is a grand place to be today and Maui on Monday will be, too.  

I’ve been back home for about two weeks and now that I’ve had time to rest up and regain my equilibrium (us counselors are non-stop creators, innovators and facilitators during camp and get little sleep) I’m ready to go again.   I have to remember that the magic we create at camp is something I can create every day.   As one of my campers wrote me earlier this week, “When I left camp, my goal was to never let the magic die.  It’s not the magic we take away from camp that makes it such a special place it’s the magic we bring.”  Well said, Megan.  Well said.   

And so the magic of dance continues…This past weekend, Beach Dance had the most participants ever!  There were sixteen of us who danced a playlist of funky and fun remixes and covers on Friday night and twenty-one of us shimmied and shaked in front of Haystack Rock in celebration of National Dance Day.  I’ll be posting pictures of both events as soon as I receive them from my friend, Michael Paige who was our photographer extraordinaire for the weekend.  I’ll also be posting the playlists from last weekend in tomorrow’s post.  The huge playlist you see down below is all the music I played during the week of camp.   Every five or six songs represents one of the morning’s playlists with all of them in order Monday-Friday and the last nine songs make up the all-camp Free Dance playlist on Wednesday afternoon.  Enjoy the music everybody!  

“Free Dance”, as it’s known at camp, has become quite an event.  Every morning at 6:15, campers have the option of waking up early and dancing for 30 minutes.  You’d think there wouldn’t be many takers at that hour of the day (especially teenagers who tend to love their sleep), but what ends up happening is more and more people show up as the week goes on.  Speaking of going on…I could rant and rave about Camp Free Dance for a good long while, but I’ll just say this…thank you OASC campers and staff for showing me how important it is for all of us to be able to dance free!   The pictures you see down below are from the all-camp Free Dance we had on Wednesday afternoon.

Tomorrow I’ll share the playlists from Friday, July 30 and Saturday, July 31 and talk about the upcoming events I’m having in Maui, Hawaii on August 20, 21, 27 and 28.   This weekend’s events still have spots available and I’d love to have you join us for one or both of them.   Friday night we’ll be dancing “Desire” and Saturday morning’s theme will be “Our Prayers”.   I do believe Beach Dance is at The Point of Limitless Opportunity.  Bring it on!

Free Dance at Camp OASC!

More dancing goodness!

150 people dancing is fantastic!

Dancing our individual dance together

It’s coming up on a year now since the studio closed, but our small community of dancers continues to meet once a week and we continue to be surprised by what shows up when we show up.   Surprises happen during Beach Dances as well.  Eagles will fly overhead from time to time.   People walking by will often give us a thumbs-up or break out into a little jig of their own.    All kinds of unexpected things can happen given that we’re out in nature, but I think the best surprises are the ones that happen inside of us.   

When we can let go of our preconceived notions of what an experience will be like, the possibility of being surprised opens up big time.  Letting go, letting loose, and letting out whatever emotions get stirred up in you as you dance can be the sweetest surprise and a great gift.   Like Forrest Gump said, “Life is like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’re gonna get.”    When my tears began to fall hard while listening  to a particular song during Saturday’s Beach Dance, the dance surprised me once again and sweet abandon was mine.

Thank you to all the lovely and lively ladies who danced this past weekend…Connie from Ventura and Connie from Tennesee, Kathy and Anja from Seattle and Cathy from Cannon Beach,  and the Astoria four;  Belinda and Terri, Deborah and Jenni.   The song title and artists that are listed below are the ones I wasn’t able to find to put into the player.  Enjoy the music!  

Friday, July 9
Murrie Gubar Yugal ~ Ganga Girl
Rootbeer Rag ~ Wise Guys
Jairaby Le ~ Tunde Jegede
You Dance ~ Peter Bradley Adams
Waking ~ Michael Brook

Saturday, July 10
The Simple Things ~ Chillwalker
Girl Iri ~ Ganga Girl
Alla al ‘Hbab ~ Cheb i Sabbah
Simple Things ~ Playjerise
How Would You Like to be Remembered ~ Bliss 

Photo Courtesy of Dinah Urell

Colleen Wainwright writes a poem on her blog every Thursday and after reading her post today, I felt compelled to share a poem I wrote a few months back. 

I will dance my days filled with glee and sorrow. 
I will dance today. 
I will dance tomorrow. 
I will dance with others. 
I will dance alone. 
I will dance why not and just because.
I will dance ridiculous joy and fun.
I will dance for laughter.
I will dance for love. 
I will dance on solid ground and on clouds high above.
I will dance my madness. 
I will dance my fear. 
I will dance in faraway places
and those near and dear. 
I will dance because I can and because I must. 
I will dance because it’s what my spirit trusts.
I will dance in the morning light and in the setting sun. 
I will dance until my dance is done. 

We dance for many reasons and I am grateful that Beach Dance gives people the opportunity to have a shared experience.  We move in our own individual way and yet we move together.  We each come with bodies hungering for physical and creative expression and we leave feeling satisfied of the meal we’ve all consumed.   We bring our beliefs about ourselves, our thoughts about the world, and our emotions of the day into the dance with us and while there are vast differences,  we are intimately connected in more ways than we know.  

There’s a swirl of activity happening around Beach Dance right now which I’m thrilled about and I’ll have much more to say about what’s next very soon, but for the moment here’s a quick look at the news…

• Beach Dance will be having events in Maui, Hawaii in late August and early September.  Dates, times and locations are currently being planned and will be revealed in a week’s time.  Yes!!!
• I’ll be attending The Gathering at The Waves Studio in Olympia, Washington at the end of this month and I look forward to connecting with other movers and shakers from around the world.  One of owners of the studio, Liz Temple said she’d be happy to have Beach Dance  postcards in their studio. Yippee!!!
• Connie Coleman, a participant in two events last year, traveled from Ventura, California to Cannon Beach and said she loved it so much she’d be back this year.  She kept her word.  She’s here again for this weekend’s events and we’ll be talking about bringing Beach Dance down to her neck of the woods in late September or early October.   Yahoo!!!
• Conscious Dancer magazine is possibly going to use a photograph of Beach Dance in their upcoming Modality Guidebook.    Yowza!!!
• On Saturday, July 31, Beach Dance will be participating in National Dance Day.  I’ve submitted the information about what we’ll be doing that day and who knows?  Maybe the producers of “So You Think You Can Dance” will be calling.

This weekend’s events still have room for you so if you’re going to be in Cannon Beach and you want to dance, I’d love to have you join us.   Friday night’s theme is  “Goodness” and Saturday morning’s is “Simple Things”.   Call or send me an email and you’re in!

Last, but not least…Thank you to last weekend’s dancers;  Jenni, Judy, Colette, James, Jennifer, Eliza, Ann, Lyndsey, Liane and Denise.  Most of the participants live in the north Coast area so I hope to dance with you lovely locals again soon!    Most of the songs from Friday night’s dance are included in the player, but the majority of Saturday morning’s songs were not to be found on Grooveshark.  I’ve listed them in the order they were played outside of the player and most of them can be found on iTunes.  Enjoy!  

Friday, July 2
Summertime ~ Eva Cassidy
Sunlight on the Trees ~ Bob Dahl

Saturday, July 3
The Feeling Begins ~ Peter Gabriel
The Last Dance ~ Parov Stelar
Africa 70 ~ Double Beat
Realignment Sequence ~ One at Last
I Am Free ~ Prosad
Wind and Sea ~ Balmorhea
Song for Viola ~ Peter Bradley Adams

This Sunday, people will have the opportunity to experience the freedom of music and movement outdoors from 8-9 p.m. in the downtown city park of Cannon Beach.   I was asked to be a part of the evening’s slate of entertainment and to get the crowd energized and on their feet before the final event takes place.  I’ve crafted what I call a “Move and Groove” hour of danceable music for all ages that is sure to get people out of their lawn chairs and stomping their feet. 

So in addition to the two Beach Dances on Friday night and Saturday morning (that still have room for you to be a part of!), you can join in the dancing fun that’ll be happening at the city park on Sunday night.  Come to Cannon Beach for an environmentally-sound,  pet-friendly, fireworks-free celebration and come express your freedom this July 4th with dance. 

Photo by George Vetter

It was all blue sky and sunshine that greeted us Beach Dancers on Saturday morning.   Knowing we would be on the beach for three hours that day, I was happy we would dance down to Haytack Rock in summer-like weather.   Every Beach Dance is a unique and wonderful experience however, this was probably the only time participants would dance a mile to reach a destination to participate in a demonstration.   

Those who chose to be a part of Beach Dance on Saturday also participated in the Hands Across the Sand event.  The event in Cannon Beach was one of 800 held around the world that day to protest offshore oil drilling and support clean energy resources.  The seven of us dancers stood amongst the 75 people gathered and together we joined hands for fifteen minutes of silence.   I wish everyone could have heard the hour-long playlist of music we danced to before the event began.  You have the chance to do so down below.  It was evocative and it was created to remind us all of our connections to each other and to the world.  We are all one and one can make a difference.

Thank you to Elia, Kimberly, Tricia, Nancy, Jada, and Karen for dancing in front of more people than we usually do, for wading through the water waist-high to get back to the other side of the creek,  and for being a part of two  memorable and magical events.   Protecting our world’s oceans and beaches is all of our responsibility and on Saturday you showed up in a big way to support that.  Thank you for dancing and for joining hands with me.

Photo by George Vetter

Photo by George Vetter

I volunteered to be the contact person/organizer in Cannon Beach to insure this event would take place in our local area.  There just happens to a Beach Dance the same day and that’s when the idea came to me…Beach Dance on Saturday morning will be a traveling dance.  We will dance south to Haystack Rock and meet up with the rest of the folks who are participating in the event.   As we dance towards the gathering, we’ll listen to a 90 minute evocative playlist that will remind us to take care of our world and each other.  At noon, we’ll join hands with everyone and stand together for fifteen minutes and then we’ll make our way back to our original starting point on the beach in the north end of town.  

If you’d like to be a part of this extra-special Beach Dance on Saturday, let me know soon that you want to join us as there are twelve spots left.   Beach Dance events are usually 90 minutes in length and begin at 10am.  On Saturday, the start time will be the same however participants need to plan on being on the beach perhaps two and a half to three hours.  There will be extra-special refreshments offered at my home after the event concludes and all participants are welcome to join in the noshing and sipping.   I hope you’ll join us.

If you don’t want to dance that morning, but you do want to participate in the event, all you need to do is be in front of Haystack Rock at 11:30am.  Be sure to look north as you’ll see us dancing your way.

I spent this past weekend dancing in Erie, Pennsylvania.   I had never been to that part of the country before and yet I felt like I was home.   Home, for me, is more about a feeling than a particular place.  While there are definitely some physical locations on this planet I’m more attracted to than others, the feeling of home is one that can occur anywhere where there is love and a sense of belonging.   The photograph just off to the right is me and Susan Black, my most generous and gracious hostess of the mostess, who helped make this event possible and made me feel right at home. 

As I was dancing along the shore of the lake  (which really did have a beach and looked like an ocean), I felt like I’d been there before.  There, being a place in my heart, not the place I was currently stomping my feet in.  And here’s what took me to that place…

The thirteen women who participated in the Beach Dance events showed up in a big way.  They showed me their courage and willingness to try something new.   They showed me their connection with nature and their companionship with one another.  They showed me acceptance, appreciation, and gratitude.  Most of all, they showed me what love looks like when you dance it.  Love of self.  Love of another.  Love of something bigger than oneself.   It was all there for the viewing and ladies, I took it all in.  

I was reminded many times throughout the weekend how much we need each other.  We need to tell and share our stories.   We need to be reminded of our human-ness and of our limitless potential.   We need to gather together and share experiences that move our bodies, stir our minds, and lift our spirits.    We need to be there for each other to listen, to give hugs, and to acknowledge the gifts we each bring to the world.   I am a lucky woman to have been in the company of these women this past weekend;  to see their dance, to hear their stories, and to just be. 

Friday Night Beach Dancers

Saturday Morning Beach Dancers

So, thank you Casey, Cassie, Christine, Dawna, Jackie, Jeanette, Judi K., Judy M., Lisa,  Margie, Nancy, Sarah, and Susan.    Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share Beach Dance and everything that comes with it with all of you.  Thank you for taking part in a shared experience of love.  Lake Erie was the first of what I anticipate will be many other Beach Dancing adventures away from Cannon Beach.  My hope is to have many more experiences of feeling home away from home. 

Enjoy the music we danced to this past weekend!    There were just a few songs I couldn’t add into the player and they’re listed down below.  You can listen to 30 second previews of those songs in iTunes.   Tomorrow I”ll be writing about a special event taking place in Cannon Beach (and around the nation) this Saturday that will give participants of the June 26th Beach Dance a chance to take part in.

Songs not in the player from Friday
Under Paris Skies ~ Pearl Django
Approaching Silence ~ Bob Holroyd

Songs not in the player from Saturday
Les Tambours ~ Salsa Ghetto
Love is Here to Stay ~ Lewis Eley & Dick Hyman
Whispered Prayer ~ Michael Hanna

Photo by Jodie Pastor of Lake Erie Beach Glass

Beach Dance is beginning a new chapter in its ever-evolving story.  I’ll be taking it away from its home base in Cannon Beach for a few weekends this summer and traveling to other beautiful beaches around the country.  I’m over-the-top excited.  I’m beyond Cloud Nine.  I am so happy about bringing this experience to new places that I’m doing cartwheels in my sleep.  While I love visiting places I’ve never been, I am most thrilled about the new faces I’ll meet.   Perhaps you will be one of the people who will take the chance to show up and dance.  

Why is Beach Dance going to be in Erie, Pennsylvania?   A lovely woman named Susan Black sent me an email a few weeks ago and shared her joy about dancing as well as discovering the Beach Dance ad in the Conscious Dancer magazine.   One email led to another and soon we were discussing the possibility of having a couple events where she lived.   After a few more notes back and forth to each other, we made it a sure thing.  Shared passion can turn possibilties into realities.  And so…for those of you who are from the Lake Erie area and are visiting here for the first time either from a personal invitation from Susan or you saw one of the fliers that she put up in several places around your town, welcome!     I hope you’ll join us for one or both of the events that will be happening soon in your neighborhood.   Here are the details:

Where will Beach Dance be happening?
In Presque Isle State Park at Pine Tree Beach otherwise known as Beach Nine

What dates and times? 
Friday, June 17  at 7:00pm  and Saturday,  June 18 at 10:00am 

What do you need to do to register?
Send me an email by selecting the button just off to the right that says “Click Here to Contact Me” or by calling Susan at 814.397.5669.  There are fifteen spots available for each event so come and get yours before they’re all gone. 

What else do you need to know?
Each event is $15.  We ask that you arrive at least fifteen minutes before the start time.  We’ll dance rain or shine.   We’ll provide you with light refreshments afterwards.  You’ll have an incredible time.  I promise it will be an experience you will never forget.  

I encourage you to call me at 503.860.7711 if you have any other questions.   I encourage you to tell others and invite your friends.  If you decide to join us, I look forward to meeting you soon!    

Where else will Beach Dance be this summer?   I’ll be in Maui for three weeks in August and I’m currently working on the details of doing a few events while I’m there.  I’ve got a couple contacts on the island, but if you live there and/or know of someone I should be talking to help me plan the dances, I’d love you if you let me know.   I’m also looking to hold a couple of events the weekend of September 17-19 in Southern California.   Still in the planning process in that location as well, but it looks promising.  I’ll be passing along the traveling Beach Dance goodness to you as soon as I know.

Next Beach Dance in Cannon Beach is Saturday, June 12th at 10am.   Come out to the coast for the day and dance your cares and concerns away!   Come out and play!