People wanting to leave all their worries on the dance floor are encouraged to attend the Ecstatic Dance Warragul event at the VRI Hall on Friday night.
Ecstatic dance is a free-form, conscious movement practice that encourages self-expression, embodiment, and liberation through dance.
There's no strict choreography, participants are encouraged to move intuitively and express themselves freely and authentically.
Ecstatic Dance Warragul was established earlier this year by local acupuncturist Belle Taylor and local artist Jessie McLennan.
Following a successful launch, Belle and Jessie now host an ecstatic dance event each month at the VRI Hall in Warragul. Each month a different guest DJ provides the tunes.
Belle described ecstatic dance as a journey, the music starts slow gradually increasing to an intense peak before coming back down again.
"There's no drugs or alcohol, people are just connected to their body, it's not about like looking good or performing, it's really just moving in a way that feels good," she said.
"It's this amazing thematic healing practice where stuff will come up on the dance floor, you'll feel in your body where energy is trapped and through the dance and the movement by the end of dance, you (feel) clear."
Belle first experienced ecstatic dance in Bali about 12 years ago. Since then, she's regularly attended events all around the world.
After moving to Warragul in January, Belle wanted to establish a regular local ecstatic dance event so she and others wouldn't have to travel to Melbourne to participate.
Little did she know, Jessie was already in the process of establishing an ecstatic dance event. In a moment of serendipity, Belle met Jessie at a local festival and the two got together to get Ecstatic Dance Warragul up and running.
Belle outlined what people can expect from an ecstatic dance event.
"People start arriving at about 6:30pm, we have some beautiful, gentle music playing, the hall is dark and surrounded in fairy lights," Belle said.
"At the door we offer a little glass of ceremonial cacao if they (participants) want to set an intention for their dance that night. Jesse leads some yoga or they're welcome to do their own stretches." At 7pm the group start with some gentle facilitation, helping participants to feel in touch with their body and emotions before the dancing begins.
From there, participants immerse themselves in the music and the environment.
"At the end of the journey around 8:45pm I'll guide everyone back down to the floor and we do some kind of sound healing," Belle said.
Belle encouraged anyone interested in ecstatic dance to come along and try it out and to not feel worried about "getting it wrong".
"Just come, it is a really safe space and there is no judgment," she said. "I think something that holds people back is they say "I can't dance", it's not anything to do with being able to dance, it's just being in your body and moving in a way that feels good for you."
Ecstatic Dance Warragul is hosting an event this Friday at the VRI Hall in Warragul, at 6:30pm. DJ Master Hook will provide the tunes.
Tickets are available to purchase online at https://events.humanitix.com/ecstatic-dance-warragul-may-16th For more information, visit the Ecstatic Dance Warragul Facebook or Instagram page.