Covid Blog Day 88 – Dancing The Sacral Chakra
This is our 11th week during the pandemic. Our province is doing really well. BC is in Phase 2 moving into Phase 3 reopening the economy. I started teaching flamenco outside and it is actually very easy to social and physical distance in Canada. We have so much space! I’m glad we are moving into summer so our community can enjoy Bulerias and Tangos in the park and forest. Zoom technique classes and tangos/bulerias classes continue online! Thinking of adding of adding choreography class now.
This week I was challenged to dance the Sacral Chakra. Moving up from the red root chakra, the second energy cluster under the bellybutton is the Orange Sacral Chakra aka “Svadhistana”. This chakra is rich, responsible for your creativity, emotions, sensuality, sexuality and expression. It allows us to feel and express our emotions. This is a deep dive into the Sacred Feminine. Like the root chakra, I would say that it feels primal also, but at the same time, sensual, caring and nurturing.
Dancing the sacral chakra for the first time, I had visions of the fiery “Tiger Warrior” again (see root chakra blog), so maybe she is part of my path. I also came across “Moon Cat” and she is a white, feminine, soft, regal cat that represents the Empress Archetype. I think these two animals represent two very different characters. Tiger Warrior is fiery, aggressive and wild whereas Moon Cat is luxurious, relaxed and soft.
“The feminine has slower rhythms, meanders, moves in spirals, turns back on herself, finds what is meaningful to her, and plays.” – Marion Woodman, Jungian Analyst.
I think that as far as Flamenco goes, I think my hip curriculum relates strongly with the sacral chakra. I have taught “Estilo de Mujer” female styling classes since 2005 and since then, I have developed a whole curriculum of hip movement for Flamenco. Since being on zoom, I have been steadily teaching it to the Technique 2 classes online and I think people are actually learning this pretty well online. Some of our studies have included hip movement:
- Circles, clockwise and counterclockwise
- Horizontal, side to size
- Diagonal, side to side
- Rainbow, pelvis forward
- U
- J, scoop
- Vertical circles for tangos/tientos
- Dry hips vs soft hips
I didn’t realize that all of this was related to root and sacral chakras but in Flamenco, we have a lot of movements that address both.
Other visions that came to me while chakra-dancing, I saw a white bird with very large wingspan and upon some research believe it to be an albatross just soaring in the sky. I danced many infinity signs and helix and double helix shapes, figure 8s, shapes of snakes and hips all directions! Clockwise, counterclockwise, J, rainbow, Us, Os! Dancing the sacral chakra, I must say that movements are much softer, more languid than flamenco.
Since I have a dance studio in the house, I danced the sacral chakra many times. It is a very sensual and sexual experience. On my second dance, it became very playful and more spirit animals came to my imagination…a majestic hippocampus and many dolphins came to play. I am somehow feeling like a belly dancer now and the dance is ultra-feminine, sensual, beguiling and mystical with spine undulating. Hips circle, 8, half moon, rainbow. Almost everything is my dance is an 8! Dancing the orange chakra brings up extreme nostalgia over intimate moments with friends. It is hard right now during the pandemic, because there is much separation of the Flamenco Tribe and we have not performed together in a very long time.
At Chai Lounge with Flamenco Tribe.
Dancing is what I do for a living and even so, it is difficult to dance continuously for 35 min through a chakradance. Taking away the technique, analysis, discipline of dance and trying to internalize, “feel” my way through the chakras, I have to come to the conclusion that they are all interrelated, as movements are also interrelated, with a flow of energy. There is no way to isolate a specific area because one movement bleeds into the next, into the next. Root and sacral chakras are very closely related. We can start with earth energy, but by the time it ripples through the extremities of the body, we are dealing with space, sky, air energy…arms and legs and body extension. One could dance all energies in 35 min!
Stay tuned for Solar Plexus Chakra Dance Blog.
“Dancing The Sacral Chakra, Svadhistana”
North Vancouver, BC, Canada.
June 7, 2020
About The Author
Kasandra “La China”
Flamenco Dancer and Instructor, Director, Producer, Choreographer
Kasandra is one of Canada’s leading flamenco artists well-known for her unrelenting drive to push the artistic envelope. A tirelessly ambitious artistic director, soloist and prima bailaora, Kasandra is always hungry for new sources of inspiration and knowledge, constantly pushing her musical and choreographic mastery to its limits. She has been identified as “Vancouver’s flamenco star who has embodied flamenco with her dynamic, precise style” by Flamenco-World magazine. Read More
