Dear Ones,

I'm dancing a 72-hour Summer Long Dance over mid-summer, organised by the School of Movement Medicine. I will be dancing 21-22 hours a day with a team of dancers, all committed to dedicating our dances to causes in our hearts, as a prayer, for the well-being of ourselves, our communities & our earth.

I've chosen to primarily dedicate my dance to the on-going journey of liberating the feminine.

Here's whats behind the fire in my heart to dance for this:

Where to start, its such a huge subject, personally, politically, historically, so very briefly..

As many of you know I am half Persian, and right now women in Iran are uprising after 40 years of suppression, literally and symbolically unveiling themselves from the compulsory head-scarf, putting themselves in great danger in doing this. Lifting their veils, showing themselves.

I intend to energetically support them, in this most ancient and most powerful way of expressing the feminine: through dance

Dance is the most powerful tool I know for literally moving through things, processing, healing, and finding joy through it all. It is in its very nature liberating, it breaks us free and shows us where we are holding ourselves back. It is the access point to the wisdom of bodies, which I feel can be particularly strong for women, whose bodies are so objectified, with such strong culturally embedded views of how they ‘should’ be, with so much shame around their bodies and sexuality, which are still today and historically, taken from them. The global ''One Billion Rising'' dance campaign grew out of the fact that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. And more recently the #MeToo campaign shed light on just how often assault takes place. Just a couple of years ago in the UK a law against coercive and controlling behavior came into place, as these days, less obvious forms of abuse have become prolific. And Dance, is the access point to the power, beauty and joy of our bodies and of life.

So its not only women in my ancestral ,far away land that i will be dancing for. I am learning on my journey through womanhood that there is much, much more work to be done right here, in myself, my community and in the west in general in liberating the feminine. I feel like this is a time where we are getting the opportunity for awakening the feminine aspect, feminine qualities and values which has been suppressed in both women and men through deeply embedded patriarchal society.

I've chosen to support Women's Aid, the National UK Charity working to support women to be feel safe and free, because I have had personal experience of being supported by them and I can tell you for certain that the services they offer 24 hours a day throughout the UK in supporting women is incredible. The dance is a give-away ceremony, where I will not only give funds, but dance with vision and prayer for a society where the feminine is liberated and strong throughout, our communities and for a world where we protect each other and help each other to feel safe.

As well as my personal focus for the dance dedicated to the feminine, the larger prayer for this ceremony is to support our earth (of course the two things are very closely related, abuse of the feminine and abuse of the earth)

There is a tribal leader, named Manari of the Sapara tribe in the Amazon Rainforest coming over to be with us at the dance, and much of the funds raised and energy of the dance will be dedicated to support for our earths great forest and keeping it thriving and protected. 

Also a bit about the history of long-dances like this:

These dances have been happening in the UK for over a decade, inspired by ceremonial prayer dances such as the Sun Dance, which has been going for longer than we know. It is an ancient tradition by the Indigenous People of the Americas. European colonisers tried to ban it once, but luckily the tradition survived.  Happening around mid-summer, these ceremonies create a renewal for the tribe, people and earth.

The long dance is a ceremony is a  dedicated dance to all our relations, past, present and future. And a time to remember that our own personal wellbeing is connected to the wellbeing of the planet.

Thanks so much in advance for your support,

With Love,

Seema

----------

The Core of Women's Aid Beliefs


Everyone has the human right to live in safety and free from violence and abuse. Society has a duty to recognise and defend this right.

Women are the overwhelming majority of victims of domestic abuse. Domestic abuse is a violation of women and their children’s human rights. It is the result of an abuse of power and control, and is rooted in the historical status and inequality of women in in society.

------------

More About the Women's Movement in Iran : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-40218711

Fabulous TED talk about empowering the feminine through dance and more depth of this subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3AwnkR92EA

An overview of what Women's Aid have achieved recently and more information about the organisation: https://www.womensaid.org.uk/what-we-do/campaigning-and-influencing/

About the School of Movement Medicine: https://www.schoolofmovementmedicine.com/

-------

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.