Dancing with Dharma: Essays on Movement and Dance in Western Buddhism

by Harrison Blum (Editor)

Both Buddhism and dance invite the practitioner into present-moment embodiment. The rise of Western Buddhism, sacred dance and dance/movement therapy, along with the mindfulness meditation boom, has created opportunities for Buddhism to inform dance aesthetics and for Buddhist practice to be shaped by dance. This collection of new essays documents the innovative work being done at the intersection of Buddhism and dance. The contributors--scholars, choreographers and Buddhist masters--discuss movement, performance, ritual and theory, among other topics. The final section provides a variety of guided practices.

284 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2016

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed several of the essays in this book. It was heartening to read of how to practice mindfulness and dharma in a dance context. That said, though, writing about dancing gets frustrating for the reader, as it makes one want to either watch the dance or just dance.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a long-awaited -- and somewhat overdue -- first book of its kind. It is a book which will be of much value to anyone for whom movement and dance (or mindfulness meditation, or Dharma, or embodiment practices or somatics...) is an important part of their lives, but especially those for whom two or more of these categories are compelling interests.

As one who has been exploring and practicing all of these in their combination and integration, this book is for me a precious resource indeed.

By allowing a space for many experiences and perspectives to be shared on this theme (the interweaving of these topics into a whole), Dancing With Dharma is a landmark text which we hope will give impetus to more projects of its kind--, and an ongoing conversation.

For the last two or three years of my life, especially, I've been exploring the integration of movement, dance, mindfulness, somatics and Dharma with a passion. Sadly, this is a somewhat rare combination of interests when taken as an interwoven whole, but with books like this now available for the reader, we should rightly expect this interest will continue to emerge and grow. All of these things go together beautifully. Thank you Harrison Blum!