Melly Bock leads sacred circle dances “geared toward people with two left feet” in the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington VT. “My dance is about connecting with the Earth and humans and hearts and souls,” she says. “For me, it’s praying with my body, which is not separate from my soul and heart and mind. These dances will warm the cockles of our shared heart.” No donation is asked.
The dances are held once monthly from 2:00 to 4:00 on Sundays in the library. Because the dances are held in such a public venue, and during such a busy time of day, many curious passers-by look in to see what those people are doing in a circle. Ms. Bock says that about half of them “get roped in, kind of get pulled in” and end up joining the dance. “Everybody who walks through the door gets a big welcome from the group.” Partly because so many of the dancers are new to the dance, Ms. Bock chooses very easy, mostly slow dances. She says they are “more meditative than exuberant” but adds that “I always have at least two dances that get us off the floor a little bit.”
Ms. Bock says, “I danced as a baby before I could walk.” As a child and young person, she danced several forms of folk dance. She did not come to sacred circle dance, however, until the mid-1990s, when she saw a poster for a circle led by Ellen Kennedy and Ashara Stansfield. “It was the most wonderful experience for me, a very holy experience. I just got hooked.”
Ms. Bock’s dream is to hold her circle outdoors during good weather, so the dancers can “feel the Earth under our feet and kiss the Earth and honor the Earth and the sky and the waters.”
For more information, contact Ms. Bock at 978-424-7968 or mellybock@gmail.com.
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