ABOUT US
Dance Tribe was formed in the Spring of 2000 by Sarah Carr. Over the years the venue has changed and over 300 different people have danced as part of tribe.
Currently we meet each Thursday at the Shelburne Town Hall and Thomas Lucas facilitates Sacred Sundays. Michelle now has a contact group in Burlington on Tuesdays. Drum Dance is monthly on the first Friday thru May.
We also host teachers such as Michael Skelton, Kathy Altman , Johnathan Horan, and Vinn Marti to come teach in the Burlington area.
The Events page is a good resource for what is going on in Vermont
"Welcome to Dance Tribe" at the bottom of this page!
Links to other dance websites are at the bottom of this page
Rules of using the town hall
the Dj of the night must get the key from the Police Station and return it to get your licence back at the end of the evening
lock all doors with the key and make sure the lights are off
in Winter set the heat to 55
in Summer make sure the AC is off
please use only the front door - Route 7
Welcome to the Dance Tribe!
What Is It?
The Dance Tribe is a community of adults, of all ages, that meet every Thursday of each month to explore the energy of dance, movement and sound in a safe, non-judgmental space.
We move -- slowly, quickly, gracefully, clumsily, playfully, seriously, noisily, and quietly. Many people in the dance tribe have no dance background and others have various dance and movement experience. The intention of the Dance Tribe is for us to share and practice what we do and don’t know about all sorts of movement, with each other -- as gifts.
Structure
The structure of the Dance Tribe is simple, yet consistent -- we arrive at 7:00pm to warm-up – and end at 9:00pm.
Warm-up starts at 7:00pm and is approximately 30 minutes long. Warm-up is a time to root yourself in your body, and come into the moment; we request that people warm-up in silence. At the end of the warm-up we join in an opening circle to share introductions, announcements, requests and offerings for the dance. We dance for 75 minutes and end with a closing circle.
The Music
We play recorded music that is compiled by one of the dancers. Dancers rotate the assembling and DJ'ing of the warm-up and the music each week.
The Money
Each year we charge $20 per person to cover liability insurance costs incurred by the Tribe. At each gathering in Shelburne, we ask for $2 from everyone to cover the space rental. We don’t like bookkeeping so decided not to do any. You’re on your honor to pay what this experience is worth to you. But if you can’t afford it and have to choose, we’d rather have you dance than pay. If you can afford to pay and don’t -- well, it’s your karma. Please note that the weekly fee is subject to change if either the location, or the rental cost of the Shelburne space, changes.
How We Contain the Space and How It Contains Us
How We Contain the Space and How It Contains Us
The sacredness of the space is created and held by all as a place of honor, respect and acceptance for what is expressed and for who is expressing it. We gather to support and witness each other, and ourselves, as we dance and share our unique truths and individual stories. In that vein, you are 100% responsible for your well being during this experience and 100% responsible for maintaining awareness of how you are impacting others.
On a more practical note, please enter the dance space through the street side, brick stair entrance (where white columns are!). Please do not wear any shoes on the dance floor that you’ve worn outside. We ask that dancers leave talking in the hallway and enter the space in conversational silence. It is ok to use the facilities but be courteous and respectful of others in areas outside of the dance space. If you can, please help us set up (lights, sound system, and sweeping) and break down. Socializing is encouraged, but not in the dance space.
The Shadow of Dance
Dancing in community with others like or unlike us evokes stories we have about our self and our relationships to others. Some of this may feel wonderful. Some of it may feel uncomfortable and edgy.
Some of what we are practicing with our self:
• Having fun! Enjoying our body as the juicy, fluid, alive, feeling and soulful organism that it is!
• Non-verbal expression of thoughts and feelings
• Experiencing our body as a teacher of the natural intelligence that comes from attuning to our internal and external senses
• Listening to our movement impulses, particularly the quiet and shy ones, and following them when appropriate
• Having fun! Enjoying our body as the juicy, fluid, alive, feeling and soulful organism that it is!
• Non-verbal expression of thoughts and feelings
• Experiencing our body as a teacher of the natural intelligence that comes from attuning to our internal and external senses
• Listening to our movement impulses, particularly the quiet and shy ones, and following them when appropriate
Some of what we are practicing with others:
• Exploring where “I” end and “you” begin.
• Learning to discover and communicate our boundaries and our desire for connection -- to say yes and no -- non-verbally
• Learning what creates safety/freedom for self/other
• Intuition -- tuning into others
• Owning our experience of another’s dance as completely ours
• Exploring where “I” end and “you” begin.
• Learning to discover and communicate our boundaries and our desire for connection -- to say yes and no -- non-verbally
• Learning what creates safety/freedom for self/other
• Intuition -- tuning into others
• Owning our experience of another’s dance as completely ours
It is beyond the scope of this group to be a vehicle for processing all the stories, feelings and characters we discover through movement. So we invite you to engage other support systems in exploring the discoveries made here. Meanwhile, celebrate the opportunity to keep it all moving in the presence of loving witnesses and remember -- it’s all yours.
“The dance is the mother of the arts. Music and poetry exist in time; painting and sculpture in space. But the dance lives at once in time and space.”
- Curt Sachs
- Curt Sachs
Click here to add text.
Seth Whittier and Sarah Carr were instrumental to the formation of Dance Tribe Here in Seth's own words is his story as to how Tribe came to be
Dance Tribe - Life Saving Refuge
After my second year of college, I returned to Burlington to take a year off from school with the intention of forming a 5 Rhythms based dancing community. I met Sarah who had been a part of a 5 Rhythms community in Bolder, Colorado and who also wanted to form a community here in Burlington. Sarah did the bulk of the organizing. We came up with the name together. I remember saying, "I want it to be like a tribe, you know?" And her saying, "OK, like . . . Dance Tribe?" Sara found a space at UVM that summer of 1999. As the years have passed, it's shifted to a space in Monkton, Edmunds Middle School, and now still in 2012, The Shelburne Town Hall, which I think of as a church.
In 2006 I left for Chicago, returned in 2008 and found myself confused walking into the dance that first day back. It had been so long. I had done almost no dancing in Chicago. I had forgotten the spirit of it. From the outside, it looked strange, like people intentionally trying to do awkward things with their bodies. Soon I remembered the joy and freedom of expression, the passion and playfulness, the release, the shared experience, the love. Tribe continues to be a refuge, a sanctuary, a space to express what cannot otherwise be expressed. It saves my life all the time.
