How did we end up at an Ecstatic Dance festival?
Well, my wife Emma and I, had some free time without our children were looking for something to do over summer that enabled us to hang out with like-minded people, do some retreat like activities and Dance, we came across Angsbacka 'pulse-music-dance-festival'. Angsbacka is a community in Sweden that runs multiple festivals, a quick check with a Swedish friend confirmed they had been to Angsbacka to a 'Sexsibility festival' with a thousand people… To be honest the British prude in me thought 'I am not really up for keys in the bowl and wife swapping at this moment'.. We also thought if it turned out not to be our vibe, Sweden was a long way to go. So the search continued and we found (or my helpful AI friend ChatGPT found) 'Ecstatic Dance Festival 2026' based in Dorset, held at a community run location.
Arriving
We are arrived at the Leela community to be greeted by a very enthusiastic Jason – I instantly felt boringly dressed in comparison to explosion of colour in Jason's shirt. Later in the festival a fellow Ecstatic Dancer said, with love, I dressed like an 'IT manager on holiday'… to be fair an apt description ☺. Jason was a fan of Emma, due to the colourful floral number she was sporting, he then directed us to a park and the reception.
On our drive down past Stonehenge, as well as getting ChatGpt to explain the 5000 yr history, we asked for good tips for remembering names at a festival.. Emma was on fire with the tactic of putting the person's name into almost everything you said. By time we had sat down at random tables with soon to be festival friends, she had mastered the art on Jason and others. “Thank you Jason, I love your shirt as well Jason, See you on the dance floor Jason…” She is a fast learner.
At Reception, signing in was like a hippy version of what I imagine army sign-up is like; we got our wrist bands and had to sign to say we would be nice people and not act like muppets while there. A very serene and gentle Leela ambassador showed us to our room. After climbing the grand stairs, passing lovely, well worn, dorms and many many fire doors we arrived at our room. Our assumption is the rooms are normally occupied by the community members… Emma would have gladly taken home everything she saw in the wardrobe – somebody lives here with amazing 'boho chic' taste. We settled in and made our way down for dinner.
Mealtime fun
All meals are one option, community and volunteer prepared, all vegetarian/vegan, mix of served / self-service buffet and all very delicious. Leela's chef could write an incredible recipe book.
If you like cacao, you are in for a treat - it's almost available on tap. As well as being on offer in fun fire-side singing circles, led by the master of festival organisation Diana (Co-founder of ED London etc), it's served in lots of the dances and activities. So, no drugs but plenty of delicious cacao to get you in the mood.
Mealtimes were some of my favourite times because, not only did you eat plenty of epic plant-based food, you also got to sit randomly at large tables and meet/learn from so many wonderful people with such rich experiences.
For example, over breakfast, I spotted some red cabbage in Lies's bowl of muesli and fruit. I said 'I must have missed that at the buffet'. She told me proudly, 'No no it's my cabbage'. I joked 'Do you carry a cabbage wherever you go?'. 'Yes' she replied, 'it's in my bag along with my grater ☺'. I am very into food as medicine and so was extremely intrigued with this passion for cabbage with every meal. Lies explained that 'the sulfur compounds and anti-oxidants in red cabbage (and other cruciferous vegetables) reduce burning sensations in joints and muscles. They help to rebuild cartilage and connective tissue in exercise-induced muscle damage and different forms of arthritis.' – she tried lots of supplements and finally found that cabbage was the key! Of course, then we discussed what a shame it is that doctors are not mandatorily trained in nutrition and benefits of plants…
Once during the five days, you are asked to help with clearing up the meal but even this was fun. Washing up I met Bruna and we exchanged our top health tips. We have both worked in logistics so geeked out about that for a while, but I suspect both our deep calling lies in something else…
1st Ecstatic Dance experience
Some of our cooler friends had experienced Ecstatic dance (ED) but I honestly thought it was just going to be a sober rave (which I haven't been to either). I always felt I probably didn't need alcohol to let loose - the last 4 years of no drinking and the odd night out 'sans booze' have confirmed that. If you asked our friends who loves dance more, they would probably say me; but weirdly Emma seemed to take to ED more naturally than me.
ED typically starts slow and builds into a frenzy – our journey to frenzy was guided by Seth Newman (co-founder of ED Festival), who is a brilliant DJ and is accompanied by the amazing 'URUBU Collective' that includes the multi-talented Carl playing sax, clarinet and keyboard and three incredible drummers; Alua, Jansen & Romerio. They seemed to have an unlimited number of percussion instruments and would regularly swap between them as the music took them. Seth explained the musicians are not there to perform for us but to co-create the experience with us. No phones are allowed on the dance floor to help people stay present and not in performance mode. It is also a non-verbal space; this helps you stay out of your head and get into your body.
I was happy that Seth was giving guidance on what to do, as entering the ED Marquee (barefooted as requested) for the first time I was surprised how out of my comfort zone I was. The music was slow and floaty and a few people were rolling on the ground, others were doing yoga stretches and others just moved in time to the music with complete freedom. I regressed to a little 2 step and stayed pinned to one spot. I was very glad when Seth gave explicit instructions “take your feet for a walk”. Everyone started to flow round the tent, big smiles coming back at me wherever I looked.
Next instruction - 'find a partner'. Luckily the lady I was next to chose me (meaning I didn't have the school experience of being last to be picked). Seth explained ED is about having your own journey but also being connected. He said “It's a complete choice… You can go your whole life choosing no connection OR… dip your toe in.” We were asked to take it in turns in mirroring each other – it actually helped me to loosen up as my partner moved with great ease. I felt sorry for her when it came to following me, as I was more like a rusty robot than a river of dancing joy. To finish a dance you put your hands together and used the sign of namaste to say thank you and on you go.
It's at that point I realised I couldn't see Emma and my curiosity peaked. If I was dancing with random strangers, who was she dancing with?! She was dancing outside and loving the experience and therefore inspired me to let go more and commit to being freer in my dance. The rest of the session was more fun - guided dance activities and the music building into a crescendo of frenetic bodies and sound – I started to get a glimpse at the high of dancing in this way.
After the peak of the dance, there are normally wind-down tracks played and the group is encouraged to find a way to mark the ending. My favourite of these was when, as a 100 dancers, we came close together and started to sing in harmony with the music. It was like having a 360 surround sound choir, the vibration of human voice lifting your soul (you might be able to tell, from my words, that by this point I was fully hooked on the whole experience, I was pretty sure ED would be in my life for years to come).
Dancing in the Dark
A lot of the great people we met raved about the 'Trance Dance' experience on Friday night in the marquee but they wouldn't spoil the surprise. I had a guess, from some pictures, that it might involve dancing blindfolded but nothing more. In the marquee, which is adorned with wonderful bright spiritual hippy screen prints, we each had a yoga mat, a pillow and yes a blind fold. Spaces were limited to 50ish because, as you can imagine, if you are letting loose blindfolded, you may end up whacking your neighbour.
Seth talked us through the prep for the main event: A) yes you can make noise but loud screams should be done into the pillow (I really couldn't imagine myself screaming but could envision that some of my fellow 'trance trippers' might require a pillow). B) Use the 'Breath of Fire' (in-in-out @ pace) to focus yourself and build energy. C) Relax knees and shake whole body to let go and get out of your head. D) Remember to breathe (Seth probably requested this 50 times over the 5 days and every time I found it useful, as somehow I was indeed holding some tension). E) If you find yourself caught in thought, then shake and change the pattern of your dance (this turned out to be the best cue for me so when I noticed I was stuck, I jiggled my way back into the flow of the dance).
We donned our blindfolds and the music started. It was a strange sensation at first… thinking of the 50 people all around you, all slowly moving and trying to navigate not coming off the yoga mat. For me dancing has always been about the connection with others around me and feeling the collective energy, so I had big doubts about my ability to enjoy dancing blindfolded for 1.5 hrs. I thought I might get bored… I was very wrong.
First of all, there is the freedom of dancing like no one is watching. Then, without sight, with your other senses heightened, the music flows into you and seems to move you without your conscious action. The biggest surprise and highlight was that the percussion musicians did not stay on the stage but they move in and around you. I literally felt like I was conducting them myself and the maximum absorption effect of having several drummers around you is addictive. I was loving having musicians close to me for a large proportion of the time but hoped I wasn't hogging them from everyone else. Amazingly, everyone felt the same experience as if they had their own private percussion section at all times! Hats off to Seth & Urubu I don't know how they pulled that off.
Like with all ED experiences, as Seth says “what goes up, must come down”, and so after the peak of this dance we started to move to the floor and lay belly down to the earth, still blindfolded, and just absorbed the whole experience. I felt very lucky to be present in that moment and grateful to be amongst other humans trying to get closer to the possibilities of our human experience; no sight, no drugs, no booze, just epic musicians, permission to be yourself and release through dance. Brilliant.
Would you like a hug?
I must admit committing to a 'hugging workshop' was the activity I felt least sure about.. but I figured 'when in Rome'. Some of my friends have commented that I give pretty good hugs, but I had no idea there are 5 levels!! Seth made it v clear this workshop was as much about consent as it was hugging. In fact we all practiced Level 1, which is when someone asks, “Can I have a hug?” and you say “No” (and because we are British, more likely “No thanks”).
Level 2 is a good old British hug - your bodies are as far apart as possible, followed by a pat on the back and then break off. At this point I was a bit scared. How can there be 3 more levels and which person would I be hugging at level 5?! Emma was at the other end of the tent. Again, Seth emphasised that at each level it was totally cool to say 'no' and just chill. Talking to one of my hugging partners, she explained that sometimes she did feel peer pressure to say yes. So this set my radar going - maybe this was her more subtle way of telling me that she didn't want to hug me. I checked a further 10 times with her that she was absolutely sure she did want a hug, she reassured me she did and so we executed Level 3.
Level 3 is bending your knees and generally getting closer. Seth and Diana demoed again how to break the hug at any point you had had enough. After what I thought was a successful implementation of Level 3, I turned to one of my fellow circle buddies Rosanne - she constantly had me in fits of laughter and our Level 3 hug was no different. When we had finished, I turned to my wife and said “You should get a Level 3 from Rosanne - she is great at it!”. Rosanne laughed and jokingly told me off for handing out her Level 3s…
As a guy at these events, I was very conscious of not making someone feel peer-pressured into a hug, so I let people come to me. When it got to Level 4 and 5, Emma and I decided to hang out and practice together. Level 4 is the same as 3, but you take time to feel the movement of the other person's breath. Level 5 is the same as 4, but focuses on opening your heart to the universe. In the workshop Emma and I both said we only really felt comfortable and enjoyed the hug if we had previously had an opportunity to get to know the person. It was later in the festival though I realised that what the workshop had given me was another tool to open up to another person. As the festival progressed and I became more emotionally open, people I now knew could see that and offered a hug. I was glad to receive it.
Using Grass to do Yoga – Final day
Our Somatic Yoga teacher David gave us the choice to practice directly on the grass or use plastic mats to create a barrier to nature! All mats got tossed aside ☺. The movement he teaches is very free flow and not stuck in yoga norms (my kinda guy). He combines getting into stretches with using your body to massage other parts of yourself.
When the rain started to pour, David thanked the sky and encouraged us to sausage roll in the wet grass and notice our edge moving from something we thought was a bad idea, now into something we reframed and accepted, went with, and now felt right and freeing.
Next, he asked us to lay face down into the wet grass. In the back of my head I was thinking about the tics we had been warned about. Then I thought, just be here and accept whatever happens. I have never buried my face in wet grass before - It smelt incredible… it was all new to my senses. I felt something rising in me as the grass pushed into my face and my nostrils filled with the smell – I gently started to cry. I was really surprised it was happening. I cry a lot, my friends and family will tell you but this felt different. My brain started to look for reasons and settled on I was crying for mother earth. I asked myself to not label it but just accept it. David asked us to sit and face the rising sun and as he started to sing to us tears flowed down my face…
Final Sharing Circle & Finale
I had been sitting in my sharing circle for days, thinking 'this is a wonderful experience', but I am not quite connecting in the way others did to the moment. David's yoga had finally cracked me open and I knew instantly that when it would be my turn to share, that the tears would flow, and they wouldn't stop. I was right, they did. Even now I am not sure why I was crying, but as I shared to my group, I was trying not to identify the cause but just let it run through me. It was a very cathartic experience.
As part of the final ritual of the event, you are allowed to ask your sharing circle for something. It could be as simple as sitting with you in silence, holding hands, asking advice, or asking for hands to be laid on you. It just had to be positive, what you wanted and what others would be prepared to give.
The more practiced in the group had more confidence in asking for what they would like (apparently cooking you a meal, or paying off your mortgage was not in the spirit of the activity). In between each person's request we were asked not to chat too much. I thought this harsh at first, but now totally get how becoming verbal puts you more in your ego and breaks the magic of the space you have created.
When it was my go, I really didn't want to put anyone out, but equally I did feel close enough now to my group to say we could either hold hands or create a mush. A mush is really like a human game of Tetris - you all lie down and place your head, arms etc. in connection with others around you. I felt very peaceful and laughed a bit as I could feel the breath of those whose heads were on me and there was a mass of hair like a light blanket over my face. The thing that tipped me into a gentle cry was, whilst in the 2 min mush, I could hear, in a separate sharing circle, others giving words of affirmation to Emma. She had asked for words of wisdom, but most were telling her how great she is… I can only agree with their kind words.
There are so many more experiences I could write about; the incredible massage and conversation with Bridget or dancing to Engelbert (on James's clever bespoke sound system) playing up to 7 instruments at once with no looper or Raising the roof in the night with DJ Amaya & RedPeppa in the house or an impromptu sing around the house piano. But I guess my best advice is to give Ecstatic Dance a go, especially in this retreat/festival format. My final reflection is that this experience connects you to a deeper, more human, more freeing part of yourself. As Seth says during the dances “You're welcome… Feel free.” Thank you, ED Festival 2026. I do feel freer and we will be back.
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