THE LONG DANCE (at the Birdsong Peace Chamber)

May 22/23 2010
Co-Chiefed by Jim Frank and Tom Bissinger 

What is the Long Dance?

The Long Dance is a visioning dance held at night under the stars. The dancers move in a circular motion around the corral. It is a time to bring forth associations that lie in the subconscious mind, and by dancing them, they can be brought to conscious levels, owned, and released. It is a time to quest for your spirit, to surrender, to endure. Beautiful Painted Arrow says:  In the Long Dance of Life, every- step awakens three opportunities for the human; One: placement in eternity; Two: purification of past forms; Three: new opportunities for adventure, for in the instances of eternal time, the new always refreshes and cleanses. Arrive early Saturday afternoon and pitch your tent and help prepare the corral A Sweat Lodge follows. Then we hang our Medicine Shield Banners in the corral. Following a light supper, as night falls the dance begins and goes into early morning hours, then the dancers rest. On awakening, we have breakfast, a sharing, and return home early in home afternoon of Sunday.

http://www.malvernsweatlodge.com/Long%20Dance/longdance.htm