Divine Dance

The Dance Background…

(other professional trainings follow bellow)

I have been dancing for as long as I can remember myself.  My formal dance training began at the age of 4 in Sydney with Anita Ardell-  student and company member of the famed Gertrud Bodenwieser Ballet.

I continued to pursue my dance studies with a passion throughout my childhood and adolescence studying both Classical and Modern dance under the tutelage of Erella Hayam (of Israel’s Bat Dor Company) for 7 years.

At the age of 14 I was accepted into the prestigious M.A.T.A.N School for Performing Arts in Northern Israel which I attended for 2 years which offered a rare exposure to a wealth of international dance teachers and styles. We danced 8 hours a day. By the age of 16 I was following a rigorous daily/weekly dance training and very certain of my future career as a professional dancer…

A defining moment in my personal dance-journey came in 1989 when I found myself standing still in the middle of a very busy dance class observing my fellow class mates. I looked around, there we were –   sweating, teeth clenched extremely focused… Everyone was trying so hard, we were all trying so hard. But there was a numbness too. I noticed a distinct lack of Joy in the room. Where had it gone?? Not one of us was dancing for the love of it any more. It had become a struggle, a competition, a cut-throat obsession where only the fastest, thinnest, “best” dancers would “make it”.

Shortly after this shocking (and sobering) revelation I withdrew from the race &  abandoned my intensive professional dance training.

From Obsession back to Passion …

But I didn’t stop dancing…

My passion for movement remained. I took up a Yoga practice and Studied Bothmer Gymnastics but remained committed to re-finding the dances’ cathartic yet nurturing and sanctuary-like qualities I recalled from my childhood…I danced at home, I danced in clubs, I danced on the beach and I danced on the inside.. often it was a very solo dance.. My quest for a dance form that was free of  “left and right”/ “right and wrong” continued. I was in search of others who, like me, felt the deeper healing, cathartic, shamanic, transformational and ecstatic aspects of dance.

Gratefully, eventually, I began to stumble upon others who shared an affinity for my no-style kind of dancing, kindred spirits who danced in a way that resonated with my soul. …. I found  freedom, community, healing and Self in Ecstatic, Free Form, Conscious Dance.

In 2005 I also completed a Post Graduate Degree in Dance and Creative Art Therapies..

Ahh the relief of no steps to follow!!  I had  re-entered “Dance Sanctuary”! I was led to and continue to draw inspiration from many teachers and trainings to which I am forever indebted to.

Bellow are some of these dance teachers and teaching:

Sylvia Staehli ,  Melbourne, Australia

Tony Norquay’s  Soul Motion , Melbourne, Australia

Dr. Marcia Leventhal, USA

Wendy Hermalin, UK

Gabriell Roth’s 5 Rhythms, NY, USA

Jo Cobbett, USA.

The dance remains my closest ally, friend and practice. It is how I pray, heal, meditate, let go and come home.

Other Professional Trainings –

As my artistic passion & creative expression has always been dance & movement, my desire to interweave Spirituality & the Healing Arts also led me to train in various disciplines around the world.

In 1993 I received an undergraduate teaching degree in Steiner (Waldorf) Education (Adv. Dip Steiner Ed. Melbourne RSS, Australia) followed by a Certificate in Creative Writing & Story Telling as a Healing Art at Emerson College, Sussex UK.

I then journeyed to New York to attend  “The Art of the Actor” course.  A two year  Anthroposophcial Speech & Drama Training based on the work of Michael Chekhov at Sunbridge College, USA.

In 2005 I attained a Post Graduate Degree in Creative Art Therapy. (MIECAT, Melbourne Australia), focusing on movement and Dance Therapy.

In 2006 I began traveling to Brazil to visit and work with a healer who is known as John of God. Since then I have been an official guide to the Casa in Brazil for anyone seeking physical, mental, emotional or spiritual healing. There is more information about this on other pages of this website.

The Bigger Picture –

Interweaving Dance as a healing/creative/spiritual process with various modalities

Over the past 10 years  a unique healing / movement meditation & ecstatic dance  practice has emerged which  I call – Divine Dance – this is an amalgamation of these different disciplines & modalities. It is constantly shapeshifting, evolving and unfolding. Depending on the context of class or workshop, there is often guidance and invitations for self inquiry through the modalities of dance and/or Art Therapy. Some classes are totally unfacilitated, the only “container” for our stories being the generous embrace of the dance itself. All sessions are held in the spirit of healing and transformation and are set up in sacred space.

I am constantly humbled and awed by the power of the body to heal itself, and by the delicacy, intimacy, vulnerability and transformational states students are willing to open to when held in the greatest embrace of all – the dance.

This work affirms the celebration of each individuals’ unique path, as participants are guided into a deeper, playful & more loving connection with their authentic selves.

• Over the past 12 years I have taught dance in various Steiner/Waldorf schools around  Australia and Drama in the Hawthorn Valley Waldorf School in NY.

• In May 2000, in collaboration with Michelle Mahrer (aclaimed Dance Film Maker and Dance therapist) we began offering Conscious Dance events to the Melbourne  community…  over the course of 8 years, these sessions sowed the seeds for, and eventually blossomed into a thriving  Ecstatic Dance scene.

• In 2000 I was invited to work with the NYC Ballet’s Educational Programme.

• In 2006 I was invited to showcase my work at the Australiasian Integrative Medicine Conference (AIMA) in NZ. Following that I was also invited to run workshops for the Gawler Foundation annual conference on sustainable health and well-being.

I currently facilitate workshops,on-going classes & conscious dance events in Australia & internationally. I am available for group workshops, short courses, private consultations & Conscious Dance party DJ-ing.

“…Liat’s unique ability to create a safe, sacred space, opens the way for people to embark on personal journeys of self-discovery in a most satisfying way. Her deep understanding of the body/mind/spirit connection & her skill as a dancer/therapist helped me experience deep personal issues in new liberating ways.”
-Dr. N. Shani

“..during her (Liat’s) intimate classes I feel the safety to journey into the depths of myself, to explore unchartered territory. The work is healing & transformational… an invitation for us to embrace our soul…”
-K. McGrath