Why I Must Dance for Love, Not Money.
By: Georgie Astarte
Tags: Dance, Meditation, Sex Work, Love, Sexuality

Why I Must Dance for Love, Not Money.

Meditative musings of a spiritual stripper.

‘The Mirages’ – Alexander Yakovlev.

“We thought of life by an analogy, with a journey – with a pilgrimage, which had a serious purpose at the end and the thing was to get to that end; success or whatever it is, or maybe heaven after you’re dead, but we missed the point the whole way along. It was a musical thing and you were supposed to sing and dance while the music was being played.” – Alan Watts.

The first time I read the above quote by the philosopher Alan Watts, it muted the background melodies and drew in all of my attention. Kind of like when you play musical statues as a child; the beats stop and you freeze to the spot. I was frozen in a kind of undeniable note of truth.

Is it really that simple?

To see life in this way; not as a conquest or linear journey, not something to be controlled, mastered and measured; with money, titles or success, but instead as an experience; a movement, a dance? This seemed directly opposed to what society and culture had always dictated to be the goals of life, yet it echoed as a truth deep in my infinite stardust soul.

Remembering that the whole point of this thing called ‘life’, may not be the constant dreaming, chasing and longing for a larger house, a faster car, a more respectable wardrobe or a safe and secure pension; mostly to be enjoyed when you’re nearly dead. Rather that the point may be only to grow, bloom, learn, love hard and dance to the music while ever it’s being played. To remember to keep the fire, the joy in purely existing, in jumping in puddles and dancing down the street, the curious quizzical nature, we have as children, throughout our whole life. In every moment. To every melody.

We are born in motion.

In heartbeats and soundwaves.

I have always found a ‘spirituality’ in dancing. Moments where I feel connected, to all and to myself. A space in time, where I can feel a stillness in a world that does not stop. A little peace in paradise.

An active meditation and practice of enlivenment; consciously lucid, daydreaming in reality.

So how to weave this into life? Into my days. My work. My time?

I have earned my living* dancing for almost 11 years.

*a phrase I find entirely ridiculous; must we really ‘earn’ our life; exactly how much is one’s life worth?

Exotic dancing. Naked dancing. I have bared my body and sold my movement. I have given so much of my self, motion, emotion and time; motivated by those feelings of security that money in the bank can bring.

I strip. I take off my clothes.

I dance for money.

I sell moments of connection.

Moments of my life.

But I find myself no longer wanting to dance for money. I want to dance for love.

I recently read the story of ‘Maria’, a young Brazilian woman in Switzerland, searching for love whilst employed in prostitution. The protagonist in the novel ‘11 Minutes’, by Paul Coelho.

In a moment of soul-searching she considers the socially accepted value of money and time: ‘Money! A special piece of paper decorated in sombre colours, which everyone agreed was worth something, everyone believed it – until you took a pile of that paper to a bank and asked…’

“Could I buy back a few hours of my life?”

-“No, madam, we don’t sell, we only buy.”

I also long for something more from the hours in my working-waking day. More than money and illusory security. I long for honest love and connection; from within myself, from within my own daily action and movement. In the juxtaposition between dancing for love and dancing for money, I have found truth.

Connection to ‘self’ and ‘other’. Active meditation. I’m fully alive in each beat.

‘Whirling Dancer – A practise of ‘Sema’.

The practice of meditative dance is found in many societies, cultures and rituals. Within Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam, a ceremonial meditation is performed within the ‘Sema’, or worship ceremony, in which dancers through whirling dervishes aim to reach the source of all perfection; the Kemal.

This perfect moment is sought out by abandoning one’s ego, only listening to the music, focusing on ‘God’ and spinning one’s body in repetitive circles. In a symbolic imitation of the movement of the planets.

I have often found in dance; escape, connection, lessons and power. Teaching me to surrender. To the rhythm. To life.

So why do people dance? According to a research study, part of an investigation into ‘dance confidence’, by Dr. Peter Lovatt; principal lecturer in psychology at the University of Hertfordshire:

“People dance for social bonding and mate selection purposes. Dancing is also good for your health and fitness and people dance to enjoy themselves. Others dance to show strength and fearlessness, like the traditional Maori ‘Haka’ dance. There is power and connection in dance. We have practiced the art for all of human history.”

We are born in motion.

In heartbeats and soundwaves.

We have danced through history.

We have danced through fear.

We have danced through joy.

In the utterly edifying TED talk ‘Dreams from endangered cultures’, given by Harvard professor of anthropology, Wade Davis; he speaks to one of the delights of ethnographic research being the opportunity to live among those who have not forgotten the old ways…

“Just to know that Jaguar shamans still journey beyond the Milky Way, or the myths of the Inuit elders still resonate with meaning, or that in the Himalaya, the Buddhists still pursue the breath of the Dharma, is to really remember the central revelation of anthropology, and that is the idea that the world in which we live does not exist in some absolute sense, but is just one model of reality.”

Yet within the myriad of varied realities there are many similarities. Similarities we often forget.

It may be a different beat. But we all still dance throughout our existence. We dance as one. In this shared movement we can find a deep connection and understanding. Of each other and of ourselves.

Davis continues; “We’re all born. We all bring our children into the world. We go through initiation rites. We have to deal with the inexorable separation of death, so it shouldn’t surprise us that we all sing, we all dance, we all have art…

But what’s interesting is the unique cadence of the song, the rhythm of the dance in every culture. It is as important to the well-being of the planet as indeed is the biological web of life that you know as a biosphere. And you might think of this cultural web of life as being the ethnosphere, defined as being the sum total of all thoughts and dreams, myths, ideas, inspirations, intuitions brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness.”

We are born in motion.

In heartbeats and soundwaves.

We dance through history.

We dance through fear. We dance through joy.

We dance through a myriad of rhythm.

We dance together. We dance with intuition.

We dance to speak truths. We dance to learn.

We dance in dreams. We dance in prayer.

We dance for love.

So I ask; will you dance?