The Dance for All People Continues!
Big gratitude for that.
Big celebration about that.
Take a breath into gratitude and celebration!
Join us in Tennessee April 5th to 9th, 2023
The Tennessee Naraya host circle is excited to send out this Call to Dance. To honor all the directions, all the elements, all the inspiring elders, all the supportive spirits, all the beneficent ancestors, and all the beings alive on our glorious planet. To honor ourselves. To honor each other. To show up in ways that we may find surprising. To pray together in ways that are healing and renewing. To Dream Big. Take a breath into Dreaming Big.
Are you feeling the Call?
Safety protocols for good health will be carefully constructed. Space will be limited.
Honoring the Land and the Ancestors
The Tennessee Dance for All People is held on the shores of Lake Percy Priest. Before there was a lake, when the Stones River ran through it, the land was the traditional hunting grounds of the Tsalagi (Cherokee), Muskogee, Yuchi, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Shawnee People. The land is also a site of colonization, slavery, and the Trail of Tears. We recognize this painful legacy, and honor this land and the ancestors of this place through our Dance.
A Dance for All People
“The Dance For All People is drawn from an age-old tradition of the Great Basin/Plateau indigenous peoples which was practiced for the healing, restoration and renewal of Mother Earth and all her beings. This ceremony has been revitalized under the guidance and leadership of Native peoples for the challenging times we are currently living in.”
—Clyde Hall
The Tennessee Dance was born from a desire to offer focused spiritual practice of a Native tradition for two-spirit people and their allies. All are welcome at this ceremony. We particularly invite those who have experienced marginalization to dance with us for healing and renewal: two-spirit and LGBTQ+ folks, people of color, women, immigrants, youth, elders, people with divergent abilities, and those impacted by generational and/or systemic poverty.
The Agreements
You are asked to align yourself with these agreements from the beginning of the Ceremony to its conclusion. They strengthen, focus, and support our time together.
Respect all people and items in the ceremony! Honor and respect all beings in the form they take.
Be free of the influence of recreational intoxicants for the entire ceremony, for the clarity and benefit of both you and the circle. We ask that dancers begin to clear their bodies at least three days prior to the start of ceremony.
Refrain from sexual activity: channel that energy into your dance.
Contribute your emotional, mental and physical energies to the ceremony, in support of our sacred time together.
Stay present by turning off cell phones and mobile devices.
Participate fully, to the best of your ability.
Gatekeeping and Intention Guides
Before registering, all Dancers —both new and returning— go through a gatekeeping process. The gatekeeping conversation is an essential element of your Dance, and helps each Dancer to be prepared to enter the ceremony with clear and focused intention. Your chosen Intention Guide will also explain the significance and history of the ceremony, and what to expect during our time together.
Our Dance for this year will be limited to about 77 people including the invited elders. We welcome both experienced and new dancers to the gate.
Call to the Kitchen
Our kitchen witch/lead this year is Scratyr who returns to the role after guiding the kitchen and meal preparation for the 2022 Dance last year. Since the Dance will host a larger number of people than in previous years (pandemic years), there is a need for many helping hands this time!
If you are called to join the kitchen crew, please choose Scratyr as your Intention Guide for gatekeeping.
Besides food preparation and dish washing, kitchen roles include:
• light buffet workers
• clean/maintain the dining room
• clean/maintain a coffee/beverage bar
• maintain a light snack bar/area
The Good Way Café crew aims to provide delicious & nutritious meals and to spread sweetness, kindness & joy.
We wash, prep, chop, cook, serve, eat, scrape, scrub, mop, dance, sleep & repeat!
Elder Care
We are looking for 5 or 6 dedicated souls to form an Elder Care team. If you are an experienced dancer and would like to be a part of the Elder Care team, please indicate that on your registration form. In previous years, some people have also acted as team lead to help coordinate the meals and care.
Dancers who help our elders typically work alongside the kitchen crew to prepare box meals and support our invited Elders during the dance. Sometimes it can be as simple as fetching a favorite drink from the kitchen cooler! Serving our Dance in this way can afford you an opportunity to spend extra time with our beloved Elders.
Registration is Essential
Once you complete the Gatekeeping Process, you will receive an email with a link to an on-line registration form. While there is never a charge to participate in the Ceremony, we do ask Dancers to contribute$350 to $500 to cover food, lodging, elder travel, dance supplies, etc. Give more if you can, less if you can’t. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Gifts over $350 qualify as a tax-deductible donation.
Please register on-line with payment choice/commitment by March 25th
If you choose to pledge money for your registration to be paid when you arrive at the Dance, consider it a loan from your fellow Dancers. The promised money will be spent before the Dance starts. Your integrity in repaying that loan will keep our Dance financially sustainable.
Your Intention Guide will discuss transportation and housing options during the gatekeeping process. The registration form will allow you to indicate whether you need a ride from the Nashville airport and to provide your dates of arrival and departure. We ask that you arrive no later than dinner on Thursday, April 6th and stay no later than the evening of Monday, April 10th. Please consider arriving a day early on Wednesday the 5th to settle in at the camp. Our host community will already be at camp performing a work trade service to reduce our camp rental fee.