Expressions
moving with
Charlene Sundstrom
The Dance Temple
Droichead na Rince (Bridge of the Dances)
Building the Dance Temple was inspired by a passion to share the profound benefits I experienced from Movement Medicine. This was an integral part of my own growth and filled me with the desire to share this practice with every person who walks through the door.
When I first moved to this unspoilt powerful place, I felt the land was waiting for this temple to be built, to celebrate all of life. The blessings of joy, sorrow, anger, loss and everything we would bring, welcomed and supported by the strong spirit here.
I felt compelled to build it and there seemed to be a response from the universe as so much essential help was gifted by so many to bring the Dance Temple into being.
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Welcome to the Dance Temple in Castletownbere
Providing a safe place for all.
A place where our hearts can heal and our bodies rejoice in all we are,
where we can step out of confinement and into the field of possibility....
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The location is within holly, oak, birch and hawthorn trees within the Slieve Miskish mountain range in Castletownbere, West Cork. I designed the wooden building specifically for Movement Medicine. It has a maple wood floor that is perfect for dancing in bare feet, and above this is a concave ceiling supported by a beech tree trunk. The Dance Temple is full of light with massive windows showing beautiful views.
We started laying the foundations on the 1st of February 2016, Brigid’s Day. Our official opening, where over 70 people arrived, was the following January and the first class was held on Brigid’s Day 2017. Since then, classes have been running weekly, sometimes twice or three times a week. We have just celebrated our 1st birthday!
Blessings were given in written word, poetry, art and some sand was gifted from the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, the land of my birth. These are all in the space - in the floors, walls and ceiling - for us to draw support from.
Here are some of the blessings sent:
Love yourself. Forgive yourself. Trust yourself for you are precious beyond your understanding.
love Catherine Wright xx
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I wish that this space will hold the dramatic extremes of Africa,
in the gentle softness of Ireland, for all who come here,
as its in each one of us.
Joanne Breton
For Charlie and her Temple…
ALL BLESSINGS
May all who dance here be blessed by the spirit of the land,
the sky, the waters, the air and the light of the sun.
May the land, the sky, the waters and the winds be blessed by all
that will happen here.
May this place be a temple of healing for all those who dance here,
for all their relations and for life itself.
May the joy stream be strong!
May the spirits of this place bless and protect and support she who
is the guardian of this dance temple.
In beauty, in love, in the mystery.
Susannah Darling Khan
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Blessings on this sacred space, may it be a safe haven of soft expression for the crossing of thresholds.
Margaret Hardman
Dear spirit of the dance, please bless Charlie and all the souls that will be joining this precious space and give them strength and tenderness to be with what arises between those walls with the graciousness of your moving loving flow.
Dear Queen of the forest trunk, please protect Charlie and her companions and spread your eternal wisdom upon them so that the dance of their life stories will weave and shape into a communal dance of hope ♥
Hagit Ottens-Wilk
May this space be blessed with all embracing love for whoever crosses its threshold and the perception of being at one with the surroundings, with nature, with the goddess!
Sophie Rieu
May the power of the earth, the warmth of the sun, the fluidity of the waters and the wide open space of the sky bless this studio. May this place be a sanctuary and a place of healing, and learning and creativity. May this place hold Charlie and always give her what she needs so that she can give what she's got. Blessings on the old spirits of the land, and welcome to the spirit of the dance. And may this place shine in health and happiness and be a beacon of hope and possibility for all who come here.
The Darling Kahn's