bluelotusdance

There is much archaeological evidence to suggest that female forms of the divine were once widely worshipped across the world. These Goddesses fulfilled many crucial roles, such as creating life, ensuring fertility, protecting both people and animals, and providing abundance to their worshippers.

These Goddesses take many forms. They are hunters, destroyers, creators, artists, warriors, mothers and keepers of profound truth and wisdom. Modern researchers often categorise the Goddess as having one (or all) of three aspects; the maiden, the mother and the matriarch (or crone). These triple elements are reflected in nature – such as the aforementioned stages of womanhood, as well as the cycle of birth, life and death.

Many people believe in Goddesses as actual deities, while others believe that the stories and myths are a potent tool for self development and understanding our different phases of life. The Hawaiian Goddess Pele, for example, teaches us that by accepting and embracing our true selves we can achieve our full potential. Or Baubo, who appears in the Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone, reminds us that there is hope in grief and that humour can be a powerful healer.

What ever you feel about Goddesses, they have much to teach us, and by retelling the ancient myths we are linking with our past and keeping the teachings of our ancestors alive.

Goddesses can help us to connect with our own divinity and embrace all aspects of ourselves.

Brighid
Brighid is a Celtic Goddess traditionally associated with fire and light. Her name means ‘exulted one’ and she is a muse and protector of the home. So loved was she by the ancient Britons she was sainted by the new Christian religion that took over the land.

Inspired by Celtic patterns and circle dancing, this piece uses candles and spiral floorwork to convey the creative and healing aspects of Brighid.

Pele
Pele, is a Hawaiian volcano Goddess who truly knows herself. She is strong willed, violently passionate and will devour all those who disrespect her.

We show Pele’s passion and fire through a style of dance known as ‘Bellynesian’ – a combination of the most beautiful Polynesian dance and bellydance.

Bast
Bast is the cat headed Goddess from Ancient Egypt and has the honour of being one of the only deities associated with both the sun and the moon. She is best associated with sensuality, pleasure and perfume.

Using images from Egyptian hieroglyphs and movements from classical and modern Egyptian dance, the Bast dancers hypnotise and entice.

Kali
Kali is the Hindu Goddess of chaos, death and transformation. These aspects make her not only a formidable force of destruction, but earn her the title of ‘Redeemer of the Universe’. She is recognised by her necklace of severed heads and a belt of dismembered limbs.

Focusing on Kali’s power to destroy, we interpret her terrifying aspects through tribal style movements and our own take on the Maori ‘haka’ war dance.

Baubo
Baubo is the bawdy old crone Goddess, best known for approaching the lamenting Demeter and telling her rude and obscene jokes. Baubo’s humour cracked Demeter’s grief forcing her to laugh out loud, bringing life back to the earth.

Inspired by Baubo’s sense of freedom and bawdiness, we dance in a ‘gypsy’ style, while adding some magical, humorous and obscene touches of our own!

Inanna
Inanna was the Sumerian queen of heaven. Ancient tablets tell the story of Inanna’s descent into the underworld, where she is stripped of her power and finally encounters her dark and shadowy sister Ereshkighal.

The most theatrical of our dances, it is hard to not be moved as Inanna struggles to cling to life while Ereshkighal tries to brutally strip her of it.

Gaia
Worshipped by the Ancient Greeks as the fertile Earth Mother, Gaia emerged from chaos and produced the sea, land and sky. She is also mother to many other well known Greek gods.

To pay homage to this earth Goddess we use the grounded and earthy Folkloric and Sai’idi styles of bellydance.

Yemaya
Yemaya is a water Goddess worshipped in the Yoruba region of Africa. She is deeply loving and has the protective role of caring for pregnant women and children.

The Yemaya dancers use sea green veils to mesmerise and create a swell of emotion and a sense of longing for the ocean.

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