Steph Violett

Ever since I connected with the Witches of Avalon through reading «The Mists of Avalon» by Marion Zimmer Bradley at the age of fifteen, I have felt nostalgic, fascinated and attracted by this world of women priestesses that honours the Great Goddess, Mother Nature. In the fall of 2023, I was given in channelling a choreography that I call Prêtresses in hommage to those women in white who dance in a circle for the Goddess. This choreography is an ode to women, to their lineage, to the ancestors, to magic, the Celtic world, to the sacred, to  Witches everywhere in the world, to sisterhood, and to Life. By it I wish to make known that the energies of Avalon are still with us, all around us and in us.

Whenever I dance in improvisation, I place myself in the service of the Great All. I am a channel ; I am Shakti.

My artistic approach is therefore at the service of the sacred, of light, and of healing. In short, it is an ode to the feminine and to the restoration of women priestesses and witches.

In all the courses I give, dance or otherwise, I take care to prepare a safe, warm and welcoming space for the women who attend. I begin our time together, which is a cross between a women’s circle and a dancing lesson, by lighting a candle in the centre of the circle and inviting each woman to tell us at least her given name, and more about her inner weather and her reasons for coming to the course, if she wishes. As these women are about to share a very special time together, a time of expression and learning, but often also of vulnerability and baring oneself, and even a time of grace, it’s important for me that the participants at least know one another’s names.

At first I thought, rather naively, to teach Fusion Belly Dance only for its beauty and esthetics. I admit to having been surprised, however, by its potential for healing and magic. It’s really beyond me. It’s as if I was channelling healing  and “serving” Fusiion Belly Dance. For these ancient movements of the pelvic bassin and hips are powerful liberators, enabling us to place consciousness back in the body, make peace with our femininity, our mirrored image, and our body. This touches me deeply.

In the same way as with “Women’s Circles”, these women who are strangers to each other at the beginning, find themselves connected and in harmony at the end of our dance gathering. That’s what I call “the power of the circle and the medecine of movement and dance.”

I also want the participants to truly experience sisterhood. I want them to treat and heal wounds such as those of betrayal, rejection, rivalry among women, in order to be present, strong, vulnerable, supportive, and joyful together in the circle. I seek to empower these women and awaken their beauty, their grace, and their magic.

The means of reconnecting to this ancient medecine is the same as what many have done – indoors in a hall or in a Temple or outdoors round a fire or in the forest -  in former lives: dance together to give thanks, vibrate, and become free. It is a powerful, transformative medecine that I am enormously grateful to practise through dance. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Awen