Spotlight on: Shamanic Movement

Sonali Sultana performing at Rakkasah, October, 2011 (photo: Carl Sermon)

Shamanic Movement
by Sunny Chapman/Sonali Sultana

At age 61, I am strong and flexible, full of energy, and look younger than I did fifteen years ago. It's all due to the healing movement that I practice, developed from my studies of many dance styles and energy healing modalities. I call it Shamanic movement, and I want to share it with you.

In 1998, my life ground to a complete halt. I'd always been very active-- dancing, biking, practicing martial arts. I was something of a workaholic, but now I found myself totally disabled. It started with getting hit by a car, an accident from which I never quite recovered.

At first, I dealt with constant pain that seemed unrelated to the accident. I noticed I was always tired. A few doctor visits revealed slight  hypothyroidism but nothing that would explain how I felt. Things seemed to slide downhill. Finally, one morning, I woke up and found that I could not walk. I could not straighten my back. If I tried to stand up, searing pain shot up my legs.

There began a much more intense round of ER visits, doctor visits, medical tests, MRIs and CT scans. Lupus and MS were ruled out, and I was finally diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. For the next five years, I walked with a cane-- when I walked, which was as little as possible. I couldn't sit upright. The only way to keep the pain bearable was by taking medications so strong I slept twelve or more hours a day, and when I was awake, I really wasn't. I no longer had a life. I became very depressed and gained a lot of weight.  My friends drifted away one by one, tired of my endless misery. My world became very small and sad.

One day, lying in bed and really wanting to take a shower but too exhausted to move I thought, "I can't live like this anymore.” I decided I had to try to find a way to make myself well--something doctors hadn't been able to do in all these years.

The first thing I did was contact a Reiki master and ask her to come to my home. She did, and the result of her Reiki treatment was amazing. I got up after the treatment, walked downstairs and ate a meal sitting in a chair for the first time in years. Next I asked her to train me so that I could treat myself, which I do to this day.

I knew I needed to move my body, but I still couldn't walk without a cane. I found a hospital that had water aerobics classes and began to attend, first once a week, then twice a week. I started to regain enough strength to get out and walk a bit, beginning to reconnect with the natural world. I changed my diet and started to lose the weight I'd gained.

Then came the really big change. I left my marriage. As a result, my insurance coverage changed, and I gained access to a new network of doctors. The first one I saw said that she agreed that I had Fibromyalgia but that the severe pain in my legs had another source. An MRI of my lumbar spine revealed one herniated and one fully ruptured disk that I'd been living with for six years!

Now my recovery moved much more rapidly. That doctor, Lisa Bartoli at The Continuum Center For Health And Healing, treated my disk injuries non-surgically, sent me for months of physical therapy and then said to me, "Now you need to start Pilates and do it for the rest of your life."

I began taking Pilates at Greenhouse Holistic and later added yoga. One day I took a bellydance class, and I was instantly hooked. I loved it. Within a couple of years I was dancing in a troupe and, not long after that, I began solo performance. Along the way, I was lucky enough to study with many wonderful, world-renowned teachers, and study related forms like trance dances from North Africa–zaar and guedra. I learned Sufi whirling, studied Tibetan Yoga, learning poses that are supposed to be the secret of eternal youth and applied all of the forms of movement to my daily practice of spiritual, healthful movement.

Having subbed for many teachers, I began teaching bellydance classes in the Liberated Movement program at Battery Dance. I completed a  teacher training program with Tamalyn Dallal and was certified to teach bellydance. At the same time I was developing the new practice I'm teaching at Triskelion Arts in Brooklyn, Shamanic Movement. Shamanic Movement combines all of the various practices that contributed to my recovery and current state of high energy and healthy well-being. It's a style of movement that draws a lot from bellydance but is more attuned to the spiritual elements of bellydance than stage performance.

Shamanic Movement is designed to bring the mind, body and soul into harmony and help people to look and feel their very best. It's a movement style that is gentle on the body and allows the practitioner to move at her or his own pace. It's the reason I look as good as I do at age 61 and feel great.  Meditative dance promotes good health, stress reduction, strength and flexibility, and generally improves well-being in all areas of life. I want to share it with the world.

The work involves stretching, practicing the basic steps and isolations of Oriental Dance, accessing Reiki energy and exploring different types of movement, all in a friendly, supportive atmosphere. It’s suitable for all ages and every level, from beginner to advanced dancer, and those who believe they aren't dancers.

Mondays, 6:30pm-8pm

Drop-in fee: $15   Five-class card: $60

Wear comfortable clothing, go barefoot or wear dance sandals. If you have a veil, please bring it. There will be veils to borrow but possibly not enough for everyone.

If you have questions, please click here to email me.

Triskelion Arts
118 North 11th Street Studio B
http://www.triskelionarts.org/?page_id=2473
(map/directions)

BIO

Sunny Chapman (aka Sonali Sultana) is a visual artist, Reiki healer and dancer living in Brooklyn NY. Chapman studied Cechetti method ballet and modern dance in Chicago in the 70's and later taught ballet at a Chicago City College and performed in numerous venues.

Later in life, she discovered Arabic/Middle Eastern dance, also know as Bellydance, and embarked on an intensive study of the ancient art form, studying not only the theatrical and nightclub styles of performance such as Raqs Sharqi but also healing trance dances of North Africa. She has studied with many notable teachers including Dalia Carella, Rachel Brice, Elena Lentini, Ranya Renee, Anahid Sofian, Andrea Anwar, and several members of the legendary Ibrahim Farrah's Near East Dance Company. In 2011, she completed a teacher training and teacher certification course with Tamalyn Dallall.

Chapman performed in the NYC troupe PURE (Public Urban Ritual Experiment) for 2-1/2 years and helped to create and performed in a theater show called Pure Reflections: Re-imagining Beauty that was staged at The University Settlement Theater and elsewhere.

Chapman currently performs with Andrea Anwar's Dancing Rubies troupe and has presented solo work in many theater shows and dance festivals. She brings training as a Reiki healer into her dance and approaches teaching dance as a healing art form. She presently teaches Arabic/Middle Eastern dance in the Liberated Movement program at Battery Dance Company studios  and teaches Shamanic Movement at Triskelion Arts  in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.