Leading An Dro at the Findhorn Dance Festival 2010

Sacred Dance / Circle Dance

Sacred Dance (as it's called at Findhorn) or Circle Dance (as it's called everywhere else) is based on European folk dancing but with an emphasis on the experience of dancing for its own sake, not on performance or competition. Most of the dances are done in circles or long lines so no partners are required. Although many dances are done just for the joy and fun of dancing it is possible to go deeper into them, for personal growth and insight, group feeling and conciousness, for celebration or support.

I taught and led dance sessions from 1986 to 2016. This was mostly with ongoing groups, starting in the South-East of England but then going up a level when I took on the primary teaching (& organising) role at the Findhorn Foundation's dance program for guests. This included leading the weekly dance session open to all, the more advanced group for dancers within the community, and dance sessions for guests who were enrolled on other (non-dance) courses. I also made regular appearances at the annual Dance Festival and at other events & celebrations in & around the area.

During this time I've also led workshops across the globe, including the UK, continental Europe, Australia & New Zealand, the USA, the Bahamas, Brazil and Morocco.

In April of 2025 I was interviewed as part of the Roots to the Branch project to talk about my experiences as a teacher of Circle/Sacred Dance. The result was presented as one of their Personal stories videos.

I've written a few articles on dance-related subjects, you can read them here.

My archive of dance resources are now being hosted at andybettis.mdammer.net. This includes dance notes for most of the dances I've taught, teaching videos, and folk music chords for the guitar.