Hampshire Earth Dance

The Hampshire Earth Dance is a dance from the Hampshire College community composed with the intention to exalt the Earth and reawaken our social connectedness with nature to ends of radical social reorganization. Performed by Jesse Sanes for the first time in May of 2008, the dance is a folk dance of the community of Hampshire College and exists vernacularly as a ritual available to the community. The dance begins at mid day- or as late in the day as the necessary heat lasts- and ends after sundown. The dance may be performed individually, or as a group simultaneously (although not necessarily in unison) or as a relay where the dance is split up and performed by a series of dancers. The center of the dance is referred to at the Heartland and the main tool of the dance is the Heart. The dance is performed in a clearing near a wooded area.

Tools of the Dance
The Hampshire Earth Dance requires the use of several tools and props


 * The egg of an aquatic bird
 * A small sapling
 * The Heart, a small container on which the egg may be cooked and in which the sapling maybe held

Steps and Their Meaning

 * The dancer emerges from the wooded area and walks into the clearing.

The binary of woods and clearings mimic the cultural binary of nature and society while accounting for the occurrence of both the Dionysian and the Apollonian within nature.


 * In his/her left hand s/he bears his/her Heart and in his right hand: the egg of an aquatic bird.


 * Inside his/her Heart is a tiny tree sapling.


 * Upon approaching the center of the clearing, the dancer places his/her heart on the earth and his/her egg to its right.


 * The dancer rises and takes three steps back away from the Heartland to begin the performance of Sun Salutation.


 * The first step is preformed and the dancer walks one clockwise circle around his/her Heartland gradual moving outward, away from his/her Heartland.


 * The second step is preformed and another gradually outward-moving circle is walked around the dancer’s Heartland.


 * So on and so forth for each of the remaining ten steps of Sun Salutation.


 * The dancer then returns to his/her Heartland and kneels before his/her warm Heart.


 * The egg is cracked carefully on the edge of the dancer’s heart and placed directly on the heated surface of the Heart.


 * The dancer then waits meditatively while the egg is cooked.


 * Once cooked, the dancer consumes the egg.


 * The dancer then digests meditatively as the sun sets.


 * At dusk the dancer removes the sapling from the Heart and digs a small hole.


 * The sapling in planted and coved with earth in the hole.


 * The dancer then rises and moves two paces back away from the Heartland holding his/her Heart and begins the performance of Moon Salutation.


 * After each position of Moon Salutation, the dancer completes a counter-clockwise circle gradually moving away from the Heartland.


 * The final steps of Moon Salutation should occur inside of the tree line.


 * The dance ends with Pranams, the last position of Moon Salutation. When the position is released, the dance has completed.

Other considerations

 * While poaching a goose egg under the shade of night is a much more fulfilling journey, one can purchase duck eggs at most natural or gourmet food stores during spring months.
 * Hampshire Earth Dance should not be preformed in temperatures of less than 35C lest the egg not cook upon the heart.
 * The dance is only appreciable in its entirety so careful planning ahead is crucial: often the best way to dance, even if performing alone, is with company.
 * It can help to protect the sapling from heat and other damage if there is newspaper covering its roots.

Construction of the Heart
While the heart does not consist of any specific materials it is important that it s functional. The Heart should have a flat surface large enough to cook an egg upon opposite an open in which the sapling maybe placed. It is important therefore that the volume of the Heart is large enough to accommodate the sapling without having to bend or otherwise damage it. Wood, glass or metal are ideal materials for the Heart but a container of almost any material of a relatively high heat capacity my be used. To further enhance the cooking abilities of the heart, black tiles or tin foil may be glued over the flat surface of the Heart. It may also help, depending on the size of the sapling compared to the size of the Heart, to tape the tree loosely into place.