All Ecstatic

Ecstatic dance is performed to bring the dancer into trance or possession, so the altered state itself, or a spirit entering and moving the dancer's body, is the point of the performance rather than a story told to onlookers. Candomble, vodou, Shaker dance and the Ghost Dance are recorded here, spanning traditions where the dancer is understood to be a vessel and traditions where the trance is a personal spiritual attainment.