SACRED MOVEMENTS
Melanie Monsour has been the pianist for Sacred Movements events around the world and has performed the music of Gurdjieff/De Hartmann in the U.S., England, Australia, Canada and Russia for more than a decade. She is currently a member of the teaching faculty of the College of Santa Fe and on staff with the National Dance Institute of New Mexico.
George Gurdjieff, a “remarkable” man who dedicated the better part of his life to the awakening of humanity, wished in the end to be known and remembered as a “teacher of dance.” Within the context of a comprehensive body of work, the sacred movements or dances were developed by Gurdjieff as an intensive, integral practice for liberating our vitality and intelligence and as means of experiencing and transmitting eternal and essential truth.
The movements were designed to help students gain a greater awareness of automatic habits of body, heart and mind while simultaneously cultivating a greater capacity to experience and express life more fully; that is to sense, feel and see what is real.
The sacred movements offer us a potent opportunity to meet ourselves and each other in a new way, a way graced by clarity, compassion and courage that arise from the attentive presence that the movements both demand and engender. Through the practice of movements and the support of circlework, meditation, voicework and the enneagram, we aim to deepen our experience of the mystery and grace of unconditioned Being and conscious presence.
The focus of our efforts is basically twofold. The first is to explore the sacred movements as a practice that will deepen our experience of essence and presence. The second is to continue the ongoing work of dissolving the fixations and constrictions that inhibit more continuous access to essence and presence throughout the everyday moments and challenges in our lives. Our core aim is to cultivate loving presence: within ourselves, among ourselves and within the world at large.
The movements group is dedicated to deepening the work of self-remembering and the practice of presence in community though ongoing work with sacred movements and the enneagram. Our group is currently meeting three times a year, for 3 days each in the Spring and Fall and for a longer retreat in the Summer. It is our wish and intention to maintain an open circle. If you would like to experience an introduction to the movements, you are invited to join the group for the beginning of each gathering. If you have had a basic introduction to and experience with the movements, you are welcome to register and join us for the full event.
Donna Gruhlke and Donna Kilarski have been working with the Movements for the past 15 years.
Melanie has six CDs, a Gurdjieff/De Hartmann compilation and five compilations of original compositions. One is a collaborative effort with our movements group: Enneagram Inspired, and the most recent is Along the Way. Melanie’s considerable gift as a pianist is an expression of a light-hearted and deeply meditative presence that is a strong source of support and inspiration for the Work.
I BOW MY HEAD AND PRAY
AND I GIVE THANKS FOR THIS
WHATEVER THIS MIGHT BE
EVERY STEP WE TAKE WILL LEAD US INTO GRACE
WHEN EVERY BREATH IS HOME
They are both seasoned facilitators of the enneagram and work together teaching movements and tending to emerging needs of the group.
2012-2013 GATHERINGS:
2012: SPRING: April 13-15, SUMMER: August 13-19, FALL: November 9-11
2013: SPRING: March 2-4, SUMMER: August 5-11, FALL: November 9-11
