Wise Women Dance

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate to sit and chat in the cool air of the East Mountains with belly dance icon Amaya about her Wise Woman Retreat. The retreat, which has to be rescheduled for next year due to the pandemic, draws women from around the country and fills up almost immediately each year.

The retreat is a melding of cultural experiences- from Egyptian dance technique to journeys into the Native American communities of our state.

Showcasing and celebrating our own ancient beauty here in New Mexico was a huge part of why Amaya created the Wise Woman Retreat. Amaya schedules the event around the Santo Domingo feast day, a place where the Kewa corn goddess dance and drumming have been performed for millennia. Past retreats have also included visits to Acoma Sky City and Tamaya, and typically incorporates native traditions including lectures and talking circles, as well as a visit to some of our amazing local Flamenco performance spots.

After about 16 years of successful large-scale festivals and workshops, what inspired Amaya to leave all that behind and opt for a scaled down, intimate event with 15 or less attendees? She wanted to create a bond with the dancers that she wasn’t able to do with the large-scale events.

“They are a lot of work!” said Amaya, acknowledging that she spent much of her time with event logistics, and very little time enjoying her participants, or the dance.

Amaya also wanted to get back to focusing on her own style and to acknowledge and celebrate the amazing path dance has taken through.

But, in reality, Wise Woman Retreat is not about Amaya, or even dance. The event is about sisterhood. Alums have created life-long friendships and absorbed the creative and physical aspects of the weekend, incorporating all they have learned into their dance. With the pandemic skulking, who knows what the future will bring for any of our beloved group dance gatherings. But Amaya cannot image NOT doing it. Sisterhood, dance, drumming, understanding and connection through talking circles. They have survived much more than a single pandemic. They have simply always survived.

Any wise woman will tell you that.