As an artist, it is difficult for me to evaluate my work. It is best to leave this task to others. Although, the artist is his own greatest critic. The work you have created often isn’t what you imagined it should be, or even leaves you indifferent. But sometimes, if you are lucky enough, your own work can surprise you! While looking at what you created you become overwhelmed by the feeling of wonder, “… every time, as it was for the first time …”. Such moments are rare. It rarely happens that the more you look at it, the more you like your own work.

… Body … Silence … Movement … Tension … Perfection …

Months went by in preliminary preparations. A lot of twists in finding the right set for the photo shooting. A set can speak, you know. One is sad, while others have nothing to them, as if they were dead. And you know that this is something special, so you look for a special set. You look everywhere. You’re looking for the moment when you open the door and the space sings to you. The set smiles at you. And then you know.

After a long search, we found it. We found it where no one would expect it. It was standing in the middle of a small village, our set. We knew right away. It sang to us.

… Heart beats, breasts rise and fall … though covered with silk, you can feel them …

From the moment we found the set, everything flowed smoothly. I think that that was the moment when we all began to slowly fall into some kind of ecstasy. Fantastic things came to our minds. Clothes, creations long forgotten, revived through this dance, fitted perfectly with Emina and our ideas.

… The day before the start. Nervousness, disquiet, excitement …

What does an artist live for? What is his motive? What does he want?

He has many ideas how the project should look like. Ironically, that never happens. Often nothing comes from those ideas, nothing. And then, somewhere, sometime … something unexpected and indescribable appears.

… Moment … Fragments … Vortex …

Frames created themselves. I had an idea how I wanted to work, but this…this was completely beyond any plan. There were moments in which we were unable to speak, and just looked at what was going on. There was a silence that you could cut with the knife. Emina looked at us … and it started. She started dancing. She started dancing the most beautiful dance of that day.

The music was heartbreaking, the body trembled … the perfection of body, movement and music. In that moment they were one.

At moments her movements were fast, and the light was entangled with tense muscles. Contrast … from light to darkness, from darkness to light.

Then, the movements became slower … as though she was enveloped by a gentle fog, that calls for the beauty of sensitiveness. Calls for gentle movements. And love.

In that dance she gave everything.

… Fragments …

I do not know how I did it. I barely looked through the lens and photographed, because tears flowed all over the camera.
When the dance ended, I looked at Adrian, who was sitting beside me. I looked at Marina. I think we were all crying then.
And Emina, out of breath, looked at us with a question in her eyes … was it okay?

The answer to that question is left to you, dear readers and viewers.

In this place I wish to thank you, dear Emina. For your complete commitment to the project, for your openness to the ideas that we proposed and for your incredible motivation. Everytime I see you dance, I am touched by the amazing love you have for dancing. I would also like to thank you, dear Adrian, for all the help during the photo shooting and for the unforgettable moments with the leaf blower, which still make me laugh. Thanks to the love and warmth that you radiate, this project was much easier to accomplish. And finally, to you dear Marina, for the support that a man can only dream of. From the fantastic make-up for Emina to thousands of little things that you did on the set without anyone asking and without which the project would not be possible.

Thanks to you, dear NuDanza dancers, who were our inspiration.

With love,
Sašo Kos

Fifteen years ago, when I wrote a series of books on the Neolithic culture of Old Europe (The Return of the Goddess, the Soul of Old Europe), emerged a practice of a spiritual dance called NuDanza. Suddenly there appeared a lot of people who wanted to dance, and I, at least temporarily, changed from a teacher of meditation to the teacher of (neo) dancing.

NuDanza is genuinely a magical dance. It combines the oldest human traditions of ritual movements with most of modern spiritual research and ideas. It is intended for a direct connection with natural laws and elements, but also for creating the experience of unity consciousness ecstatically.

After the first wave of interest, and many workshops and activities, my attention was caught by other projects. However, lately, new energy and the will to dance have emerged. This was mostly influenced by Emina, who added to NuDanza the much-needed warmth but also an unquestionable skill in leading the workshops.

Apart from the NuDanza Starter workshop that is organized on weekends, there is also NuDanza Deepness – a kind of dance retreat we host twice a year.

Have you had the opportunity to look into my book “Sadashiva Tantra”? The Deepness program enters into the area of intimacy and sexuality, but in a way that is acceptable to all. If you indulge in such a dance, it will take you to unforgettable experiences of inner and outer unity.

You can read more about the theory of NuDanza in the article ” NuDanza, a liberating dance” and you can watch the video that was created in the early days of NuDanza (called NeoDance).

Patrick Adrian