‘Medicine’: Is sober dancing the new ecstasy?

I’m on a boat in Amsterdam. It’s 8pm on a Friday and the walls are already wet with condensation. The topless man next to me is sweating profusely as he roams the floor on all fours, techno beats spilling from the DJ booth next to him. Meanwhile, I am exploring the air with my hands. Neither of us have consumed a drop of alcohol.

An hour previously, our eyes were closed and we were breathing in (2, 3, 4), breathing out (2, 3, 4), noticing the moment and setting our intentions for the next couple of hours. Our tiny cups of cacao were steaming, giving the room a pleasingly chocolatey smell.

I am at my first ecstatic dance, a concept I’d first heard of just a few months previously. And contrary to what I’d thought, it is not a uniquely Amsterdam thing: its origins go way back, with sacred dances having long been popular in religions and cultures around the world. The more modern form was popularised by Gabrielle Roth in 1970s California with her 5Rhythms practice, which is today available around the world and is billed as ‘a dynamic way to both [work out] and to meditate in the same breath.’ Other variations of ecstatic dance have sprung up since then, with a quick Google search throwing up events in Tufnell Park, Ladbroke Grove — and at the church at the end of my boyfriend’s road in Hackney. In fact, it is apparently enjoying a moment right now.

My chosen ecstatic dance takes place on the outskirts of Amsterdam, on a large, unassuming stationary boat that goes by the name Odessa. I…