But first, if you are new to Dance of Shiva, this is the place to begin,
here you can learn the basic movements of the Dance of Shiva.
These are the basics. Learn these and you have the tools for all of the other levels.
Take the time to learn the basic movements and the following levels will be easier, not easy, easier.
There are eight basic movements. There are also eight basic positions. Learn them both and then move on to the other levels.
All the best
Neil
and don't forget the Explanation
Explanation of the Basics
Forward Movements in the Horizontal PlaneExplanation | F, B, T, Changes, Horizontal/Vertical |
 Position 1 |  Forwards, 1 to 2 |  Position 2 | ||||
Position 2 |  Forwards, 2 to 3 |  Forward, 2 to 3 |  Position 3 | |||
Position 3 |  Forward, 3 to 4 |  Forward, 3 to 4 |  Position 4 | |||
Position 4 |  Forward, 4 to 1 |  Forward, 4 to 1 |  Position 1 | |||
Backward Movements in the Horizontal PlaneExplanation | F, B, T, Changes, Horizontal/Vertical |
 Position 1 |  Backwards, 1 to 4 |  Position 4 | ||||
Position 4 |  Backwards, 4 to 3 |  Backwards, 4 to 3 |  Position 3 | |||
Position 3 |  Backwards, 3 to 2 |  Backwards, 3 to 2 |  Position 2 | |||
Position 2 |  Backwards, 2 to 1 |  Position 1 | ||||
Transquarter Movements in the Horizontal PlaneExplanation | F, B, T, Changes, Horizontal/Vertical |
 Position 1 |  Transquarter, 1 to 3 |  Transquarter, 1 to 3 |  Position 3 | |||
 Position 2 |  Transquarter, 2 to 4 |  Transquarter, 2 to 4 |  Position 4 | |||
 Position 3 |  Transquarter, 3 to 1 |  Transquarter, 3 to 1 |  Position 1 | |||
 Position 4 |  Transquarter, 4 to 2 |  Transquarter, 4 to 2 |  Position 2 | |||
Forward Movements in the Vertical PlaneExplanation | F, B, T, Changes, Horizontal/Vertical |
 Position A |  Forwards, A to B |  Position B | ||||
Position B |  Forwards, B to C |  Forward, B to C |  Position C | |||
Position C |  Forward, C to D |  Forward, C to D |  Position D | |||
Position D |  Forward, D to A |  Forward, D to A |  Position 1 | |||
Backward Movements in the Vertical PlaneExplanation | F, B, T, Changes, Horizontal/Vertical |
 Position A |  Backwards, A to D |  Backwards, A to D |  Position D | |||
Position D |  Backwards, D to C |  Backwards, D to C |  Position C | |||
Position C |  Backwards, C to B |  Backwards, C to B |  Position B | |||
Position B |  Backwards, B to A |  Position A | ||||
Transquarter Movements in the Vertical PlaneExplanation | F, B, T, Changes, Horizontal/Vertical |
 Position A |  Transquarter, A to C |  Transquarter, A to D |  Position C | |||
 Position B |  Transquarter, B to D |  Transquarter, B to C |  Position D | |||
 Position C |  Transquarter, C to A |  Transquarter, C to B |  Position A | |||
 Position D |  Transquarter, D to B |  Transquarter, D to B |  Position B | |||
Change Plane Movements from Positions 1,2,3 and 4Explanation | C, CF, CB, CT, Non-Change, Horizontal/Vertical |
 Position 1 |  Change, 1 to A |  Change, 1 to A |  Position A | |||
 Position 2 |  Change, 2 to B |  Position B | ||||
 Position 3 |  Change, 3 to C |  Change, 3 to C |  Position C | |||
 Position 4 |  Change, 4 to D |  Change, 4 to D |  Position D | |||
Change Forward Movements from Positions 1,2,3 and 4Explanation | C, CF, CB, CT, Non-Change, Horizontal/Vertical |
 Position 1 |  Change Forwards, 1 to B |  Change Forwards, 1 to B |  Position B |
Position B |  Change Forwards, B to 3 |  Position 3 | ||||
Position 3 |  Change Forwards, 3 to D |  Change Forwards, 3 to D |  Position D | |||
Position D |  Change Forwards, D to 1 |  Change Forwards, D to 1 |  Position 1 | |||
Change Backward Movements from Positions 1,2,3 and 4Explanation | C, CF, CB, CT, Non-Change, Horizontal/Vertical |
 Position 1 |  Change Backwards, 1 to D |  Change Backwards, 1 to D |  Position D |
Position D |  Change Backwards, D to 3 |  Change Backwards, D to 3 |  Position 3 | |||
Position 3 |  Change Backwards, 3 to B |  Position B | ||||
Position B |  Change Backwards, B to A |  Change Backwards, B to 1 |  Position 1 | |||
Change Transquarter Movements from Position 1,2,3 and 4Explanation | C, CF, CB, CT, Non-Change, Horizontal/Vertical |
 Position 1 |  Change Transquarter, 1 to C |  Position C | ||||
 Position 2 |  Change Transquarter, 2 to D |  Change Transquarter, 2 to D |  Position D | |||
 Position 3 |  Change Transquarter, 3 to A |  Position A | ||||
 Position 4 |  Change Transquarter, 4 to B |  Position B | ||||
Change Plane Movements from Positions A,B,C and DExplanation | C, CF, CB, CT, Non-Change, Horizontal/Vertical |
 Position A |  Change, A to 1 |  Change, A to 1 |  Position 1 | |||
 Position B |  Change, B to 2 |  Position 2 | ||||
 Position C |  Change, C to 3 |  Position 3 | ||||
 Position D |  Change, D to 4 |  Change, D to 4 |  Position 4 | |||
Change Forward Movements from Positions A,B,C and DExplanation | C, CF, CB, CT, Non-Change, Horizontal/Vertical |
 Position A |  Change Forwards, A to 2 |  Change Forwards A to 2 |  Position 2 | |||
Position 2 |  Change Forwards, 2 to C |  Change Forwards, 2 to C |  Position C | |||
Position C |  Change Forwards, C to 4 |  Change Forwards, C to 4 |  Position 4 | |||
Position 4 |  Change Forwards, 4 to A |  Position A | ||||
Change Backward Movements from Positions A,B,C and DExplanation | C, CF, CB, CT, Non-Change, Horizontal/Vertical |
 Position A |  Change Backwards, A to 4 |  Change Backwards A to 4 |  Position 4 | |||
Position 4 |  Change Backwards, 4 to C |  Change Backwards, 4 to C |  Position C | |||
Position C |  Change Backwards, C to 2 |  Position 2 | ||||
Position 2 |  Change Backwards, 2 to A |  Position A | ||||
Change Transqrter Movements from Positions A,B,C and DExplanation | C, CF, CB, CT, Non-Change, Horizontal/Vertical |
 Position A |  Change Transquarter, A to 3 |  Position 3 | ||||
 Position B |  Change Transquarter, B to 4 |  Position 4 | ||||
 Position C |  Change Transquarter, C to 1 |  Position 1 | ||||
 Position D |  Change Transquarter, D to 2 |  Change Transquarter D to 2 |  Position 2 | |||
Dance of Shiva movements
Forward (F) Movements Explained
Any "Movement" in the Dance of Shiva takes the arm from one position to another position without passing any other points. This post shows all the Forward Movements. The forward movements are the same for both the left hand and the right hand. For the sake of space I'm only showing one side.
Each row of pictures above represents one Forward movement. So the movement from Position 1 to Position 2 is one forward movement. The movement from Position 2 to Position 3 is another.
These are all Forward movements in the Horizontal Plane. We can also do Forward movements in the Vertical Plane. Positions in the Vertical Plane are designated with letters as opposed to numbers. So a Forward movement in the Vertical plane can take us from A to B or from B to C etc.
A sequence of 4 forward movements done one after the other in the Horizontal plane will take you from Position 1 to Position 2 to Position 3 to Position 4 and then back to Position 1. Or you can start from Position 2 and after doing 4 movements end up back at Position 2 again.
Likewise 4 sequential forward movements done in the vertical plane starting a Position A take us from there to Position B, to Position C to Position D and back to A again. And we can start from any of the other 3 positions.
I won't show it in this post but using both arms, we can move both arms forwards from position 1-1 (where the left arm and right arm are both in position 1) to 2-2 and then form there to 3-3 etc. We can also start the arms in different positions. So if the left arm is in position 2 and the right arm is in position 3 we can then move forward from Position 2-3 to Position 3-4 etc.
Back to Forward Movements
Backward (B) Movements Explained
ance of Shiva isn't so much a dance as it is a set of "Conscious Movement" exercises. We do these movements with our mind and our body at the same time. In other words, we are aware of what our body is doing. Or at least that is what these exercises are for, to help us become aware of what we are doing. These exercises are also a way of helping us to become aware of what we can do. We learn to see what is possible instead of looking at why something is not possible.
This post shows one of the 8 basic movements of the Dance of Shiva. A movement takes the arm from one arm position to another arm position without going through any of the other positions along the way. It's the "direct route" that connects any two arm positions.
What are the positions? Well in the Dance of Shiva there are 8 Positions for each arm. There are 4 positions where the palm is held horizontal and 4 with the palm vertical and facing outwards. So there are 8 positions in all for each arm. Using both arms there are 64 but we'll get more into that later.
Part of the goal of the Dance of Shiva is to learn how to connect a point with all of the other points. So with 8 positions there are 8 other positions to go to (including itself) and so that means 8 basic movements. The Backwards Movement is one of those movements.
The Backward movement takes the arm from Position 1 to Position 4. Another Backward movement takes the arm from Position 4 to Position 3 and so on. The same movements in the Vertical Plane take the arm from Position A to Position D and from D to Position C etc.
If you look at the pictures above, each row of pictures represents one Backward Movement. There are four Backward movements in the Horizontal Plane and four in the Vertical Plane. So there are 8 backward movements in all.
Back to Backward Movements
Tranquarter (T) Movements Explained
Most of the times that I type Transquarter my spell checker underlines it in red. I guess the term hasn't made itself into the public subconscious as of yet. Not to worry, here is one entry of said term into the light. It's a way of moving from one point to another point that isn't a Forward Movement or a Backward Movement. It's sort of like a shortcut between two points which you would normally need two Consecutive Forward Movements or two Consecutive Backwards Movements to move between. So instead of going from A to C via B (Forwards from Position A to Position B and then Forwards again to Position C) we can go straight there via a Transquarter... or a Jump.
So why not call it a jump movement instead? Well, the guy who invented this exercise decided to call it that. And it does sound kind of cool.
Now notice that each row as usual corresponds to one complete Transquarter movement. Unlike Forward or Backward Movements if we continuously do Transquarter movements we only keep moving between the same two points. So they aren't that much fun to do unless we somehow combine them with other movements. One way we can do that is to do a Forward Movement and then a Transquarter and then a Forward movement and then a Transquarter. Repeat this set of movements four times (for a total of eight movements) and we return to whence we came.
e.g.
from 1 to 2, (Forwards)
from 2 to 4, (Transquarter)
from 4 to 1, (Forwards) (we're not there yet because we have to do a Forwards and a Transquarter)
from 1 to 3, (Transquarter)
from 3 to 4, (Forwards)
from 4 to 2, (Transquarter)
from 2 to 3, (Forwards)
from 3 to 1.... (the final Transquarter) and so we return from whence we came.
Back to Transquarter Movements
Change Plane (C) Movements Explained
Up until now all the movements we've learned are in the same plane. The Forwards, Backwards and Transquarter movement all take the arm from one position to another position in the same plane. So for example the Forwards movement takes the arm from Position A to Position B, both of which are in the Vertical Plane. The Backwards movement might be used to take the arm from Position 1 to Position 4, both of which are in the Horiozntal Plane.
The Change Plane Movement is the first movement that takes the arm from a position in the Horizontal Plane to a position in the Vertical Plane and vice versa. It takes the arm from a Position in one plane to the Corresponding position in the other plane.
In this case, Position A in the Vertical Plane corresponds to Position 1 in the Horizontal Plane (and vice versa), Position B corresponds to Position 2, Position C corresponds to Position 3, Position D corresponds to Position 4. Like the Transquarter Movement a sequence of Change Plane movements only takes the arm back and forwards between two points. So if we did a Change Plane movement starting in Position A, we would go to Position 1, then to Position A then to Position 1 again etc.
Back to Change Plane Movements
Change Forward (CF) Movements Explained
The Change Forward Movement is the second movement we can use to change planes. It is like doing a Change Plane Movement and a Forwards Movement together where the Change Plane movement takes the arm to the corresponding position in the other plane while the Forward movement takes the arm to the next position in the same plane.
Where a Change Plane might just go from A to 1, the Change Forward Movement goes from Position A to Position 2, then from Position 2 to Position C, then from Position C to Position 4 and then from Position 4 back to Position A. So like the Forwards movement (or the Backward movement) a sequence of Change Forward Movements can be done so that the arm travels a loop of four points, alternating planes during each movement.
Back to Change Forward Movements
Change Backward (CB) Movements Explained
The Change Backward Movement is the reverse of the Change Forward Movement. Where the Change Forward movement combines a Change Plane movement with
a Forward Movement the Change Backward movement is a combination of a Change Plane and a Backward movement... So starting from Position A we would go
to Position 4, then to Position C to Position 2 and then back to Position A again. Here again we have the possibility of a repeated movement taking the arm
continuously through 4 positions, one after the other.
Back to Change Backwards Movements
Change Transquarter (CT) Movements Explained
Change Transquarters take the arm between two non-adjacent points in different planes. They connect the following pairs of points:
Position A and Position 3
Position B and Position 4
Position C and Position 1
Position D and Position 2
Unlike Change Forward or Change Backward Movements Change Transquarters done continuously will only jump between the same two points. So from A to 3 to A to 3...
Back to Change Transquarter Movements
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