ABOUT
“Take me by the hands
And crack me wide open
So my heart can lead me the way”
(Caroline S’Jegers)
CAROLINE S’JEGERS
Embodied Trainer | Ecstatic DJ | Birth Keeper | Poetess in Motion
Caroline S’Jegers, founder of ‘ícaro – roots to create‘, plus co-founder of Heart of The Dance and Ecstatic Dance Belgium, is a passionate movement and sound whisperer. She roots herself in ritual, uses music as poetry and listens to the spaces between the words:
“On the dance floor – as in life – the mystery unfolds…”
Caroline’s soundscapes can be described in three words: touching, deep and soulful.
As a psychologist (BA) and a cultural anthropologist (MSc), Caroline has absorbed herself for many years in the deeper-lying healing aspects of dance across cultures. In the past, she used to work as a freelance (travel) writer and photographer for mindful magazines. By interweaving Theatre of Freedom and constellation work into her art, Caroline feels inspired to bring social awareness around global issues.
Together with Tom Goldhand and Léon Beckx, Caroline supports the constant growing Ecstatic and Conscious Dance community‘s – and this through their organization of Heart of the Dance. In their trainings and retreats, located mainly in and around Amsterdam (The Netherlands), they co-create opportunities for diving deeper into our listening bodies, our practical skills plus our intuitive knowledge.
For over 12 years now, Caroline has been working as a Conscious Dance entrepreneur and organizer – supporting people from a diversity of backgrounds (from evolutionary agents to dancing hippies to street children, prostitutes and war sufferers) through the healing power of dance, movement and awareness. About 9 years ago, she co-founded Ecstatic Dance Belgium – running weekly dances in 4 different Belgian cities together with 4 other colleagues, who have now expanded their own work into the world. She also co-created together with many wonderful artists such as Carrie Tree, Mirabai Ceiba, Rising Appalachia, The Human Experience, Kaya Project, Ayla Nereo, Ayla Schafer, Danit, Nessi Gomes and many more. Caroline worked for Ecstatic Dance and for Conscious Clubs in Amsterdam for many years as well. Besides this, she has been teaching and DJ’ing in many different countries – meeting a variety of cultures and dancing styles, from India to Mexico, and from Europe to the States. After all these years of experience, Caroline feels proud to be acknowledged as one of the first female Ecstatic DJ’s in Europe and beyond, having received an established place in the conscious dance and music scene.
Caroline loves to weave poetry through her musical sets, taking people on a journey – connected to what is alive in the space and in the moment. In her ‘Poetry in Motion’, she invites us to listen to the spaces in between the words – and to hum, dance or sing along.
* Skin to earth. Breath of life. Roots of joy. *
Caroline was initiated into motherhood twice – giving free births in their yurt while still living in permaculture community De Weegbree, accompanied by her husband Josse Horsten (who works as a food forest designer). Together with their two sons, they are currently traveling on a search for a new place to land. Caroline sees it as her mission to bring the dance back to the land, while supporting community life to flourish again with deepening respect for and in relation to our Mother Earth…
We are living in a time of great transition: as a human species, we are being confronted with natural disasters that are mainly being created by our own actions. It’s as if we are collectively moving through a re-birthing process, (often) unaware of our own contractions. By fighting against our own pain, we experience (even) more pain. And by numbing ourselves, we cannot allow for what wants to be born through us, to fully integrate. We treat our own body the way we treat the earth: we over-consume, rape, ignore, control, manipulate and overwhelm our own systems. Yet, the darkest hour of the night is the hour before the sun sets…
With a deep desire for community and connection, more and more people are calling out for new and passionate initiatives. Ecstatic Dances are shooting up like mushrooms! The dance creates a safe/brave space where we can (re)connect ourselves to life – through body, mind and heart.
“Let everything into you – beauty and terror.” (Rainer Maria Rilke)
While dancing, I learned that the only way out, is through. Moreover, there is no way out! From the moment I enter the dance floor, I am in. From the moment I have been born on this earth, I have been a full participant of life. By allowing myself to feel both the terror and the beauty, I am constantly re-birthing myself into being. I am not saying this is easy.
The process of birthing is raw, unexpected and savage. It changes and opens us to the bones. It can – in the blink of an eye – shake all that you knew to be truth. It can also feel like dying, tearing you wide apart, again and again. And only if we allow for transformation to take place, does it show us its mysterious beauty. It asks of us to take action, from a place of embodied presence and radical responsibility. And in this sense, Ecstatic and Conscious Dance practices can be places of deep initiation…
“Dance and music are my most reliable sources for healing and support. Every time I listen to music that truly moves me, I sense transformation taking place within and around me. I describe DJ’s as musical doulas or midwives – because through our craft, we can support not only ourselves, but also others on our soulful journeys…”
🔥
“Know you are alive
Know only this: you are alive”
(Caroline S’Jegers)
Looking forward to meeting you on the dance floor called Life! 🧡🙏
* The meaning of “ícaro”: magic or alchemy.
** Rooted in soulful creation. Dancing into connection.
❧❧❧
(First photo by Ilse Wolf, second photo by Linda Croonen)