He manawa tō tātou – We are all heart.
In te reo Māori, manawa means heart, but it’s more than just an organ — it’s our breath, our life force, our emotional and spiritual core. At Manawa, we honour this deeply rooted meaning by creating spaces where we can return to our heartbeat — both literally and metaphorically.

Through ecstatic dance, we reconnect to the manawa — the sacred rhythm within us and between us. It’s a space to listen, to move from intuition, to express what words can’t hold. When we dance, we feel he manawa o te tangata — the heartbeat of the people — rising, pulsing, uniting.

Manawa invites us to return. To breathe. To feel. To dance.
Together.

At Manawa, we believe that play is not a luxury — it's essential to being human. Through Ecstatic Dance, we create a rare space where adults can reconnect with their innate sense of wonder, freedom, and joy. In a world that often demands seriousness and control, dancing without judgment becomes a powerful act of remembering: remembering how to be fully alive, how to heal through movement, and how to love life again. Play isn’t just for the young — it’s for anyone ready to come home to themselves.

Life can feel like a constant scroll — full of noise, pressure, and endless expectations. We rush around doing all the things, ticking boxes, chasing deadlines... and somewhere along the way, we forget what it feels like to simply be in our bodies. To feel joy. To be real. To be free.

That’s why Ecstatic Dance matters so much to me — and to so many others.

It’s not just a dance floor. It’s a playground for the soul. A place where we get to drop the masks, ditch the small talk, and remember who we are underneath it all. We don’t come to perform — we come to feel. To move from instinct, from emotion, from the deepest parts of ourselves that rarely get to speak.

Dance is one of the most ancient forms of self-expression and communication. Across cultures and throughout history, people have danced to celebrate, heal, express emotions, and connect with the divine.

Ecstatic dance is more than just movement to music; it’s a profound practice of self-expression, healing, and connection that has roots in ancient traditions and has evolved into a global phenomenon.