Astrid Knipping, Seuzach, Switzerland

Where did you first learn about dance meditation?

It was a major event, an afternoon of peace dances in Wetzikon, Switzerland. I had once taken a short course in liturgy and dance, where I was introduced to some of Friedel Kloke-Eibl’s dances. And now Friedel was coming to Switzerland—an opportunity to experience her in person, as well as her daughters Saskia Kloke and Nanni Kloke.
It was very moving for me to see how Friedel managed to create a spiritual intensity with around 200 people in a gymnasium. Above all, the dances set to songs by Joanne Shenandoah touched me deeply. It was immediately clear to me: I want to pursue this path, and I want to do so intensively.

Have you since found a way to further deepen your meditation through dance?

Yes, Heidi Hafen’s Monday dance classes have become a regular part of my daily routine. The way she teaches and conveys dances exudes, to me, a deep love—and a great deal of expertise. And so the desire grew within me to take the plunge and train to become an MdT instructor, and I am fortunate to be experiencing this training right now with Friedel Kloke-Eibl and Saskia Kloke—which makes me extraordinarily happy….

Has dancing changed anything in your life?

What a question—I can’t help but laugh! Of course things have changed: I dance and dance and dance.
No, seriously. As a theologian, I’m familiar with various ways of experiencing spirituality. For me, the meditation of dance is—and increasingly will be—my very own way of discovering inner worlds more and more deeply and sharing them with others. For me, the meditation of dance is worship in the very best sense of the word:
Service to life,
Service to peace,
Service to love for all that lives.

Is there a dance and/or a choreography that is particularly important to you?

That’s a very difficult question—because I love all of them. By the way, I also take great joy in Saskia Kloke’s dances—they are, in a special way, a path of meditation for me. You could ask me every day—and perhaps I’d name a different dance each day. And yet: One dance that is quite typical and very fitting for me expresses so much of what is a strong inner need for me, a calling perhaps. When encountering people who are grieving, who are experiencing great suffering, I want to be by their side. To bear the burden with them, simply to endure alongside them whatever must be endured at that moment.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened ”—that is Jesus’ word on the matter. And so, for me as an emergency chaplain, the dance “Promise” is very meaningful: Aligning myself with the center, I seek balance, cross my legs, step forward with my heart’s leg, center myself with the gesture, straighten up, and endure the tension that expands as I continue walking—the heart expands.

Is there anything that is essential to you or your life that you’d like to share with us—such as a vision, an idea, an image, a song, or a piece of writing?

Some people stick magnets of their vacation destinations on their fridge. On mine, there’s this quote by Yehuda Amichai:

In the place where we are right,
flowers will never bloom in the spring

The place where we are right—
— is trampled and hard as a courtyard.

But doubt and love
loosen the world
like a mole, like a plow.
And a whisper becomes audible
at the spot where the house stood,
which was destroyed.

This text by the German-Israeli poet has been with me for
several years now and, for me, embodies the idea of being on a journey.
The path of dance meditation is also a path that continues onward—who knows, perhaps even further into other dimensions, into other worlds.
And on this path, doubt is at home—and so is love.

Thank you so much, Astrid, for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us!