Dance The Medicine • Conscious Dance Facilitator Training • Spring

Have you ever attended a conscious dance event and wondered how such a powerful and cohesive sense of community is created?

That deep group field doesn’t happen by accident. It’s created through the steady attention and devoted presence of an embodied facilitator—someone who weaves practical skills with intuitive guidance to lead dancers into the journey, stay present with them throughout, and gently guide them back out again in a way that supports grounding and integration.

In our vibrant learning community, you’ll learn proven somatic tools and embodiment techniques to integrate into your existing skill set, all within an atmosphere of fun, support, and collaboration. Our teaching team includes facilitators from diverse backgrounds and modalities, all of whom have many years of training and practical, on-the-dance-floor experience.​

Whether you're a dancer, event organizer, DJ, therapist, yoga teacher, breathwork facilitator, or other wellness professional, you’ll leave equipped to guide transformative dance experiences.

For full details about the training, visit out website here.

This training is ideal for...

• Passionate dancers eager to deepen their involvement in Ecstatic Dance.

• Conscious dance event organizers seeking to enhance participants' experiences.

• Ecstatic DJs who want to facilitate their own DJ sets.

• Therapists & psychologists looking to integrate movement-based practices with clients.

• Leaders & professionals who want to confidently guide others through dance.

• Wellness professionals looking to deepen their connection to embodiment & dance.

• Experienced dance facilitators seeking to expand their skills & find fresh inspiration.

This version of our facilitator training is taught in-person. If you would rather take the online training, click here.

A Professional Education
Delivered by a team of experienced conscious dance organizers, facilitators, and DJs.

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10 Comprehensive Modules A comprehensive 10-module curriculum featuring three 3-hour pre-training video recordings, a 7-day immersive in-person experience with participants from around the world, and a 3-hour live Zoom session with your cohort and our team after the training.

Practical Assignments
To help you stay engaged and apply your knowledge so that your education can be applied in your life.

Ongoing Community Support
Stay connected with classmates, continue discussions, and share resources via community groups and free monthly calls.

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Digital Manual

A 200+ page Dance Facilitator Manual & Workbook in PDF format. This manual is a vital part of the learning made available for printing to be used throughout the training to capture ideas, inspiration, and key learnings.

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Graduation Certificate You will receive a certificate of completion recognizing your accomplishment. For those who wish to continue their education with us and pursue professional certification as a DTM Certified Dance Facilitator, this certificate counts toward the required education hours.

Full details about the training, including an overview of the curriculium, can be found on the training page on our website

The full tuition price for this training is €1,795.​

We offer work trade and scholarship opportunities for those seeking financial support or deeper involvement in the training. For more information, click here.

Quinta São José dos Montes is a retreat centre in central Portugal, surrounded by mountains and just a short walk from Castelo do Bode Lake. The venue offers fresh, locally sourced vegetarian meals and a range of accommodation options, from cosy rooms in the main building to nature-immersed domes and camping on the farm. Whether you prefer comfort and convenience or a deeper connection with nature, the centre provides an inspiring setting for rest, learning, and renewal. Read more about the venue here.

Accommodation and meals are booked separately from tuition and come as an "add-on package" that includes a full meal plan, access to on-site amenities and supply fees. Options start at €375.

ON THE LAND• Camping/Camper Van • €375

Self-sufficient? We provide a nice space for your accommodation set-up and access to shared toilets. PLEASE NOTE There is no electrical hook-up for campers

IN MAIN BUILDING • Dormitory • €425

A single bed in a dorm with up to 7 others, shared indoor bathroom facilities. Bedding, towel, and locker provided.

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ON THE LAND • Dome • Shared Double • €550

A single bed in a dome shared with 1 other. Nearby dry toilets, outdoor sinks, and hot showers. Access to a shared kitchen. Bedding & towel provided.

IN MAIN BUILDING • Room • Shared Double • €650

A single bed in a room shared with 1 other. The room has an en-suite bathroom. Access to a shared kitchen. Bedding & towel provided.

IN MAIN BUILDING • Room • Private €900

Your own well appointed private room with a double bed, a private en-suite bathroom and seating area w/access to a shared kitchen. Bedding & towel provided.

ON THE LAND • Deluxe Dome • Private €900

A double bed in a deluxe dome with an ensuite bathroom and in-room bathtub. Access to a shared kitchen. Bedding & towel provided. Wood burner heat.

IN MAIN BUILDING • Apartment • Private €975

Your own studio apartment with a double bed. Full private bathroom (with bathtub) and kitchen. Bedding & towel provided.

After booking and paying your deposit our student liaison will assist you in selecting accommodation. For any questions prior to booking, please email [email protected] or see the FAQs below.

BERNICE RAABIS • Founder of Dance The Medicine Bernice is on a mission to spread conscious dance communities across the globe. In 2011, she founded Dance Church, a long-running and wildly successful conscious dance in the vibrant mountain town of Nelson, BC, Canada. There, she DJed and facilitated weekly, weaving epic soundscapes into transformative dance experiences that support freedom through connection to self, community, and humanity. In 2019, she set out to gather an epic team of conscious dance professionals, and the Dance The Medicine Team was born, dedicated to providing embodied conscious dance education.

Bernice is a certified Soul Motion facilitator, a student of the Tamalpa Institute, and a relational somatic therapist. Her work is deeply grounded in embodiment, community building, and supporting her students to deliver the specific type of dance medicine they feel called to bring into the world.

To read more about Bernice click here.

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ALEX SEVILLA • Ecstatic Dance Madrid & Co Teacher in the DTM DJ School
After more than two decades behind the decks as a club DJ, Alex stumbled upon conscious dance—and everything changed. The encounter transformed both his personal life and professional path. He soon left his career as a computer engineer to become a conscious dance entrepreneur, now dedicated to sharing his love for dance, music, and embodied awareness with the world.

Each time we welcome special guests from the DTM team, who have real-world experience and many years in the ecstatic dance scene, to share their unique approach and skills so you can learn directly from the best. Our DTM team includes:

ESTA POLYESTA • Global Ecstatic Dance DJ & Dance Facilitator & Resident DJ @ Ecstatic Dance Goa

​FABIO FREDDI • Founder of Ecstatic Dance Italy & Ecstatic Dance DJ & Facilitator

SOPHIE AUBER • Ecstatic Dance Montpellier & Ecstatic Dance Gathering France Founder

ÉADAOIN NÍ CHALLARÁIN • Open Floor Facilitator and Co-founder of WILD
Click here for a complete list of our team.

The full tuition price of the training (not including accomodation) is €1,795.

A 100 CA$ non-refundable deposit is required to secure your place (on Eventbrite). All deposits are non refundable if cancellation is on your side. Once you make the deposit, our team will contact you within 48 hours to confirm your enrollment and set up the payment plan for your remaining balance. Full payment is due 15 days before the training starts. Please carefully read our Event Terms & Conditions here.

Is this the training you have been looking for? You can register here or by reserving your spot on Eventbrite with a 100 CA$ deposit fee. After booking, we will contact you about setting up a payment plan for the remaining balance.

If you have any questions before registering, you can check the FAQ at the bottom of this page and on our website. You can also send us an email at [email protected], and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

We are always on hand if you any questions or queries, you can email us at [email protected] or book a discovery call with Bernice here. We look forward to being a part of your conscious dance education!

With love,

Bernice and the Dance The Medicine Team

Info: Explore the science of dance/movement and its intersection with the body-mind connection.
Learn why dance and music are so effective at creating meaningful community experiences and how to harness this potential. Uncover your unique leadership skill set and create a plan to incorporate somatic methods and embodiment techniques.

Info: Explore the role of the facilitator, from the moment they walk into a venue until they walk back out again.
Move from the theoretical to the practical; discuss what is necessary to contain the spiritual, physical, emotional, and intellectual dance space in real-life, tangible ways.
Learn no-nonsense methods to deal with the everyday joys and struggles that are common in conscious dances (e.g., how to encourage people to remain non-verbal).

Info: Explore the foundational role of facilitation, which is to hold a reverent opening and closing while steering the collective experience during the dance journey. Gain tangible skills to stay grounded and present, even when things don’t go as planned. Learn practical ways to prepare your facilitation ideas and create timelines.

Info: Introduction to DTM's 5 Pathways. Dive into Body Exploration, the most straightforward of the pathways. Learn ways to explicitly draw attention to body parts, movements, sensations, and impulses—aka "getting dancers into the body."

Info: Explore the second pathway, integrating body and mind by embodying emotions and key themes through dance. Use shared human experiences to encourage connection, coherence, and community. Link emotions to sensations, postures, and movements—the foundation of embodiment.

Info: Tap into the realm of imagination to move beyond time, space, and abilities. Learn visualization techniques that encourage dancers to translate their visions into expressive physical movement.
Facilitation that ignites imagination, while leaving the perfect amount of space for dancers to fill in the blanks.

Info: Explore social activation, its vital role in collective action, and the universal need for human connection. Examine the comfortable and uncomfortable aspects of social activation, acknowledging the need for both in a healthy community. Facilitators as community leaders, encouraging non-political community action.

Info: Demystify the base meaning of the word "ritual" and apply it to the act of facilitation. Use gestures, words, actions, and/or objects within sequences to create meaningful experiences and connections between community members. Get real and learn to ritualize without religious dogma or cultural appropriation.

Info: Integrate learnings from the six days in Portugal. Review in-person experience, extract foundational principles, and receive post-training assignment. Graduation ceremony.

Info: A check in on how your integration process is going. Ask any follow-up questions since the end of your training. Get a clear overview of what Level 02 involves & decide if it's the next step for you.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

SOC. AGRICULTURAL FARM SAN JOSE MONTES LDA., Quinta Sao Jose Dos montes, Abrantes, Portugal

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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