Women, Rhythm & Ritual – Barbara Gail

Women's Circle Dance at the Summer Solstice, 2015

Women, Rhythm & Ritual: Summer Solstice

Join Barbara Gail & a circle of women in ceremony & celebration, with inspiring Circle Dance, SongChant, & a Healing Drum Temple. A special, mid-point of the year participatory event that welcomes all women & teen girls.

In a flowing ritual of music & movement that assists in healing, clearing, & re-emerging, we embrace the archetype of Yemaya, Mother Goddess of the Sea, seeking her Water’s Reflection for InSight on the blessings of the past, the beauty of each moment, &…

re-envisioning our future.

Please check my Calendar Page for details on the next upcoming Summer Solstice! And to learn how to bring this beautiful program to your venue or gathering, please contact Barbara.

DrumRise! Prepares to Perform at the Winter Solstice, 2015, photo JoEllyn Bavosa

Winter Solstice: Enter Darkness, Return to Light (welcome Men & Women)

Join Barbara Gail for a memorable & meaningful participatory event that honors the the longest night of the year & the growing daylight. We’ll clear away the old & that which no longer serves, preparing fresh ground for the garden of new intentions. Bless the past, gift ourselves the present, envision the future.

Together we’ll descend into & sit in silent darkness, like seeds dreaming underground…

then emerge & bring forth the light, joining hearts & hands in a Celebration of Life!

The evening’s passage can be for women & teen girls only, or can welcome men. Led by Barbara Gail, it can include silent as well as guided meditation, candlelight ceremony, SongChant, drumming accompaniment, & LightDancers.

Please check my Calendar Page for details on the next upcoming Winter Solstice! To learn how to bring this beautiful program to your venue or gathering, please contact me, I’d be happy to speak with you!

“So many elements & components intersected for a beautiful, meditative, introspective, connecting, sensory evening.”
~ Sandra C

“Thanks for the digging, composting, lyrical heart-opening celebration of dark to light. Loved it & love you! “
~ Cheryl W

“It was wonderful in so many ways. The processionals, meditation, songs, dancers, candle lighting, instrumentation, lights, sand, water, sunset, & the interaction between the performers & participants. You did a fantastic job. You were inspirational, ethereal, & dramatic, with a sense of rhythm, pace, texture, timing, inflection, enunciation, word coloring & interpretation. You were meditative,thoughtful, & thought- provoking, competent, considerate, compassionate. You conveyed a sense of tranquility to your listeners & observers. Your personal pulse was on everything. It was a captivating, memorable program & I was happy to be a part of it. Thanks for you competency, expertise, guidance & direction!”
~ Sandra C

Greek Priestesses with Frame Drums, circa 420 BCE

Women, Rhythm & Ritual: New Moon & Full Moon Temples for Women

Went to the drum temple in January & loved it!! I was transformed by the beat of the drum into the sacred space of the ancestors that came before us. Good for the heart & the soul! Look forward to it again tonight! ~ Linda Nelson

Whether a dark, moonless sky, or a bright full moon night, it’s the perfect time for women to gather in a circle to ReSet, ReStore, ReCenter, ReVise, & ReNew.

Enter your Women’s Temple & tap into the magic of Rhythmic Wisdom! Experience a Rhythmic Clearing Meditation, InnerVision DrumJourney, Healing Drum Temple, & InPowering Drum Circle, all led by Barbara Gail.

The first known & named female drummer was Lipushiau, the highest ranking Priestess in the city-state of Ur, in Mesopotamia, around 2380 BCE…

Throughout the Ancient Mediterranean World, the drummers were predominantly women. Sacred drumming was one of the primary skills of Priestesses, who used the beats of their frame drums to rouse community consciousness & attain spiritual awareness for healing & divination.

Inspired by these women & adding a contemporary twist, Barbara Gail facilitates a unique meditative experience of individual activation in a shared ritual of rhythm, sound, & movement, raising our collective vibration & altering consciousness for healing. Rooted in the belly of the beat, her Drum, Voice, Heart, & Spirit are your guides in connecting you with your Ancient Future.

Inspired by the rhythmic cycles of the Sun, Moon, & Stars, each month’s Temple Experience holds a new theme for personal InPowerment, inner healing, deep connection, & love-olution .

She is a visionary in the community, leading empowering circles of drummers. ~ Jo Mooy

That evening changed my life! You said we have the power. I’d been dealing with health issues, so I took that empowerment to heart, taking my healing into my own hands. I changed my diet & lifestyle, I even carry my healing stones in my pocket every day! Thank you! ~ Gina

Barbara Gail’s New Moon Drum Temples are powerful. You leave feeling much more balanced & connected. ~ Carol Hall

What a special evening indeed! Thank you so much Barbara Gail for all your effort in creating a beautiful, moving, & healing ceremony. ~ Christine

I have to tell you how much I loved the meditation last Friday. I was transported…. My visuals were vivid, I completely forgot I was stepping…. Your drumming was the mode of transportation for my inner spirit. All of it was divine. Thank you for sharing your gift. ~ Jan Harmon

What to Bring & What to Wear changes with each Temple; check my Calendar for updates, as well as Facebook.

Looking forward to seeing you, let’s release The Power of the Feminine Heart & Spirit!

To find out how to bring this program to your venue or gathering, please contact me. I look forward to speaking with you!

Moonrise: Daughters of an Ancient Pulse, Summer Solstice, Portland, Maine, 1999

Women, Rhythm & Ritual: The Tambourine in the Layne Redmond Tradition

I had no idea how much fun it is to play the tambourine until the sacred instruction and ceremony today!!! 🙏💕💚🦢 ~ Lynn, New Mexico, online event, 2022

The tambourine is much more than what we see & hear in popular music, which simply hits it to make the cymbals ring. But this jingled frame drum is actually a powerful, trance-inducing instrument, steeped in a rich, spiritual women’s herstory for use in ceremonial procession, & unifying the community in celebration. From cool jingle rolls to mesmerizing rhythms, there’s so much sound from one small drum!

A contemporary twist on an ancient women’s tradition, this beginner drum class is

infused with rhythm, ritual, sacred feminine space, sisterhood, beauty, & meditative, healing drum magic. Some of the herstory of the tambourine will be touched upon.

Appropriate for inspired teen girls & women of all ages. No musical experience needed.

Can be a combined program. Possibilities include a When the Drummers Were Women: a Spiritual Herstory of Rhythm slide show performance & presentation; a public procession with workshop participants as Moonrise: Daughters of an Ancient Pulse; a Tambourine Drum Workshop; any aspect of Barbara’s Women’s Moon Temples such as a Healing Drum Temple, Rhythmic Clearing Meditation, InnerVision DrumJourney, In-Powering Drum Circle, Spiral Song SongChants, & more.

Please check my Calendar Page to find out when the next Workshop is! To learn how to bring this program to your venue or gathering, please contact me. I’d be happy to hear from you!

BG with Her Frame Drum at the Torhousekie Stone Circle, Wigtown, Scotland, Her Husband's Ancestral Lands

Women, Rhythm & Ritual: The Frame Drum in The Layne Redmond Tradition

I learned so much from you & can’t thank you enough for activating my DNA & reminding me of the deep importance of being united in sisterhood & ceremony. The enjoyment of Music & Rhythm has been reborn within me. ~ Kylee, Southern Sierra Goddess Gathering 2019

The simple frame drum is the most universal drum on the planet. It’s also a powerful, trance-inducing instrument steeped in a rich, spiritual women’s herstory that was used in ceremonial procession & community-unifying celebration throughout the Ancient Mediterranean World.

A beginner drum workshop to learn the basic strokes of the frame drum, rhythm patterns, & some of its ancient herstory,

enhanced with contemporary ritual in sacred feminine space that’s infused with sisterhood, beauty, & meditative, healing drum magic.

Appropriate for inspired teen girls & women of all ages. No musical experience needed.

Please check my Calendar Page to find out when the next Workshop is. To learn how to bring this program to your venue or gathering, please contact me. I’d be happy to hear from you!

Lend Me your Eyes & Ears, Change what you See & Hear

Women, Rhythm & Ritual: SpiralSong SongChants

Sing yourself into YES! A radical re-start button, where the power of positive affirmation meets rhythmic chant. SpiralSong utilizes the concepts of supportive self-talk, joyful communal singing, compassionate sisterhood, repetitive mantra, & pranayama (breath), literally giving voice to our heart’s true inner wisdom of love & light. Awaken into a calm yet energized space of empowered positivity in mind, body, & spirit.

Why sing? The drum is the most primal, the dance is the most intimate, & the voice is the most personal. When we’re singing, so much is happening…

First, we’re deeply breathing, oxygenating the body & the brain. Secondly, music has the unique ability to bi-pass the mind & go directly to the heart, where inner transformation can occur.

SpiralSong uses what Barbara Gail calls SongChant, an art form that groups words into easily learned & poignant phrases, setting them to easily learned & repetitive melody. Most SongChants are original songs created by women. SongChant can deliver us into a calm & awakened state, where magic & miracles can manifest!

Singing in this way is nothing new. For 5000 years, yogis have sung their way to bliss in their kirtan experiences. St. Augustine said, “When we sing, we pray twice.” The beauty of SongChant is that no singing or musical experience is needed in order to sing yourself into your YES!

Change your voice, change your thoughts. Change your thoughts, change your mind. Change your mind, change your perspective. Change your perspective, change your outlook. Change your outlook, change your actions. Change your actions, change your life!

Learning & embodying these SongChants, you’ll discover a new inner theme song & fresh soundtrack for each moment of every day you encounter.

“When you focus only on what works, only on what’s good, only on what you appreciate, only on what you love, only on what you’re grateful for, your life will be an opulent palace!” — Karol Avalon, Producer, Oceans of Gratitude Cruise Retreats

This WomanSong event welcomes women of all ages, & inspired teen girls. It can meet as a regularly scheduled circle, be combined with other sister circles or events, or booked for a one-time program.

Women, Rhythm & Ritual: Dance Your Soul Free

move the body
still the mind
heal the heart
rock the spirit
stir the soul
root in the drumbeat
open emotions
shift patterns
dive into oceans
fly on the wind…

release the fire
melt into earth
surrender to emptiness
be held by the tribe
trust the process…
become your breath
embody your being
connect to your essence…
from perspiration
to inspiration,
lose yourself
to find yourself
in infinite love
& limitless possibilities
~ Barbara Gail, Dance Your Soul Free…

Everything — including us — is energy, always moving in waves, patterns, rhythms. Barbara Gail, alchemist of the arts, blends rhythm, ritual, movement, dance, sound, & music, in deep & transformative ways. A natural teacher & leader, she’s 3rd-Level Certified in JourneyDance™, is 200-Hour Yoga Certified, & is Certified & Licensed in Kidding Around Yoga™.

Earlier in life she shifted focus from university-level dance study & performance, to immerse in the Rhythm Waves dance practice of her teacher, The Late Gabrielle Roth; & Ritual Drumming with the Late Layne Redmond. In 1993 she began facilitating groups to surrender to the beat & dance their souls free, & went on to lead workshops & ongoing weekly Rhythm Wave classes throughout Maine for a over a decade.

Barbara spins memorable, music-&-movement-based vision quests. Fully guided & facilitated, she builds playlists of inspiring recorded music, leading groups in improvisational movement & creative visualization in a deeply supportive, safe & sacred space. This hypnotic container can momentarily transport us into a profound & integrated experience of ourselves. Here is an opportunity to catalyze, release, & restore, & awaken into intuition, creativity, clarity, focus, power, & peace.

The body in motion as a means to refresh & fortify the human soul, can move us toward personal transformation & alignment with our highest & best selves. No dance experience is needed as you simply move your body naturally. You’re not the dancer dancing, you’re the dance dancing itself into existence! And if you don’t, who will?!

Barbara invites you to experience yourself as both conductor & symphony, human & healer, weaver of your own magic & divine elixir.

Motivational speaker, life coach, & best-selling NYT author Gabby Bernstein says, “JourneyDance™ is manifestation on the dance floor!”

“That was THE BEST ONE YET!!! Emotions rolled in like waves. Very healing & reviving of inner spirit, bringing out the layered feelings that one never thinks about. It’s wonderful free movement & a great energy release. What a fantastic ecstatic dance class.”
~ Abbie B

“We were talking about your dance class the other night & thought it would be great to partake in again, are you returning? I’ve been elsewhere to dance… But I have to say it wasn’t anything like what you bring forward. Theirs was just movement. Yours is a sacred soul cleansing… It is perfection!”
~ Brenda C

“I wanted to let you know that your ecstatic dance class at Lata’s studio was spectacular. It was your best class & the emotions & joy it invoked were overwhelming, I cannot wait until the next one! Hurry Back!”
~ Cindy M

“It meant a great deal to me & was an important outlet for expression in a time when I really needed that. You’re an incredible & inspirational teacher, & I feel really blessed for having had an opportunity to be in your dance classes.”
~ Sydney E

“To dance with Barbara is a profound experience.”
~ S.V.

"The Songs of Joy", painting by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French, 1836-1902) at the Jewish Museum, New York, depicting Miriam the Prophetess Leading Women. Many of the paintings by Tissot feature female framedrummers, particularly in the context of processions of the Ark of the Covenant.

Women, Rhythm & Ritual: Daughters of Miriam

In honor of & celebration of the beloved Hebrew leader, Miriam, Barbara blends a Joyful Circle Dance, Rhythmic Wisdom Meditation, Inner Journey, & Women’s Empowering Singing & Drumming.

For women’s circles & gatherings of any denomination — or no denomination at all — to connect with Miriam, a Prophetess, Priestess, & Drummer of Ancient Times.

The story goes that Miriam, sister of Moses, was a Prophetess who had a gift of seeing into the future, & had predicted…

her brother’s birth & life. When the Jewish People were freed, Miriam led them from the desert with her drum. “Then Miriyahm the Prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel (frame drum) in her hand, & all the women followed her, with timbrels & with dancing.” ~ Exodus 15:20